HOUSTON — In a somewhat surprising move given his salary and starting pitching pedigree, Cristian Javier will re-join the Houston Astros this weekend as a reliever, ending his circuitous three-month recovery from a right shoulder strain.Javier is expected to be activated off the 60-day injured list on Friday, when the 30-day clock for his minor-league rehab assignment expires. The 29-year-old right-hander made five rehab starts, during which he allowed eight earned runs across 17 ⅔ innings.“He’s not starting in the bullpen because of his performance in the minor leagues,” Astros manager Joe Espada said on Wednesday afternoon. “Right now, the way we’re lining things up, that’s what’s best for our team and best for Javi. And it could change. But right now, that’s the decision that we made.”Javier is in the fourth season of a five-year, $64 million contract extension he signed prior to the 2023 season. His $12.8 million luxury tax salary is the sixth-highest on Houston’s 2026 payroll — and fourth-highest of any pitcher — prompting a thought that Javier would receive at least some runway in Houston’s rotation.Instead, Javier will be in the bullpen and function as a “typical reliever,” Espada said Wednesday. Although Javier spent most of the 2021 season as a swingman out of Houston’s bullpen, he has not made a major-league relief appearance since 2022.It is unclear how comfortable — if at all — Javier would be pitching on back-to-back days or entering a game in the middle of an inning. If the Astros want to avoid either of those scenarios, it’s difficult to envision how Javier can truly be a “typical” reliever.Javier built his pitch count to 85 during his minor-league rehab starts and is a logical choice for a long man, should the Astros ever need one. Espada said Javier took the news “well” upon being informed by the coaching staff.“Obviously I told him anything can change,” Espada said. “A lot of things are changing day to day.”Javier has pitched just 243 major-league innings in the four seasons since signing his extension, which doubled as the first meaningful move of Dana Brown’s four-year tenure as Houston’s general manager. Javier underwent Tommy John surgery in 2024 and, this season, injured his shoulder after just three starts.Putting Javier in the bullpen doubles as a vote of confidence in both Spencer Arrighetti and Mike Burrows, each of whom seemed expendable from the rotation upon Javier’s return. Arrighetti, the American League Pitcher of the Month in May, had a 9.00 ERA across 25 June innings. He is scheduled to start Friday’s series-opener against the Tampa Bay Rays, which would have been Javier’s day to pitch.Burrows’ 5.58 ERA ranks 61st among the 64 qualified major-league starters. A scenario existed where either Burrows or Arrighetti could have moved to the bullpen in order for Javier to reprise his role as a starter. Burrows already required a trip to the bullpen last month in what the team described as a “breather.” He rejoined the rotation after missing one start.What both Burrows and Arrighetti do offer is length: something Javier has long struggled to provide. Burrows has thrown five or more innings in 15 of his 16 starts this season. Arrighetti has done so in 11 of 13 starts. Even at his peak, Javier had persistent problems with pitch efficiency and getting deep into games, perhaps portending Wednesday’s move.“We’re looking at pitch shapes, velo, some of the lineups and hitters (Javier is) facing,” Espada said. “We’re also looking at how he’s bouncing back and also who we are facing in the next couple days — who matches up better against who.”“There’s a season to be played. There’s an objective as a team that we’re trying to accomplish. We’re looking at all those factors and we’re putting every individual in a position where they can have success.”Teng injured and transitioning to the bullpenThree days after demoting Kai-Wei Teng to the minor leagues, the Astros nullified his option and placed Teng on the major-league injured list with a right knee sprain.On Wednesday, Espada said the team did not learn of Teng’s injury until after informing him of his option. Teng is at the team’s spring training facility in West Palm Beach, Fla., where he is expected to continue a throwing program and perhaps appear in some Florida Coast League games.When he does, Teng will come out of the bullpen, ending the transition to a starting role Teng began in mid-May. Teng, who began the season as a swingman in Houston’s bullpen, had a 5.49 ERA in nine starts. Fatigue caused him to fade across the last four starts and prompted the Astros to option him for what Espada described as a “de-load.”