Josh Hendrickson waited years for his MLB debut. Then came a playoff race with the Astros

Houston Astros relief pitcher Josh Hendrickson throws against the Seattle Mariners during the fourth inning of a baseball game, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson) (Lindsey Wasson/Associated Press) WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. - It was after midnight in Texas when Josh Hendrickson received the call that he was going to the majors. The Houston Astros had wrung seven innings from relievers to secure a win Tuesday night in Seattle after starter Cristian Javier injured his groin. So, Hendrickson awoke Wednesday and boarded a flight to Seattle to join a playoff race.

>When he jogged in from the bullpen at T-Mobile Park that night, it culminated an unlikely journey for a 29-year-old left-hander from Australia. Hendrickson pitched at three different colleges and was drafted by the Phillies in the 38th round in 2019. He had made four outings at Triple-A before this season, when the Astros signed him in mid-April as minor-league depth for a pitching staff wracked by injuries.

>In the fifth-to-last game of their season, amid a taut AL West race, the Astros deployed Hendrickson for his debut. It was not a soft landing. Hendrickson entered in the third inning with Houston nursing a one-run lead over the Mariners, the tying run on third base and the go-ahead run on second. On his second pitch, Hendrickson induced a groundout from Josh Naylor to end the inning.

>"Honestly, I don't think I even had time to think about it," Hendrickson said the next day. "We had some runners get on, some guys scored and it was, ‘Get hot.' I think they said I had Naylor, I don't really know. It was just, I'm going to start throwing and I'm ready as soon as they need me.

>"But it felt like ripping a Band-Aid off. I didn't have time to think about it and be like, oh, what's going to happen? It was just go."

>It was an abrupt arrival for the long road Hendrickson took to that point. A native of Perth, Hendrickson said he first encountered baseball in P.E. class in elementary school. He "fell in love with it," but said he and his brother were still playing T-ball by age 10 or 11 in his non-baseball-crazed home country.

>"My dad said, ‘This is ridiculous, what are we doing,' and signed us up for Little League baseball," he said. "Really enjoyed it and stuck with it."

>Hendrickson said some Australian national team coaches also scout and put him into touch with college colleges in the U.S. He attended Ranger College, a community college in Ranger, Texas, and Barton Community College, in Great Bend, Kan., each for one year before playing a year at the University of San Diego in 2019. The Phillies used the 1,140th overall pick in that year's draft to select him.

>The Phillies released Hendrickson after the 2023 minor-league season, and he did not pitch in affiliated ball the next two years. He had Tommy John surgery, pitched in independent ball and appeared with Team Australia in this year's World Baseball Classic. He said he was "sitting at home waiting for a job" in mid-April when the Astros called him with an opportunity.

>Hendrickson spent all season at Triple-A Sugar Land, posting a 4.75 ERA in 23 outings, including 19 starts. After the Triple-A season ended last weekend, he stayed in the area with the Astros' taxi squad. Javier's groin injury ushered Hendrickson's addition to the major-league roster, and he joined the Astros for the final week of their division race.

>Manager Joe Espada said his message to Hendrickson prior to Wednesday's game was: "Be ready to go. We trust you. I'm going to give you the ball in big moments and I expect you to go out there and be the same guy that got you up here to the big leagues - throw strikes and compete."

>That proved true. After escaping his third-inning jam Wednesday, Hendrickson worked two more innings. He threw a clean fourth before allowing a game-tying single in the fifth. In all, he faced eight hitters in his debut, allowing two hits and no walks and striking out three in Houston's eventual 6-5 loss in 10 innings.

>Hendrickson became the 31st pitcher used by the Astros this season, not including three position players, reflecting the season-long instability of their pitching staff. The Astros entered Friday with the seventh-highest team ERA in the majors yet tied atop the AL West with the Rangers with three games to play.

>Joining them in the final stretch, Hendrickson also realized an aspiration. His wife, daughter and in-laws were in the T-Mobile Park stands to witness it, and walking off the mound after one inning, Hendrickson pointed to them.

>"It was a pretty surreal experience to make your debut finally," Hendrickson said. "I always thought I had the ability to do it, just had to have the right chance, the right opportunity. I'm grateful for that.

>"I feel like every debut's special no matter who it is, whether it's a first-round pick getting to the big leagues really quickly or a journeyman minor-leaguer who gets there after a long journey. So it's definitely special. Something that I don't think I'll forget."

SubscribeThere’s more to Houston with the Chronicle. Subscribe today for just 25¢.This article originally published at Josh Hendrickson waited years for his MLB debut. Then came a playoff race with the Astros.