Houston Astros: The pitching rotation will be just fine

The Houston Astros are facing the highest level of tests that they’ve had for the entire season as the starting pitching rotation is dropping like flies.

Yes, three out of the five members of the starting rotation has dealt with some type of malady over the course of the past month. With a strong — yet shaky — start with all guys intact, key injuries have caused the Houston Astros to get creative of how they manage their pitching staff until they return back to the mound.

Dallas Keuchel has been placed back on 10-day DL with a neck injury. He had a previous trip there a few weeks back, started one game and then suffered it again just a couple of days ago. He was scratched just before the start of the game because he just couldn’t go. Keuchel has continued to reiterate that he won’t rush back and that he’ll return when he’s absolutely healthy enough to do so.

Charlie Morton has been on the shelf with a lat injury, although he has started pitching off the mound again, his return will be tough to gauge as those injuries are quite delicate and the lat is one of the most important muscles for a pitcher. He likely won’t be ready to do to well after the All-Star break but hopefully I’m wrong.

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Collin McHugh is pitching off the mound as well but his arm has not yet built the strength to start pitching on regular basis. I’m positive McHugh still has a couple of months before he’s ready to get going and we don’t necessarily know how he’ll be if and when he returns.

Joe Musgrove recently partook in a 20-pitch bullpen session and he didn’t feel any discomfort in his right shoulder. Because of his youth and as I expected, he’d be the quickest to return. He’ll be back in the lineup Monday to start against the Texas Rangers. So luckily, that’s good news as Joe would have some struggles but has overall solid for the season.

Mike Fiers certainly has been a bright spot in the rotation since being demoted to the bullpen all but about 12 hours then quickly promoted back into the starting rotation after the injuries. Since May 30 when all of that went down, he’s 3-0 with 20 strikeouts, four earned runs and 14 hits during this stretch of 18.1 innings pitched. He only gave up two hits yesterday. His ERA has decreased to 4.29 and WHIP is now at 1.400. I had my concerns about Fiers and even took out a 800+ word column on his woes but it looks like he’s certainly back on track.

Lance McCullers Jr. is…well you know…Lance McCullers Jr. The only piece in the rotation that has stayed healthy and has pitched consistently well just keeps on trucking and I’m thankful for that.

With that being said, when things get dicey, A.J. Hinch has shown his resiliency to turning to the bullpen to get us through. Call-ups such as Ashur Tolliver, Reymin Guduan, David Paulino, Dayan Diaz and Francis Martes have all contributed at some point for this team.

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Brad Peacock, Chris Devenski, Will Harris, Ken Giles, Michael Feliz and Tony Sipp are around too to keep things moving along when the times get tough. Although it’s great to have all five starters available, the depth of our pitching staff will get us through this rough patch. We still have the best record in the majors and have a commanding 13-game lead in the AL West. That didn’t happen by accident.

So with all things considered, we’ll be fine ya’ll. Let’s just sit back and relax to watch our team continue to rewrite the history books.

Go Astros.

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