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Scott Feldman Injury Full of Opportunity for the Houston Astros?

By Josh Sippie

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It seems like the theme of the day to be analyzing how injuries are actually good for teams following the piece on Matt Adams, but the same may very well be true about Scott Feldman and the Houston Astros. Scott Feldmand was acquired to be an innings-eater for the Astros amidst the youth infusion in their rotation, and he served that purpose very well – until this year.

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This year, Scott Feldman has been a bit of a blight on an Astros rotation that was supposed to be doing a lot better than it actually is. While he’s still eating up innings rather effectively, his 4.80 ERA is nothing like it’s been in the past, particularly last year when he managed a very respectable 3.74 ERA.

The injury is said to keep Scott Feldman out for six weeks and in his stead steps the oft-blistered Brett Oberholtzer, who’s been a noticeable absentee on the Houston Astros this season. Oberholtzer, just 25, is another young arm that was expected to be impacting a youthful Astros’ rotation but as mentioned, blisters have kept him out for essentially the entire season thus far.

When Oberholtzer hit the scene in 2013, he posted a 2.76 ERA in 71.2 innings with a WHIP of 1.102. Those are very nice numbers. He fell off a bit in 2014, posting a 4.39 ERA, but his WHIP only went up to a 1.3, not a detrimental lapse by any means.

Brett Oberholtzer is another of the soft-tossing variety of pitchers that the Astros are becoming known for. He’s very similar to Dallas Keuchel, albeit he walks less hitters, as his career BB/9 is a mere 1.8.

The injury to Scott Feldman also allowed for the promotion of Michael Feliz, one of the most highly-touted pitchers in the Astros organization. He’ being trained as a starter but he figures to be used as bullpen help for the Astros unless a need arises.

Funny thing is, the Astros rotation was already in need of some starting arms (please, no more Sam Deduno). Brad Peacock is on his way back to having another go at the Major Leagues, so therein lies another option. The problem is that the Houston Astros are no longer a losing team that can experiment with finding the perfect starting rotation combination. They are the best team in the American League and the only set-in-stone guys are Dallas Keuchel and Collin McHugh. Even McHugh has been struggling lately.

Roberto Hernandez had been good enough, but he’s coming off his worst start of the season at Detroit.

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So then how does Scott Feldman’s injury help the Astros? It opens the door for some young pitching prospects to make their mark. Michael Feliz is a bit of a surprise, but so was Lance McCullers Jr. and he’s not exactly stinking it up. Vincent Velasquez and Josh Hader are both faring pretty well in Double-A in the wake of Mark Appel continuing to fall below expectations, but a call-up may be in their near future as well. The Astros aren’t finding much luck in Triple-A pitching, but Thomas Shirley has the best claim for a promotion.

While one has to wonder if the Astros may regret trading Mike Foltynewicz snd Nick Tropeano (somewhat confusingly), the prospects are still there for the calling and the Astros are widely known to be shopping for more starting arms. This move will serve as a little extra incentive to enhance the team sooner rather than later.

Next: Has Evan Gattis found a home?

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