For obvious reasons, the Astros have made plenty of negative headlines in recent weeks. The start of the regular season continues to close in, though, so despite all the outside noise, the Astros will have to turn the page and focus on defending their American League pennant from a year ago.
When they do take the field the season, the Astros’ rotation figures to look quite a bit different than the all-world unit they relied on in 2019. Gone from that group are AL Cy Young runner-up Gerrit Cole and Wade Miley, a duo that combined for almost 380 innings of excellent pitching. Now, the Astros still have a great front-of-the-rotation tandem in Justin Verlander and Zack Greinke, and they’re slated to get Lance McCullers Jr. back after he missed all of last season while recovering from Tommy John surgery.
Beyond, Verlander, Greinke and McCullers, the rest of the Astros’ rotation picture is less clear. However, pitching coach Brent Strom shed some light on it in a discussion with Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. Strom suggested that Jose Urquidy is in line for the No. 4 spot. He also revealed that the Astros don’t expect to count on righty Brad Peacock as a starter. The veteran swingman made 15 starts in 23 appearances last year, but the neck issues that slowed him in 2019 have continued. Houston now expects him to factor into its bullpen instead of its rotation.
Regarding Peacock and the Astros’ starting staff, Strom told McTaggart, “I think you can probably count [Brad] Peacock out of the race.” Strom added that Peacock’s “probably more valuable to us in the bullpen,” leaving (in his view) Austin Pruitt, Josh James and Framber Valdez to compete for the No. 5 position. Although towering righty Forrest Whitley has been one of the Astros’ top prospects for at least a couple years, he’s probably not “a viable candidate” to land a job in their season-opening rotation, according to Strom.
Among the actual competitors for the Astros’ No. 5 position, only Pruitt’s new to the team. He joined the Astros in a trade with the Rays last month. The 30-year-old’s known for his high spin rate, but it hasn’t translated to much major league success thus far. Since debuting in 2017, Pruitt has posted 199 2/3 innings of 4.87 ERA ball (with a far superior 4.17 FIP and a solid 48.9 percent groundball rate) and recorded 6.63 K/9 against 2.25 BB/9. He’s out of minor league options, so he’ll have to earn a place on Houston’s 26-man roster or potentially be lost on waivers.
James, a fellow righty, and the left-handed Valdez still have options remaining. The hard-throwing James made an encouraging – albeit brief – debut in 2018, though he had difficulty with control in a relief role last season. The 26-year-old ended up tossing 61 1/3 frames and notching a 4.70 ERA/3.98 FIP with 5.14 walks per nine. On a better note, he did log a tremendous 14.67 K/9 while averaging 97.2 mph on his fastball.
Valdez, also 26, joined James in amassing lots of innings but struggling to throw strikes last season. He walked 5.6 hitters per nine, helping lead to a 5.86 ERA/4.98 FIP in 70 2/3 innings between the Astros’ rotation and bullpen. Valdez’s strikeout rate (8.66 K/9) was a lot worse than James’, but he did induce grounders at an outstanding 62.1 percent clip.
Just-hired manager Dusty Baker will clearly have to make some key decisions in forming a new-look rotation before the season commences. Verlander, Greinke and McCullers are locks, but the Astros don’t have any proven commodities after that trio.
Im gonna be the first to call it. Astros just barely miss the playoffs.
I’ll be the first to call your prediction motivated by the negative media coverage the Astros are getting and your problem with the Commissioner’s finding and punishment … not only will the Astros make the playoffs but will when the ALC again.
Or, that they lost a ton of quality innings, its not clear whether the scandal was worth 5% or 20% on ops+, the fact that they will have to play in what is likely to be the most miserable and hostile team experience in decades Annnnnd the fact that they had just about the best injury luck of any team in baseball last year.
Or yea, it could just be because I read si.com
2019 saw another good offensive year with most of those guys returning. On the emotional side you could just as easily say they’re galvanized into competing even harder so idk about the whole psych profile there. Injury-wise they lost Springer, Altuve, and Correa for stretches. Peacock was out, LMJ was gone, Pressly was hurt right in time for the postseason, so that’s not what I would call good luck, lol. So pump the brakes a little.
Good news for them is they’ll likely start every inning off with a runner on first lol…(after their hitter that leads off each inning gets plunked )
Mr. Intimidation, I don’t think anyone is rooting for the Astros. That said, if the Astros can win 100+ games in this much tougher division, with the entire baseball community booing them, I will be very very impressed.
It will be a very interesting season. Right now, Houston is the team that everyone loves to hate, and I don’t think that’s going to change.
I think in the next couple of weeks, the Red Sox will share that mantle, but they will not supplant Houston.
It’s going to be a fun season.
Halo11Fan, when are we going to find out the truth about Tyler Skaggs? The Director of Communications providing drugs to him and “at least five other Angels players” and no one else on the team knew anything about it? I think Mike Trout better start taking a closer look at his own teammates…
I agree winning 100 games would be impressive. Their past performances recently are easy to take for granted. But hey that’s the fun part about watching, you never know. The division race will be fun to see.
What? It was two adults doing drugs togehter. He didn’t get drugs for him, they did it together. Also this is why the Astros thing is the worst. The community is rallying around you all cheating the sport and teenagers (I hope otherwise it’s way worse) like you are getting into outlandish allegations about an overdose
Death.
Do better dude and take the L
What truth are you looking for? Do you know Tim Mead? I have a friend who has dinner with him. He’s one of the most decent people you would ever want to meet.
The truth is this, Skaggs was hooked on opioids and someone who worked for the team supplied him with opioids
From everything I know about Moreno, if he know Skaggs was on pain killers, he would have done something about it and Skaggs would be alive today.
Astros rotation? Astros can rotate on this!
Why is it mike trout’s responsibility to monitor his teammates? That is on all players and coaches to police their own clubhouse. All all uppermanagement to handle issues reported
Is McCullers, who has had trouble going deep in games and staying healthy himself, even ready? He is about 13 months removed from surgery I think. Im not sure he will be starting the year with the team.
So the Angels killed a player and you are condemning the Astros for doing something that has been done since the beginning of baseball
Wow…
Wow, @BK or @BKBK or @BKBKBKBK You have multiple accounts. No wonder you have so many upvotes.
He is at 15 months as of the 6th of February. He started his regular throwing program in December according to the team. Coming back from TJ he is not going to throw 200 innings, but 140-150 is not out of the question.
Mike trout takes HGH
You guys are right behind the Astros. I’m pretty sure the system was taken to the Sox.
bkbkbkbk, did you even read my post? I clearly said “at least FIVE OTHER Angels players”, so it was NOT “…two adults doing drugs together…” They’re not “outlandish allegations about an overdose death.” For weeks the narrative has been “Luhnow/Hinch/Crane/the Astros players should have known what was going on and put a stop to it, or at the very least told someone about things.” Are you now claiming that NO OTHER ANGEL knew that a significant amount of players were using illegal drugs? Did they “just look the other way”?
123Redsox, Isn’t Trout a player? Do you think, that the Astros players who reported the cheating (none) prior to this offseason were right, or are you one of the hordes who claim that the Astros players are all guilty because they “looked the other way and didn’t report anything to management.” As far as “upper management” handling the issue, Skaggs was doing drugs and being supplied with them by the DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS for the Angels…
“that’s not what I would call good luck.” You’re right. That’s called Karma.
Halo11Fan, I don’t know Tim Mead, but I know he was Eric Kay’s boss and Mead is going to have to answer to allegations by Sandy Kay, Eric’s mother. By the logic of most MLBTR fans, shouldn’t he have known what was going on with Kay, Skaggs, and at least five other Angels players, abusing illegal drugs? Eric Kay gave the names of the players to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Here is a link to the ESPN story dateline October 12, 2019: https://www.espn.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/27828247/los-angeles-angels-employee-details-team-knowledge-tyler-skaggs-drug-use-federal-dea-investigators-espn
I think someone needs an HUG…
And why exactly would you want to do that?
I’ll say youre a salty astros fan
stev,
You can’t keep playing the ‘salty’ card. Mix it up a bit, keep the NaCl in your hip pocket, and then unload on some poor, unsuspecting rube. Free advice for you there.
good thing it’s free advice because its trash advice
Now look who isn’t being very sweet! Don’t be so savory!
With their offense they still will probably make it. The only hole in their lineup is at C it seems. I think the situation gets sticky after 2021 when they lose their ace starters.
Don’t forget the hole at H, you know, Honesty. Well maybe you don’t if you’re an Asstros fan. Doesn’t look like honesty or integrity are much valued in H-Town these days… That’s a shame, I always hoped Texas was better than that.
Ohhhhh I get it, you put an extra “s” in there so it says “ASStros” ahahaha good one.
But yeah no kind of rich for supporters of the Yankees to go on about integrity. Even ignoring the capri sun, Steinbrenner got booted from the game because of his antics. They’re not model citizens. More importantly, Beltran said the Astros sign-stealing was behind… after coming over from the Yankees and going back to them after he retired. So, like I said, sure the Astros are the Iron Sheik but better that than groveling for New Yorkers.
“Doesn’t look like Zack Greinke is much valued in the Bronx these days… That’s a shame, I always hoped New York was better than that”
“Don’t forget the hole at H, you know, Honesty.”
This made me cringe so much that I’m almost rooting for the Astros to do well now.
Supporter of the Yankees???? You blew that call. Nice try, I guess the only defense for Asstros fan is to try to point the finger elsewhere. It isn’t working, at all.
why don’t you come to Texas and say that. Step into any bar in downtown Houston and questioned Texan’s honesty and integrity and see what happens to you
the Yankees the Red Sox and the New York Mets were all busted for similar sign stealing schemes using illegal technology before the Houston Astros. matter of fact one could argue the Houston Astros implemented their sign stealing scheme in response to what the Yankees and the Red Sox were doing. And also didn’t help that a former Yankee join the team and told the players that they were behind. but they’re sign stealing schemes sucked and they were losing because of it. And then instituted this grotesque scheme that is brought them so much misfortune.
the Houston Astros sign stealing scheme originated in New York. With New York Yankee players
bass,
So are we talking about the Marquess of Queensberry Rules; i.e., some fisticuffs, here? Or are we talking about a barstool across the back of the head? Would it be a fair fight or anything goes?
if you know anything about fighting you know there’s no such thing as a fair fight
if you know anything about Texas you know it’s a bad idea to be there and pop off about Texans or Texas. It is a statistical fact that you are twice as likely to get punched in the face in the state of Texas than any other state in the country. And we don’t just go around punching people in the face. You have to say something to earn it. I do not recommend popping off to Texans.
bass,
Thank you for the clarification and for warning us to steer clear of Texas. Much obliged!
Sounds like you have misplaced hatred. The fans didn’t cheat, so why be a dick?
No chance they miss the playoffs. Way too much fire power throughout the lineup. Plus, with everyone piling on, they now have a chip on their shoulder and an “us v the world” mentality. They may not go far in the playoffs but nobody has closed the gap enough in that division… especially the Rangers, although us Ranger fans can always dream.
If Oakland finishes in first which is a possibility, I think they have a shot at missing the playoffs. I’m not saying it is likely, but possible that both wild card teams come out of the east with tampa, boston or toronto or the central with cleveland and the white Sox contending for wild card spots… and if one of those teams finishes first, no way the twins or yanks don’t get the wild cards
Oakland starting pitching is so suspect that it will be a miracle if they make the playoffs at all. 2 of the guys being counted on are rookies with no starts last season another is coming off a PED suspension and who was never good before the steroids, and another had 30 IP last season coming off TJ surgery. That is 4 of 5. The other is Fiers who is 34 and now considered a pariah.
It has way more potential then the last two years. No Ejax, no Brett Anderson. I will take Montas Manaea Luzardo over any front three they have run out in two straight 97 win seasons. That infield defense and deep OF fences will make most pitchers over perform.
Oakland A’s are highly overrated. Their recent success is completely due to the number of teams in the American League that have been tanking over the last few seasons.
They are not a quality team.
The quality shows in October.
Barring health issues leading to significant problems, they still win it. Though OAK should be about as good as they were last year, and LAA and TEX will both be better. Ultimately they’re still clearly more loaded with talent.
Don’t even have to cheat to beat the teams in the AL West truthfully.
There would be no way of knowing that sooooo
Verlander and Greinke are not getting any younger, and McCullers is no guarantee. Third place finish
Thats funny. 107 wins last season and you think they won’t make the playoffs. I would love that as an Angels fan, but it’s not happening. Going to make a bold prediction of my own. The Astros win 100 games this season and again take the AL pennant beating the Twins in 6 games before losing to the Dodgers in the WS.
Oakland is going to finish ahead of Houston this season, and absolutely nobody except Astros fans are going to be sad about it. I cannot wait to see the living hell that baseball puts these cheaters through
Lmao said the Yankee fan. You have probably been saying this for the last three years. Wipe your tears man.
The only tears that will be shed is that little Altuve when he gets one at 100 mph on his wrist or his ribcage
Lol thanks for making it easy to see how hurt you are, grandpa. I thought you’d feel a certain way about throwing at guys after seeing Stanton and Judge take plunks off the face and wrist but ooooookay. Yeah man your analysis is really reliable hahaha, I’m guessing knocking Altuve out of the game is the only way you think the Yanks can beat them? Both teams are really good. You shouldn’t have to stoop so low.
Here’s the backstory to your comment @PinstripedPride, in 2020 Gerrit Cole will get the Yips, and when they face the Astros a few weeks into the season, Gerrit Cole will plunk Altuve in his ribcage at 100mph because he can’t find the strikezone anymore.
I’m likely much younger than you, but OK. And no, the Yankees will beat them, plunking or no. It would just be extra satisfaction to see it happen.
Being a grandpa isn’t about your birth certificate, it’s about your take. And ranting about drilling Jose Altuve with gas is USDA certified grass-fed peak-MLBTR tough guy material.
Like I said the matchup will be fun to watch but we’ll see.
Stoop so low? As low as the Astros?
the Yankees are going to beat the Houston Astros? that’ll be a first….
Better than average chance Oakland doesn’t make the playoffs, even if they know what pitches are coming. Dream on pinstripedmoron
They won 97 games two years in a row without cheating.
The assbros are are steaming pile of turd. Their organization is garbage. They are significantly worse this year.
My prediction: Bregman and Altuve come out of the closet after going on the IL with butt issues. Verlander finally breaks. Correa gets his ass kicked by Cody Bellinger at the AS game. Gurriel and Reddick take D-cells to the dome in their first game in NY. The rest of the assbros finish 6 games behind the Mariners for last place in the division.
Nice meme
They won 97 games two seasons in a row with a solid pitching staff. This season they have 2 guys that made a total of ZERO starts last season, a guy that had 29 IP because he was coming off TJ surgery, and another that is coming off a PED suspension and was not good without steroids. The other guy is Fiers.
79 starts of 3.91 ERA are gone from last years staff to be replaced by rookies, a TJ returnee, and a steroid user.
If you think that OAK had a solid SP staff the last two years your smoking some good Cali Bud. They had a useful SP staff despite it being made up of Ejax/Cahill/Anderson et al. They have equivalent floor pitchers this year with ceilings that are much much higher.
As an Astros Fab I don’t truthfully care where the Yankees finish
They aren’t important enough to me.
Says a fan of the biggest cheaters in baseball.
Yankees also stole signs in 2017. Judge probably cheated.
The Yankees are the ones that started all of the sign stealing. It originated in their clubhouse. They were caught in 2015 doing this. Red Sox were caught in 2016 as we’re the New York Mets. For some reason nobody wants to talk about that. They just want to bash on the Astros.
If you love the game of baseball and are truly concerned about the integrity of it you would be honest about the situation we have right now. I don’t even blame the New York Mets the New York Yankees or the Boston Red Sox for starting all this. I blame Major League baseball. I blame the instant replay. The inception of the instant replay led to Major League baseball putting live feeds of the games in club houses so that teams could determine if they wanted to challenge a play in a quick manner. Nobody thought of the unintended consequences of putting a live feed so close to players, coaches, and personal. Nobody even considered that this could be abused in this manner. Which to me shows a serious lack of intelligence and imagination. Once again this all falls on Major League baseball. Just like the steroid era they could have done something about it a long time ago. They knew this was going on. They’re just so concerned about their precious game times and how long they run that they were willing to look the other way to save a few extra minutes
I’d hardly say Miley was a part of excellent innings. His 3.98 era was adequate for an innings eater. That’s about it.
I’m interested to see what kind of spring Whitley has. Opportunity is there, wonder if he can rise to the occasion.
Before he absolutely collapsed, he was carrying a low 3. Overlooked part of their season because of the way he disappeared.
is it not a bit premature to call McCullers a lock to return to the 3rd cog in the rotation; i think we may want to see him pitch post TJ surgery first. Very surprised Houston have not added some form of veteran rotation option, to compete in camp at least.
What veteran would want to sign with that scumbag, dumpster fire of an organization?
They had the best pitcher in the game, dude couldn’t wait to get the hell out of that place. He was wearing a Scott Boras hat during postgame interviews ffs.
I think you’re ignoring the situation he was in where he got passed over to finish out a world series and get a title for himself, lol, that was clearly the reason if you followed the game and the postgame proceedings.
That was the spin put on it at the time. Now that we know the truth, it makes more sense that someone that hates cheating couldn’t wait to be disassociated with a group of scumbag cheaters.
Why is that “narrative” so doubtful? You could see Greinke crying in the dugout lol why is it hard to believe Cole did not like being disrespected by Hinch in such a way?
Update, read your other post and wow I wasted my time typing this, why even bother lol
Sadly enough for Angels fans, McCullers already looks good in spring training. The Astros said he started his regular throwing program in December and the film I saw of him has looked really good.
Astros articles should be banned from this rumor site indefinitely because of the negative headlines.
Their staff will be as follows:
Verlander
Grienke
Mcullers
Urquidy
Whitley
Greinke will fall off a cliff next year being on a team surrounded by negativity (and he’s like 36). Verlander will stay sharp, I’m not saying Cy Young sharp, (because that belongs to Kluber), but he’s still like a fine wine. Mcullers will hover around a 4.00 era the whole year as he readjusts. Urquidy will have a breakout year, he reminds me of Trevor Bauer quite a lot. Whitley will be a bust, he will be the first of many guys to step in as the 5th starter in Houston.
5th starter they will probably have to play around like they did last year. For Greinke though idk, he’s aged pretty gracefully into being a junkballer. Nothing really alarming about his peripherals or transferring to the team, and it’s not like he’s falling from 95 to 93 and drastically plummeting. His ERA+ actually didn’t change. He played well for some awful Royals teams so I don’t really get the whole mental toughness bit. He almost won them a title, lol. I think he will do fine. One thing to watch is the baseballs though.
If the baseballs change, that actually benefits Greinke.
Yeah that’s what I was getting at, seems like if they go back to the normal drag it benefits him greatly. Normally he has been able to limit longballs.
Zero% chance that Whitley starts as the #5. Luhnow was there guy who posted his guys up despite results. Forrest gonna have to prove alot and even then they wouldn’t want him to pitch a full season’s worth of innings.
Luhnow did magically land a good hunch with pushing Urquidy to the front of the line, though. Accidentally great idea, lol, but yes Whitley has to throw strikes. Shame because in terms of pure stuff there aren’t too many better right now in any system. Framber Valdez is an even more frustrating version of this. Incredible ground ball % but then all over the place.
It’s gonna be a good spring training battle for those last two spots…let’s see who steals the show……………
Astros need to just embrace the image as the new bad boys of baseball. Change their colors to black and orange. Have their own personal trash cans in the dugout, beating on them every pitch thrown. I’m going to love watching this year
Honestly they should have just accepted the position of MLB’s Iron Sheik and just not had that phony press conference. If you’re going to turn heel at least learn to give a good promo.
Agreed. They should have just stood up there waving their rings
If you aint cheating you aint an Asstro………….
The Astros are looked at in the same light as the Patriots now. The only thing that silenced haters is continuously winning championships. Manfred and Crane completely botched this operation to the point of no return. It should die down for Manfred once the regular season gets underway, but the only thing that can button the Astro haters is winning it all.
Brandon, how does one tainted World Series title put you in the same light as the Patriots?
The arrogance of the fans is only exceeded by the arrogance of the players.
You mean they are looked at as the best team of the last decade in their sport?
Best team? They dont even have the most WS wins in the last 10 years. One title does not a dynasty make dude.
He was poking fun at Brandon comparing Houston to New England. You comprehended this thread like it’s A’s October baseball – a total fail.
My prediction, with all the negative energy surrounding the ASStros as well as playing half their games in places with signs, chants, boos and vulgar suggestions thrown at them they will wilt under that negativity.
I can hardly wait for Altuve, Bregman, Springer to go in any kind of slump, and may never find the way back for awhile. So no playoffs no matter how good their pitching.
If the Astros don’t even make the postseason in 2020 they should consider a rebuild of some sort. Of course I’d hang onto Correa, Bregman, Alvarez, and Tucker, but beyond that I’d say everyone is fair game.
Tbh I can see them having to take a step back in 2021 and figure something out unless all their pitching depth springs to live overnight (like if Javier blossoms into a TOR guy, Valdez/James magically finds it). Realistically after their aces leave they would need to take a look at where they’re at.
I don’t think Grienke is going anywhere, but I do think Verlander could potentially be dealt at this season’s deadline if the opportunity presented itself.
Regardless of the tainted image, I think he definitely could bring back a couple top pitching prospects to supplement Whitley, Urquidy, and McCullers Jr. in the future.
That’s a fair way to look at it. In my opinion, if Whitley just magically puts it together and becomes the top-tier arm he is “supposed” to be then it’s almost like their plans change immediately for 2021; that would give them their five starters going into 2021 if they don’t move anybody, and suddenly they’re back in business. But obviously if he doesn’t throw strikes then none of this matters.
But ofc with recent champions it’s never really possible to just crush it 100% and times come where the team just has to bite the bullet, and I really do think it’s going to be one of those times in the next few years. Not like they will keep winning 100 games every year.
Why even bother mentioning the Astros.They should all be in prisons and only Chump Trump can get them out.
What happens if one, or more, of the Astro hitters start out slowly ? Not out of the question. Will the mind$&@“ set in ? Guilt is a heavy emotion. It will manifest itself in the worst ways. Will these guys start questioning their ability ? Can I still do this without the help ? The Tell-Tale Trash Can, anyone ?
This is a good question because Bregman noticeably starts off slow every season it seems. He came in lighter to camp though (I think?) and is intent on busting it but who knows.
It will be interesting to watch.
Their two real locks are 36+37, McCullers is coming off TJS and far from a lock to be a solid 3 starter. And the rest of the rotation is patch work
They better pray Greinke and Verlander are healthy+ effective. Or It could be an ugly year
And if they’ve really been cheating for 3+ years… no guarantee how these guys really hit To say “offense will carry them”
Loads of questions from a 107 W team..
MLB wide April 1st is mini trash can giveaway with a limited edition, shirtless Altuve bobblehead.
That’s funny. How original.
I agree with you. Though the lineup can carry them through a lot, their pitching is questionable, and average at best.
Have never wished injuries to anyone, but I think they are 1-2 players away from struggling against an improved division.
I had no idea the average MLB rotation had a reigning cy young winner and former cy young at 1 and 2. Weird…
At some point, accomplishments are in the past. The Texas Rangers have a two time Cy Young winner. I guess they are above average now?