I actually like him - I think he is a talented player and he has come up big for the Astros in the playoffs. I have by in large trusted him when he has been healthy and pitched. Yes - his lack of conditioning is a serious issue after a long lay off but he isn't the first. I have been a big fan of Christian Javier going back to A ball and he did not get down conditioning until very recently.
I just think we missed an opportunity to get JV for nothing. Since April 20, 17 starts, 3.70 ERA. Only 3 duds in those 17 starts. We would gladly take that.
If Verlander were on the Astros, I am sure he would be in the rotation but he hasn't really been all that great. About every third start he is getting hit pretty hard. His last start was very good though.
Cal Quantrill was just released. He has been very up and down. A lot of his struggles have been early, but he recently gave up 7 runs in a start.
I haven’t been paying attention to the rehab starts, but Garcia has 352 major league innings and a 3.61 era and overall consistency across several full seasons, averaging 2 WAR per season. Arrighetti had 168 innings with a 4.87 era and has 0 career WAR. He had a dominant stretch, but has been absolutely terrible at times. Garcia had a lot more red on his Baseball Savant page, and walks half as many batters. Anyway, I’d feel much more comfortable with Garcia in the #3 slot in the rotation than Arrighetti based on their track records to this point.
Wouldn't Javier be our hope as the #3 starter? Brown Valdez Javier ????? Alexander If you look at it that way, we aren't far off from a complete and viable rotation. Right now I agree Garcia needs to be that 4th starter. We are quickly running out of options if Walter really isn't coming back.
Here are his starts since April 20: IP/ER 6.0/1 6.0/1 6.1/2 5.0/3 6.0/2 4.0/2 4.2/3 5.0/3 6.0/1 3.0/6 DUD 6.0/2 2.2/4 DUD 5.0/0 5.0/1 5.0/0 5.0/5 DUD 7.0/0 7 quality starts, 3 more excellent 5 IP stints, and 4 more starts that kept you in the game. 14 of 17 starts you would have been competitive in. The only issue he would have presented was having to average nearly 4 innings of relief in his starts.
Back to my division winning formula: Brown/Valdez (win 2 out of 3 starts) 31-17 All others (win half the starts) 38-39 So we are barely behind the pace. Let's get back on track with Brown and Valdez in these next 2 games.
WAR is a pretty trash metric and clouded in mystery. Case in point, Mookie Betts having a crappy year has a much better WAR than Altuve. That's a complete joke. I think they managed to get extra bonus points into the "formula" if you play for the Dodgers or Yankees.
