Houston Astros Rumors: Why the team might fill out the rotation internally
By T.A. Mock
The Houston Astros have quite a few holes to fill in their starting rotation. However, there has been radio silence on acquisitions so the team may be looking to fill it internally, here’s why.
The Houston Astros weren’t able to defend their 2017 World Series championship in 2018. They put together a strong regular season that saw them win a franchise record 103 wins. The bats weren’t as hot all season long as they were in 2017. However, the pitching staff was phenomenal and powered the run.
Unfortunately, it was the pitching staff that did falter slightly down the road and the Red Sox were able to jump on nearly any and every pitcher the Astros could trot out there. Ultimately, this paired with the same offense the team had all year long was the downfall in the ALCS.
The Astros then entered the offseason knowing they might have massive amounts of turnover on this pitching staff. Charlie Morton is already gone after signing with the Tampa Bay Rays earlier this month. Lance McCullers underwent Tommy John surgery immediately after the season and is out until 2020. Dallas Keuchel declined his qualifying over and is still floating out there in free-agentdom.
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A Keuchel return is still possible as his market has developed slowly but it’s still really unlikely. So, they still have three spots to fill in their starting rotation as a bunch of starting pitchers sign and get traded elsewhere. Those three pitchers, Keuchel, Morton, and McCullers, pitched exactly 500 innings for the Houston Astros last year. That’s a big hole to fill.
As pieces fall around the league, it appears that the team may not really be looking far and wide outside of the team for the guys to fill out the rotation. They may be looking at guys currently assembled on the roster as the way to put together this rotation. Let’s take a look.