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Houston Astros’ starting pitching more impressive than offensive power

By Josh Sippie

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The Houston Astros are known for three main things. They are known for shifting. They are known for striking out. They are known for hitting home runs. Those three aspects of baseball have become synonymous with the Space City club. However, the one aspect of their game that can sometimes get lost is their starting pitching, but that was the showcase in August.

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August was not a good month for the Houston Astros offensively. They ranked 25th in the Major Leagues in runs scored and their massive power had fallen to 7th in the Majors. Numbers like those spell disaster for a team that is so clearly built on run production, particularly from the long ball, but destruction was not had, seeing as how the Houston Astros went 15-13 in the month. That is not a great record by any means, but with the team averaging just under 4 runs a game, you would expect much worse.

How did they do it? With excellent starting pitching.

The Astros do not have your prototypical starting rotation. Most teams rock a set 5-man rotation with potential for a 6th but the Astros have gone above and beyond that, with 7 starting pitchers. Dallas Keuchel and Collin McHugh have been the one-two punch all year, but between there starts, the Houston Astros have deployed Mike Fiers, Scott Feldman, Scott Kazmir, Lance McCullers and Vincent Velasquez, none of whom have been poor and all of whom have a major claim to a rotation spot.

Mike Fiers seemed to be the weak link initially. However since that time he has gone 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA in 4 starts. In those starts he has managed a 1.00 WHIP and oh yeah, he also threw a 130+ pitch no hitter.

Scott Feldman has had bouts of inconsistency this year as well. Yet in his last three games, Feldman has thrown 21.0 innings, given up just 2 earned runs and struck out 12 compared to walking 3.

Scott Kazmir is obviously going to do his part to keep the Houston Astros in games and then you have the youngsters Lance McCullers (aka Batman) and Vince Velasquez (aka Vince Velasquez). Without inning limits, these two would be in the rotation for good, but as of now McCullers is pitching every six or seven days and Velasquez is coming out of the pen.

With their powers combined, the Houston Astros rocked August with the lowest team ERA (bullpen included) at 2.61. Now that the pitching is clicking, imagine what will happen when the pitching and the hitting clicks at the same time. Scary? Only if you are rooting for the opposition. I would not recommend that.

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