(Photo by Logan Riely/Getty Images)
To the contrary of what has happened in recent seasons, the Houston Astros pitching staff isn’t looking extremely deep this season.
Lance McCullers Jr. and Luis Garcia underwent Tommy John surgery this season, JP France has been particularly homer-prone in his last few starts, Framber Valdez has been alternating good with bad outings for a while, and Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, and Jose Urquidy all have ERAs well over 4.00.
This leaves Justin Verlander as the Astros’ most reliable starter at this point.
Logically, the Astros want to line him up against top offenses to give themselves a better chance of winning games.
Astros insider Chandler Rome cited a Matt Kawahara tweet highlighting the Astros’ probable pitchers in the weekend series against the New York Yankees.
Verlander would go on Friday, Brown on Saturday, and Javier on Sunday.
Rome stated that the arrangement “would allow Justin Verlander to be available on regular rest for the Astros’ series finale against the Rangers on Sept. 6.”
That would allow Justin Verlander to be available on regular rest for the Astros’ series finale against the Rangers on Sept. 6. https://t.co/nZY7fIxhXu
— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) August 30, 2023
Every game against the Rangers is extremely important for Houston.
With a little over a month left of regular season, the Astros, Rangers, and the Seattle Mariners are all tied for first place in the AL West as of Wednesday afternoon.
The one who takes the division will likely skip the Wild Card round, so winning the AL West comes with a sizable price.
The other two teams will have to measure themselves with the rest of the AL to see who fills up the three Wild Card spots.
What we are saying is that there is a chance, albeit a small one, that the team that finishes third in the AL West race misses the postseason altogether.
What a month we have ahead.
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