How Astros pitching update raises both excitement, challenges as season closes in
ARMS RACE
27 February 2024
ARMS RACE
Spring Training games are officially underway and the Houston Astros are getting ready for an exciting season that starts with a matchup against Gerrit Cole and the Yankees on Opening Day.
And while we assumed it would be a classic battle between Cole and Justin Verlander, that all changed when JV announced he was two weeks behind schedule with some shoulder stiffness.
That news terrified Astros fans at the time, but we can all relax for now. Verlander hasn't been shutdown or anything like that. He's still throwing his bullpen sessions and trying to get back on track. Only time will tell if he'll be ready for the start of the season.
JV is taking his time and listening to the trainers, as he doesn't want a repeat of last season, when he wasn't able to pitch until May after straining his teres major (a muscle near the lat).
With Verlander a question mark to start the season, all the attention turns to Framber Valdez and Cristian Javier. Chandler Rome wrote an article recently for The Athletic highlighting Astros pitching coach Bill Murphy. Murphy travels to the Dominican Republic every offseason to work with several of the club's pitchers.
With Valdez, he's trying to help recapture Framber's ability to force batters to hit the ball on the ground at a high level with his sinker. Via: Chandler Rome of The Athletic:
"The pitch generated just a 54.3 percent ground-ball rate last season, down from 68.6 percent in 2022 and 74.9 percent in 2021."
If Framber can get the sinker going again along with his nasty curveball, he should be set for a bounce back season in 2024. Inducing all those extra ground balls should also help keep his pitch count down and allow him to go deeper into games. Hello double play ball!
“El Reptil”
Cristian Javier is a different story, however. His struggles might be fixed just by dropping 15 pounds over the offseason. If Javier's right and his weight gain was throwing off his mechanics, he could put up numbers similar to 2022 when he had a 2.54 ERA.
Pitching through the 2022 World Series and then having to quickly get ready for the World Baseball Classic last spring certainly took a toll. The extra rest this offseason should help.
News from the weekend
Some other important notes from the weekend include GM Dana Brown's update on Ronel Blanco. The plan is to keep him stretched out to add depth to the starting rotation should they need it.
We also heard from owner Jim Crane who believes the Astros have 8 starting pitchers when Luis Garcia and Lance McCullers Jr return around mid-season. The Astros will have the luxury of moving a couple of starters to the bullpen when everyone is healthy. So don't expect any additions to the rotation from outside the organization.
Be sure to check out the video as we discuss the latest on the rotation, and which pitchers we believe have the best shot at cracking the backend of the rotation after Verlander, Valdez, and Javier.
Catch Stone Cold 'Stros (an Astros podcast) with Charlie Pallilo, Brandon Strange and Josh Jordan every Monday on SportsMapHouston's YouTube channel. We'll continue to drop new videos throughout the week.
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What looked like a minor blip after an emotional series win in Los Angeles has turned into something more concerning for the Houston Astros.
Swept at home by a Guardians team that came in riding a 10-game losing streak, the Astros were left looking exposed. Not exhausted, as injuries, underperformance, and questionable decision-making converged to hand Houston one of its most frustrating series losses of the year.
Depth finally runs dry
It would be easy to point to a “Dodger hangover” as the culprit, the emotional peak of an 18-1 win at Chavez Ravine followed by a mental lull. But that’s not the story here.
Houston’s energy was still evident, especially in the first two games of the series, where the offense scored five or more runs each time. Including those, the Astros had reached that mark in eight of their last 10 games heading into Wednesday’s finale.
But scoring isn’t everything, not when a lineup held together by duct tape and desperation is missing Christian Walker and Jake Meyers and getting critical at-bats from Cooper Hummel, Zack Short, and other journeymen.
The lack of depth finally showed. The Astros, for three days, looked more like a Triple-A squad with Jose Altuve and a couple big-league regulars sprinkled in.
Cracks in the pitching core
And the thing that had been keeping this team afloat, elite pitching, finally buckled.
Hunter Brown and Josh Hader, both dominant all season, finally cracked. Brown gave up six runs in six innings, raising his pristine 1.82 ERA to 2.21. Hader wasn’t spared either, coughing up a game-losing grand slam in extra innings that inflated his ERA from 1.80 to 2.38 in one night.
But the struggles weren’t isolated. Bennett Sousa, Kaleb Ort, and Steven Okert each gave up runs at critical moments. The bullpen’s collective fade could not have come at a worse time for a team already walking a tightrope.
Injury handling under fire
Houston’s injury management is also drawing heat, and rightfully so. Jake Meyers, who had been nursing a calf strain, started Wednesday’s finale. He didn’t even make it through one pitch before aggravating the injury and needing to be helped off the field.
No imaging before playing him. No cautionary rest despite the All-Star break looming. Just a rushed return in a banged-up lineup, and it backfired immediately.
Second-guessing has turned to outright criticism of the Astros’ medical staff, as fans and analysts alike wonder whether these mounting injuries are being made worse by how the club is handling them.
Pressure mounts on Dana Brown
All eyes now turn to Astros GM Dana Brown. The Astros are limping into the break with no clear reinforcements on the immediate horizon. Only Chas McCormick is currently rehabbing in Sugar Land. Everyone else? Still sidelined.
Brown will need to act — and soon.
At a minimum, calling up top prospect Brice Matthews makes sense. He’s been mashing in Triple-A (.283/.400/.476, 10 HR, .876 OPS) and could play second base while Jose Altuve shifts to left field more regularly. With Mauricio Dubón stretched thin between shortstop and center, injecting Matthews’ upside into the infield is a logical step.
*Editor's note: The Astros must be listening, Matthews was called up Thursday afternoon!
The Astros are calling up Brice Matthews, their top prospect on @MLBPipeline
via @brianmctaggart pic.twitter.com/K91cGKkcx6
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) July 10, 2025
There’s also trade chatter, most notably about Orioles outfielder Cedric Mullins, but excitement has been tepid. His numbers don’t jump off the page, but compared to who the Astros are fielding now, Mullins would be a clear upgrade and a much-needed big-league presence.
A final test before the break
Before the All-Star reset, Houston gets one last chance to stabilize the ship, and it comes in the form of a rivalry series against the Texas Rangers. The Astros will send their top trio — Lance McCullers Jr., Framber Valdez, and Hunter Brown — to the mound for a three-game set that will test their resolve, their health, and perhaps their postseason aspirations.
The Silver Boot is up for grabs. So is momentum. And maybe, clarity on just how far this version of the Astros can go.
There's so much more to discuss! Don't miss the video below as we examine the topics above and much, much more!
The MLB season is finally upon us! Join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and Charlie Pallilo for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday.
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*ChatGPT assisted.
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