How Astros pitching update raises both excitement, challenges as season closes in
ARMS RACE
27 February 2024
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.
Subscribe to the channel so you don't miss our latest Astros content.
How Houston Rockets hold the cards for a franchise-changing summer
May 8, 2025, 5:45 pm
It’s been a slog on the treadmill of mediocrity for the Astros thus far in 2025. Their 18-18 record heading into a weekend series at Daikin Park vs. the Reds is appropriate. Plenty of good teams will have similar stretches this season. The Astros have to prove that this year’s edition is a good team. Plenty of time for that remains. Reminder that the breakout 2017 Astros had a 74-game stretch over which they went 37-37. 162 games allow for a lot of ebb and flow. Of course, the 2025 Astros’ roster is not close in quality to that of the 2017 squad. The point isn’t that this team could be a 101-game winner but that the 88 victories good enough for a playoff spot last year are still quite plausible this year.
The Rockets achieved mediocrity last season after three seasons as a laughingstock. This season they made the leap to good. While curling up and succumbing to Golden State in the decisive game seven of their first-round playoff series was a disappointment, the Rockets are in excellent position moving forward. Where they go from here should be quite interesting,
OF COURSE the Rockets are going to explore trading Jalen Green. He is obviously their most physically gifted player, but his consistent inconsistency is exasperating. Green’s series against the Warriors was basically an embarrassment with the exception of his 38-point game two outburst. The other six games, a meager nine-point-two points per game. That Green is still just 23 years old means it is not near obligatory they move on from him as Green starts a three-year 105 million dollar contract extension. However, the state of his game and comparison to a few specific players cast enough doubt about Green’s ceiling that declaring him “untouchable” would be ridiculous. During the Golden State series, an NBA play-by-play guy who I think is very good overall once referred to Green as the “Rockets’ superstar.” Anyone, including Green himself, who calls him a superstar either misspoke, was caught up in a moment, or is clueless.
Jalen Green just finished his fourth NBA season. Fairness requires noting that his first two seasons were compromised by being on atrocious Rockets’ squads. That said, Green was on 41-41 and 52-30 teams the past two seasons. In neither of him did he shoot a league average percentage either overall or from behind the three-point line. He did approach the three-point league average of 36 percentage made with his 35.4. That Green is an 80 percent career free throw shooter gives hope the three-point shooting can further develop. Better shot selection sure would help.
Green was the second overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, one year removed from high school. The player taken ahead of him was Cade Cunningham who also played just one year out of high school before going NBA. Cunningham joined a joke Detroit Pistons team. Cunningham is a much better player than Green at this point.
Other shooting guards who played one year after high school then jumped to the NBA, who were markedly ahead of Green after four NBA seasons include Anthony Edwards (first pick in his draft class), and Shae Gilgeous-Alexander (11th), and Devin Booker (13th). In comparison to each Green is a disappointment, though certainly not a bust.
What is head coach Ime Udoka’s bottom-line belief in Green fulfilling his potential? My guess is that cup is not overflowing. The Rockets’ half-court offense simply is not of championship caliber. Can it evolve there with Green, or is he better used as a piece in a trade offer with other players plus draft picks for a Booker or Kevin Duran? The Phoenix Suns are a near assets-less mess of a franchise in dire need of a reset. Durant will be 37 years old when next season starts, but is still a tremendous offensive player who would be a gargantuan half-court offense upgrade for the Rockets. The Rockets have so much draft capital that offering two or three first round picks plus Green, Cam Whitmore, and another player or two to make the salary cap math work would A: not empty out the Rockets’ flexibility going forward and B: have to get the Suns’ attention. If I’m Udoka and General Manager Rafael Stone, I’m making the call.
Courtesy of the Suns, the Rockets hold what is currently the ninth pick in the NBA Draft. The draft lottery is Monday night. The Rockets’ have a three-point-eight percent chance of winning it and the right to make Duke freshman superstar (and Final Four loser to UH) Cooper Flagg the number one pick. There is a 13.5 percent chance the Rockets move up to pick two, three, or four. Otherwise, it’s ninth, or lower if another team or teams vault up the lottery board.
For Astro-centric conversation, join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and me for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday. Click here to catch!
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