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Houston Astros Should Trade for Andrew Cashner

By Josh Sippie

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The Houston Astros have uncovered another gem in Lance McCullers Jr. and with Dallas Keuchel, Collin McHugh and Brett Oberholtzer, they have a pretty decent starting four in the rotation. However, with McHugh struggling, Oberholtzer’s blister problems, and the questionable 5th spot in the rotation, a little depth never hurt anyone.

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A trade seems the most logical option. Since the Astros traded Mike Foltynewicz and Nick Tropeano, they don’t have many MLB-ready starting pitchers. But what they do have is an MLB-ready and downright raring to go shortstop in Carlos Correa.

Ahead of Correa sits the return of Jed Lowrie as well as Jonathan Villar and Marwin Gonzalez. Someone has to make way. As the saying goes, in order to acquire a quality pitcher you have to give up some quality as well.

Jonathan Villar isn’t exactly wowing at shortstop, but in his last 30 games, he’s hitting .284. That’s pretty good. Plus he’s only 24, he has a lot of potential and his speed is top notch.

The San Diego Padres need a shortstop. They sit 25th in the league in batting average from the position at .221. That’s a full .60 points below what Jonathan Villar is up to these days.

Andrew Cashner is the perfect candidate to go the other way. At 2-8, one might think he’s having a terrible year, but that’s not true at all. In just another case of why wins and losses don’t really matter, Andrew Cashner is actually having a pretty good season. His 3.46 ERA would fit in nicely in the Astros’ rotation and his 9.6 K/9 is the highest he’s had in the past three years. His contract expires at the end of the year and to cap it all off, he’s a native Texan, something the Astros think very highly of.

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What’s been causing Andrew Cashner the most grief is run support. This season, there are only six starting pitchers who have a worse run support than Cashner’s 2.679. In 68 innings pitched he’s only been handed 20 runs of support. In fact, prior to his May 27th victory, Andrew Cashner was in the midst of a six game losing streak. Five of those six starts were quality starts, however his team only gave him 5 runs across the six.

This is no fault of Andrew Cashner’s.

One thing the Astros can do for Cashner is put up runs. The offense of the Astros can be unstoppable at times and if Andrew Cashner can put the Astros in a situation where the opponent only scores 2-4 runs (something he’s very proficient at doing), then both sides will benefit immensely.

Both sides win in this trade. The San Diego Padres get a hot shortstop who is a major upgrade and the Astros get a starting pitcher who needs run support. Oh, and they get to promote Carlos Correa.

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