HOUSTON -- These are not your 2019 Astros, who featured the top two finishers in the American League Cy Young Award voting in Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole and was joined in July by Zack Greinke, who came in a trade from Arizona in July. That was a generational rotation that helped the Astros win the AL pennant.
Whether this year’s Astros even make the playoffs remains to be seen, but Houston’s recent surge can be credited to its terrific starting pitching. That’s an unlikely development considering the trouble Astros manager Joe Espada has had putting together a rotation for much of the season because of injuries and underperformance.
The Astros’ starting pitching plans fell apart during the team’s first road trip in April when starters Hunter Brown, Tatsuya Imai and Cristian Javier all landed on the injured list. And then came the poor performances of Mike Burrows and Imai -- the team’s two biggest offseason additions to the rotation. For much of the next few weeks, Espada was scrambling to keep his rotation together, plucking Cody Bolton, Jason Alexander and Colton Gordon from Triple-A Sugar Land to fill openings.
The Astros worked all offseason to upgrade their pitching, but it didn’t take long for them to exhaust that.
That’s why they’ve had 18 different starting pitchers this year, which is the most in the Major Leagues and the most by any team in franchise history. And that’s why the Astros entered play Saturday with a 4.97 rotation ERA, which ranked 28th in MLB.
Rookie right-hander Ethan Pecko, the Astros’ No. 9-ranked prospect, became Houston’s 17th different starting pitcher when he made his Major League debut Aug. 19. He made his fourth start in Saturday’s 4-3 loss to the Diamondbacks in 10 innings at Daikin Park, allowing one run in 4 1/3 innings.
Despite the loss, the Astros have gone 7-3 in their last 10 games and remain three games ahead of the second-place Rangers in the AL West with 19 games remaining. Astros starters have a 2.05 ERA in those 10 games, despite having only three quality starts. Two of those came in back-to-back games against the White Sox when Hayden Wesneski threw seven scoreless innings of one-hit ball Wednesday and Brown gave up two runs in six innings Thursday.
Wesneski, who returned from Tommy John surgery July 29, has been exceptional. He’s 4-1 with a 3.18 ERA and 1.06 WHIP in seven starts, covering 39 2/3 innings. Brown has returned to his ace form, going 4-2 with a 2.68 ERA in his last eight starts, and Peter Lambert -- a Minor League Spring Training invitee -- leads the club in wins, games started and innings pitched.
Beyond Brown, Wesneski and Lambert, the Astros don’t know what they’ll get from their starting pitcher on most nights. A prime example is Javier. He stepped up Friday and provided a boost, allowing one run in five innings, giving the rotation a lift during a stretch in which Houston is playing 13 consecutive games without a day off.
Burrows, who has a 5.99 ERA in 18 games and has been on the injured list with elbow neuritis since July 6, was originally set to start Tuesday’s game against the White Sox, but he came down with shoulder inflammation and has been sent to West Palm Beach, Fla., to rehab. It was a frustrating step back for Burrows, who made some encouraging adjustments in three Minor League rehab starts with Sugar Land.
Ronel Blanco, who came back from Tommy John surgery on July 20, made that start instead and needed 88 pitches to throw four scoreless innings. Blanco and Javier remain the ultimate wild cards because both have been extremely inconsistent since returning from injuries.
The good news for the Astros is they would need only three starting pitchers if they reach a best-of-five AL Division Series, but finishing out the remainder of the regular season will be the challenge. Houston has an off-day in the final three Mondays of the regular season, which will help the rotation.
The Astros went 14 consecutive games last month without a starter finishing six innings, but the rotation’s recent turnaround has them inching closer toward another AL West championship.