ARMED AND DANGEROUS
A.J. Hoffman: Astros pitching so far has been off the charts
Apr 20, 2018, 6:56 am
Justin Verlander is off to a great start, but he has been the third-best Astros starter. Ronald Martinez/Getty Images
Well, it is starting to look like maybe the Astros won’t go 150-12 this season.
Most of the (relative) early season struggles have been from the lineup. So of course, fans seem to be focusing on the negatives. George Springer, Alex Bregman, Marwin Gonzalez and Evan Gattis have all started off the season in a disappointing fashion. The team is hitting .239 through 20 games. Last year they led the league with a .282 average, 9 points higher than the second best hitting team. So, yes, the poor start is noteworthy.
It is drawing attention away from the real story of the early season Astros. Pitching. The Astros pitching, hasn’t been good. It has been phenomenal. Particularly the starting pitching.
I am normally a “wait and see” guy when it comes to early season stats. Usually I prefer to wait until the 1/4 season mark before I make any big judgements on what a team is. This pitching staff looks pretty special, though.
How special? Here is a list of the top ERAs in the American League as of today.
1. Charlie Morton - HOU - 0.72
2. Gerrit Cole - HOU - 0.96
3. Chris Sale - BOS - 1.23
4. Justin Verlander - HOU - 1.35
That isn’t a misprint. Three of the top four ERAs in the American League belong to Astros starters. Last year’s team was not a bad pitching team, but this year’s rotation should be markedly better. Dallas Keuchel and Lance McCullers haven’t been brilliant through four starts, but they haven’t been awful, and both have shown signs of breaking through.
The Astros have struck out 213 batters in 170.2 innings pitched, good for the league lead. They are second in baseball with a .211 BAA.
The 2017 Astros got 66 combined starts from Collin McHugh, Joe Musgrove, Mike Fiers, Francis Martes, David Paulino and Dayan Diaz. Of that group, only McHugh is currently in Houston, and he has pitched well out of the bullpen to this point. Ideally, most of those 66 starts this year will be eaten up by Verlander and Cole, both of whom are worlds better than any of the aforementioned pitchers.
Of course, all five of their starters won’t pitch 30 games this season. Keuchel missed nearly two months last season with a pinched nerve in his neck. McCullers has missed massive chunks of the last two seasons with various arm and back issues. Cole missed a large chunk of 2016 with elbow and tricep problems. Morton has been on the DL numerous times in his career, including multiple hip surgeries and a Tommy John procedure. He is also 34 years old. Verlander is 35.
However, they have all looked good so far, and between McHugh and Peacock they feel like they have adequate fill-ins should one or more of them go down at some point this season.
So, perhaps Astros fans are looking at the season all wrong. The Astros aren’t off to a “slow start” and they aren’t “underachieving.” They are just finding different ways to win. The lineup is good. They will hit at some point. Until they do though, rest easy in knowing that the Astros may have the best pitching in baseball backing them up.
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Reynaldo López struck out seven over six scoreless innings, Orlando Arcia homered and the Atlanta Braves won their third straight, 6-2 over the Houston Astros on Tuesday night.
López (2-0) allowed four hits and walked one in his third straight sterling outing to start the season.
“It’s like I’ve always said, for me, the important thing is to focus,” López said through an interpreter. “To have the focus during the outings and then, to be able to locate those pitches.”
He has given up one run in 18 innings for an ERA of 0.50.
“He threw the ball really well against a really good hitting club,” Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said. “Another solid one.”
Arcia hit a solo home run to left in the second and a sacrifice fly in the seventh.
Luis Guillorme and backup catcher Chadwick Tromp each hit a two-run double in the ninth to put the Braves ahead 6-0.
“Tromp has done a good job ever since we’ve been bringing him in these situations and filling in,” Snitker said. “I’ve got all the confidence in the world in him back there. ... He’s an aggressive hitter. He’s knocked in some big runs for us in the limited time that he’s played.”
Kyle Tucker homered for the Astros leading off the ninth against Aaron Bummer, and Mauricio Dubón had a two-out RBI single to cut the lead to four. After Bummer walked Chas McCormick to put two on, Raisel Iglesias induced a groundout by Victor Caratini to end it and secure his fourth save.
“They pitched well, and our guys are grinding out at-bats,” Houston manager Joe Espada said. “Even in the ninth inning there, we’re grinding, fighting until the end.”
Hunter Brown (0-3) yielded two runs on five hits with three strikeouts and three walks in six innings. Brown allowed nine runs in two-thirds of an inning in his previous start, last Thursday against Kansas City.
Brown said he executed better Tuesday than he had in his previous two starts.
“He mixed all his pitches well,” Espada said. “The breaking ball was effective. He threw some cutters in on the hands to some of those lefties. He mixed his pitches really well. That was a really strong performance.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Braves: 2B Ozzie Albies was placed on the 10-day injured list with a broken right big toe. IF David Fletcher had his contract selected from Triple-A Gwinnett to take Albies’ place on the roster.
Astros: RHP Justin Verlander (right shoulder inflammation) threw a side session Tuesday, but Houston will wait until Wednesday to see how Verlander feels before deciding whether he will make his first start this weekend against the Nationals, Espada said. ... RHP Luis Garcia (right elbow surgery) threw around 20-25 pitches off the bullpen mound, and RHP José Urquidy (right forearm strain) also threw off the mound, Espada said. ... LHP Framber Valdez (left elbow soreness) played catch off flat ground.
UP NEXT
Atlanta LHP Max Fried (1-0, 8.74 ERA) starts Wednesday in the series finale opposite RHP J.P. France (0-2, 8.22).