HOUSTON — No two Tommy John patients are alike. The surgery’s recovery timeline sits between 14 and 16 months, but banking on being back by either benchmark is foolish. Pitchers who undergo the operation are susceptible to anything: setbacks, shutdowns and, in some special cases, instant success.“I wasn’t sure how it was going to go,” Hayden Wesneski, one of a select few savoring the latter, said. “I just kind of accepted both outcomes of ‘Wow, this could be really good’ or ‘Wow, this could go horribly.'”Straightforward recoveries do not exist for a surgery that has become streamlined, something Wesneski’s hometown Houston Astros have learned since winning the 2022 World Series. En route to that championship, Justin Verlander unanimously won the American League Cy Young Award — one year after undergoing Tommy John surgery.Perhaps that set an unfair expectation for the slew of surgically repaired Astros who followed. Holding someone to Verlander’s standard is silly, but during two consecutive trade deadlines, the Astros’ front office has attempted it. Failing to fortify the starting rotation left Houston reliant on pitchers returning from Tommy John surgery to make a meaningful impact.Last year, Luis Garcia and Cristian Javier could not do it. Ronel Blanco sports a 6.59 ERA and has proved incapable of providing a boost across his first 27 1/3 innings this season, his first since he had Tommy John surgery in June 2025.Wesneski had the operation at almost the same time. He has credited Blanco for being one of his lone constants during a lonely recovery. The two right-handers operated on a similar timeline and, ostensibly, with comparable rehab plans. That one is flourishing and another is floundering represents the most frustrating part of this process.Who the Astros should hire as their next GMKeith Law“Everybody responds to it differently,” Astros pitching coach Josh Miller said.Wesneski’s response is rejuvenating an Astros rotation in need of revival. Seven scoreless innings against the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday lowered Wesneski’s ERA to 3.18 in 39 2/3 innings since surgery. The Astros have won six of his first seven starts, including a 2-0 shutout spearheaded by Wesneski against the White Sox.