Here's why the Astros could have the best pitching staff in MLB
HIGH HEAT
28 February 2024
With a new season on the horizon, the Astros have high hopes for 2024 after coming just one game shy of being in the World Series for three consecutive seasons.
If Houston wants to get back to the Fall Classic in 2024, they're going to have to rely on their pitching. Owner Jim Crane believes the club has 8 starting pitchers when Luis Garcia and Lance McCullers Jr. return mid-season.
Which allows several of the starters to move to the bullpen and provide even more depth. Add those guys to Bryan Abreu, Ryan Pressly, and Josh Hader and you have a recipe for success.
Check out the video above as ESPN Houston's Jeremy Branham goes through the entire staff and makes his case for the Astros having the best pitching staff in baseball.
You can listen to The Killer B's with Jeremy Branham and Joel Blank every weekday on ESPN 97.5 & 92.5 from 3 pm - 6 pm!
Gleyber Torres drew a 10th-inning walk to send home Wenceel Pérez and give the Detroit Tigers a 1-0 win over Houston on Tuesday night, the Astros third consecutive shutout loss.
Pérez started the 10th as the automatic runner on second base and took third on Andy Ibáñez’s fly to deep right. Kaleb Ort (2-2) intentionally walked Dillon Dingler, then struck out Javier Báez for the second out.
Jahmai Jones walked, loading the bases, and Torres took a 3-2 sweeper low and outside to register his 500th career RBI.
Will Vest (6-2) gave up one hit over two scoreless innings.
The game featured a marquee pitching matchup, with Tigers ace Tarik Skubal against Detroit native and All-Star Hunter Brown.
The pair combined to allow eight hits in 13 scoreless innings. Skubal’s 10 strikeouts in seven innings made him the first pitcher to reach 200 in 2025.
The Tigers put runners on the corners with one out in the third, but Christian Walker snared Kerry Carpenter’s low liner and stepped on first for an inning-ending double play.
Zach McKinstry led off the fifth with his ninth triple, but Brown escaped the inning with a groundball, a strikeout and a fly out.
The start of the game was delayed 35 minutes by rain.
Key moment
The Astros nearly took the lead in the fourth inning, but Torres’ relay throw to the plate was in time to erase Yainer Diaz at the plate. Houston challenged the call, and initial replays seemed to show Diaz’s hand got to the plate before Dingler made the tag, but the call was confirmed by New York.
Key stat
The crowd of 30,770 gave the Tigers a season attendance of 1,893,473 through 65 games. Last season, they drew 1,858,295. They have already sold enough tickets to reach 2 million for the first time since 2017.
Up next
Tigers RHP Charlie Morton (8-10, 5.20 ERA) faces LHP Framber Valdez (11-6, 3.01) on Wednesday.
