For the sake of this discussion, let’s say a 2020 Major League Baseball season will occur. If it does, the Brewers will enter the campaign with a relatively anonymous group of starters. That’s nothing new for Milwaukee, though, as the team and its ace-less staffs managed to clinch playoff berths in each of the previous two seasons. However, just because the Brewers may not have a Cy Young-type starter on their roster, that doesn’t mean they’re devoid of capable options.
Brandon Woodruff had a terrific 2019 and seemed to be turning into a front-line type before injuries cut him down. The hope is that offseason pickups Brett Anderson and Josh Lindblom (the latter dominated in Korea before returning stateside in the winter) should at least be able to competently eat innings. Eric Lauer, who joined the Brewers in a November trade with the Padres, has shown himself to be a passable big league starter. And then there’s Adrian Houser, who has demonstrated rather promising signs of late.
A second-round pick of the Astros in 2011, Houser joined the Brewers in a blockbuster 2015 trade – one that also delivered star reliever Josh Hader to Milwaukee. In regards to Houser, MLBTR’s Steve Adams wrote at the time: “Houser has a 5.10 ERA split across two levels (Class-A Advanced and Double-A) this season, and he’s worked as both a starter and a reliever. He’s averaged 8.5 K/9 and 3.8 BB/9 this year, and MLB.com rated him 21st among Houston prospects prior to the trade. Their scouting report praises his mid-90s fastball and ability to generate grounders but notes that the 22-year-old’s control has plenty of room for improvement.”
Houser is now 27 years old, and while not a ton has changed about his profile since the deal, he has bettered his control. He walked fewer than two batters per nine across 21 1/3 Triple-A innings last season and posted a respectable 2.99 BB/9 over a major league sample of 111 1/3 frames.
Houser divided his first extensive year in the majors between the Brewers’ rotation and bullpen (35 appearances, 18 starts, including work as an opener), and the results were encouraging. He parlayed a 94 mph-plus fastball into 9.46 K/9, a 3.72 ERA/3.88 FIP and a stellar 53.4 percent groundball rate. Out of 130 pitchers who amassed 100 innings or more, Houser finished eighth in grounder rate, 37th in strikeouts per nine (Clayton Kershaw and Eduardo Rodriguez were in a similar vicinity), and FanGraphs graded his fastball as the 14th-best of its kind, placing him between Max Scherzer and Chris Paddack. Moreover, Statcast was a big fan, ranking Houser at least above average in hard-hit rate, strikeout percentage, mean fastball velo, expected weighted on-base average and average exit velocity, among other categories.
There’s plenty to like about Houser, though concerns exist. Mainly, it’s in question whether he can go deep in games, as he only exceeded the five-inning mark four times last season; plus, his numbers were much better as a reliever. Regardless of role, Houser has at least developed into a useful contributor for the Brewers, and the fact that he has two more pre-arbitration years left and five seasons’ control remaining makes him even more of an asset for the low-budget franchise. Maybe Houser will never make the type of impact Hader has, but he has turned into a nice piece for the Brewers – one who still may have some untapped potential.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Yeah but he pukes a lot and still plays, that makes him kinda cool
Pukehouser is the man. Jomboy said something about his numbers being OFF THE CHARTS GOOD after he yacks on the mound.
I think he struck out the side both times he barfed and pitched something like 2 hit ball over 12 or 14 innings after the barf.
Exceptional!
Super, super interesting trade here.
The Brewers gave up Carlos Gomez and Mike Fiers to Houston. Gomez was pretty awful in Houston, and Mike Fiers…. erm… yeah.
In exchange, the Brewers got Hader, Houser, Domingo Santana and Bret Phillips.
Phillips got flipped (with an older non-prospect arm) for 2 years of Mike Moustakas.
Santana gave them a few years of decent production before getting flipped for Ben Gamel and a decent looking pitcher from Seattle.
Houser has the potential to be a very useful piece whether it’s in the rotation or pen.
And Hader is bound to net them a nice return when he’s dealt, or at least a QO pick.
Too bad the Astros couldn’t bang on a trash can to find out if they were about to get spanked in a trade.
This deal looks historically bad for them, especially when you consider the repercussions of Mike Fiers presence.
Fiers did throw a no hitter for the Astros….against the team they cheated to win the WS in 2017….ironic I guess.
Hader alone made that trade lopsided….
Hader alone makes it lopsided, but there is a lot more to it. That trade continues to reap new benefits for the Brewers.
But even getting (I think) 4 years of slightly above league-average production from Santana would have been a win.
Getting two years of Moose, mainly for Phillips counts too.
Santana really only had one good year with the Brewers and Moose was acquired for two months via trade, and then signed an new deal after the season.
What repercussions?
Fiers did the right thing and threw a couple no hitters.
Still, the Crew has a habit of fleecing the Astros, just like the Bucks do with Detroit!
Sir Pukesalot is the man! A-House deserves to be in that rotation and show people that he doesn’t just puke mid-game, he’s also a big time baller! He’s a future all-star.
Just beat the Cubs, alright.
Considering that 5 innings is considered the minimum to get a win in MLB, it’s exceedingly unfair to suggest that Houser somehow lacks the ability to go deep into games.
The FACT of the matter is that he went 5 innings or more in 11 of his 18 starts. That’s a pretty good innings eater (and 2 of the times he failed to do so were after long stints in the bullpen and he was merely an opener who was not expected to go more than 3 or 4; the fact is also that baseball is changing and Counsell and Stearns are at the forefront of a revolution in which we will consider 5 innnings great for a starter and not burn them out with overwork).
The numbers don’t lie. He was as good as Kershaw last year (who is still very good).
In fact, he’s very young and had little experience before last year. Much like a guy named Woodruff who broke out last year (and is still getting better).
I fully expected Woodruff to be a top 3 Cy Young vote getter this year and Houser to be as good–if not better–than Woodruff was last year.
I felt so confident that I bet my roomie a cool 100 that the Brewers’ 5 best starters would have the best cumulative ERA in the entire league.
The Brewers were going to be a surprise team again this year, because by mid season Burnes and Peralta were going to be in the rotation and Lauer and Lindblom would have been fighting for the 5th spot (and hopefully the terrible Anderson would have been gone).
I sincerely felt that this starting staff was going to rival the Orioles of the 70s, but my dream of seeing the Crew in another World Series has been dashed.
.