The Houston Astros are back on track and one of the men leading the charge is Justin Verlander with his spectacular style of play. He has been awarded the AL Pitcher of the Month honors. Here’s why this is just the beginning. Let’s take a look.
The Houston Astros currently sit at the top of the AL West division just one game ahead of the Seattle Mariners, a team that refuses to go away into oblivion, as the jog to the start of the All-Star Break being on the horizon. This team certainly doesn’t have the double-digit lead that they embodied throughout last season but that’s okay.
What the HoustonAstrosdid last season in terms of the pile-up of wins was extraordinary and that’s a tough act to follow for the second time in a row, considering the multiple amount of variables the game of baseball has.
You know what? I’m cool with it because I know this team has what it takes to go the distance. We may have to make some tweaks*cough, cough, a dominant reliever!*but when the dust settles at the end of the season, I think the HoustonAstroswill be last team standing among all of the fray.
This pitching staff is brutal — withJustin Verlander(1.11 ERA),Dallas Keuchel(3.65 ERA),Lance McCullers Jr.(3.89 ERA),Charlie Morton(2.26 ERA)andGerrit Cole(2.20 ERA)leading the way, it makes them damn near infallible to anybody that they face. Keuchel and McCullers have had their fair share of struggles but there’s plenty of time for them to get their stuff together for when it really counts.
But who am I kidding?EVERY WIN COUNTSand we’re going to need everything we have to muster up a nice lead to get the Mariners off our back once and for good.
Now aside from all of the praise I’ve been giving to the HoustonAstrospitching staff, it’s time recognize Verlander for the terrific month that he had.
The Astros certainly did the honors on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/astros/status/1002974956915953664
I don’t have to repeat the numbers as you see them in the graphic. Ah hell, let’s repeat for the heck of it. Verlander put up a0.86 ERAwhile tossing50 strikeoutsand allowingfour earned runsthrough41.2 innings pitchedand six starts in the month of May. You can also credit three wins to that total as well.
My goodness — this guy is on the verge of being the presumptive, unanimous nominee for the ALCy YoungAward at the end of the season. If he keeps this up, he’ll get there. This trend is definitely something to write home about — like I’m doing — as he usually comes on strong AFTER the All-Star Break but it appears there’s no stopping him now.
There’s even talk of him having the best pitching season everalong with guys likeBob Gibson,Sandy Koufax,Randy Johnson,Tom SeaverandGreg Maddux— you know names that are just SOOOOO tough to recognize.
But with my kidding aside, let’s hang on to our hats for this ride because it will take us to places that we’ve never been before! It has been a long time since we’ve had a pitcher this dominant — or a staff for that matter — so it’s appropriate that usAstros‘ fans soak it all in.
Next: Astros: Top three batters and pitchers in 2018
We’ll see him do battle withDavid Priceand the Boston Red Sox tonight. The first pitch is scheduled for6:15 p.m. CDTand the game will be televised onFOX.It will be broadcast onSportsTalk 790 AM (KBME)andLa Ranchera 850 AM in Spanish.
Congrats JV!
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