Houston Astros: Justin Verlander, Francis Martes to make ST debut today

The Houston Astros have chugged along in Spring Training with a 3-0 record with a lot of our guys using this time to fine-tune their play before the season starts.  Today, we’ll get the opportunity to see two damn good pitchers, Justin Verlander and Francis Martes take the mound in a split squad series.  What’s going on?  Let’s take a look.

The Houston Astros are out to defend their World Series championship and they’re off to great start in Spring Training thus far.  Although their 3-0 record thus far is meaningless, it goes to show that a lot of these guys were working on their game in the off season.  Their an intense amount of competitiveness on this roster and that’s what is going to make this team even better.

Yesterday’s three-run homer by Houston Astros’ top prospect Kyle Tucker goes to show how much sickening depth we have on this team.  He would be an incredible add to the 25-man roster but because the team has so much talent, they can hold off on that for awhile.  But barring injury, I’m positive that we’ll be seeing him sometime in September along with Forrest Whitley.

But the Houston Astros have just signed-and-sealed the lineup cards for today’s split squad series against the Miami Marlins and the New York Mets:

As for Justin Verlander, what more can the guy do other than win a back-to-back title to enhance his resume?  At 35-years-old, he has demonstrated that not only does he still have strong stuff but it never left him to begin with.  Quite honestly, we don’t win this past championship without him.  But the third time is the charm for JV as he’s tried twice with the Detroit Tigers to get the promised land but has fell short.

He was electric throughout the entire postseason but it was against the New York Yankees, where he shined the most, arguably putting the team on his back to get them to the Big Show in the first place.  He won the ALCS MVP as a result of that performance and I’ll never forget his complete game performance in Game 2.  It was an instant classic.  So Verlander will look to improve of his 1.06 ERA in five starts in the regular season along with a strong 2.48 postseason ERA into 2018 if there is such a thing.

As for Francis Martes, a top prospect for the Houston Astros for quite some time, he looks to try

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to pry his way into the bullpen for this season.  He’s lost weight and he’s focusing more on controlling the immense amount of velocity that he has.  He has some great stuff that he throws but sometimes it can be all over the place, having me wondering what the hell is going on his head?

He’ll be looking to avenge his 5.80 ERA since being called up to the majors last season as well trying to get an uptick on his strikeout count.  He had 69 of those through 54.1 innings pitched last season.

Part of the squad will take on the Marlins at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, Fla. and the rest will take on the Mets at the Ballpark of the Palm Beaches.  Their game against the Mets will feature Verlander and will be broadcast on AT&T SportsNet Southwest and the MLB Network.  All games, of course, will be broadcast on SportsTalk 790 AM.  First pitch for both games is set for 12:05 p.m. CST.

Next: Collin McHugh's relentless battle for a starting spot

Let’s hope for the best!

Go Astros!