Houston Astros: Recent injuries amplify need for another starter
The Houston Astros starting rotation has now had three pitchers land on the disabled list in the past two weeks. These injuries make the need for another frontline starter all the more apparent.
Fortunately so far, all the injuries for the Houston Astros don’t seem too serious with each pitcher landing on the 10 day disabled list, including Dallas Keuchel already making his return on Saturday. But now that Charlie Morton and Joe Musgrove have both gone down with a strained lat and shoulder discomfort respectively, the issue of adding a starter has become a more pressing one.
When the Astros pitching was rolling through May (It still is with the best ERA in the American League at 3.45), it was looking like maybe we didn’t need a trade after all. Keuchel was on a Cy Young pace, Charlie Morton was surprising us all with his consistent mid-90’s fastball, Lance McCullers Jr. was dazzling us with that ridiculous Sports Illustrated cover-worthy curveball of his. And all of this without Colin McHugh! Everything was gravy.
But the fragility of starting pitching has reared its ugly head. And this shows the need for another starting pitcher to add depth to the rotation. Starting pitching is the most volatile and unpredictable part of a major league season. Just ask the New York Mets and how their star-studded rotation has been since that magical 2015 run.
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Last year only Noah Syndegaard and Bartolo Colon pitched over 148 innings due to the health issues of the rest of the rotation and this year only Jacob DeGrom is on pace to finish with over 190 innings pitched for the same reason.
Point is, starting pitching is the toughest position to get consistency from. The Astros are playing at an extremely high level on all fronts.
Their offensive depth and versatilve bullpen should be able to overcome these adversities in the short term. However these injuries to Morton and Musgrove (And their potential lingering effects) will determine how soon the Astros make a move for another starter.
In total as of today, the Astros have had to shelve four starters in their rotation (McHugh, Keuchel, Morton and Musgrove) and have been able to put together the best record in the Major leagues despite that.
Cold stretches happen though, and the more you rely on spot starts from less talented pitchers, the more you could see big early leads from opposing teams. That could lead to more innings on your bullpen making you all the more vulnerable to those cold stretches when your relievers are overworked.
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Hopefully Musgrove and Morton will be on the disabled list for the 10 days as prescribed. But these injuries serve as a warning and an impetus to make a trade. The fact that four pitchers in our rotation have been injured, and the most oft injury prone one (McCullers Jr.) isn’t one of them is a sign to make certain we don’t take this hot start for granted and keep our foot on the gas pedal.