We had one of these awhile back for position players and I thought it would be fun to do one for the pitchers. The Astros have been lucky enough to have had some incredibly talented pitchers over the years. So with apologies to guys like Larry Dierker, J.R. Richards, Joe Niekro, Billy Wagner, Roy Oswalt, and Brad Lidge, here are the candidates for best single-season performance. The inclusion of Randy Johnson's 11 starts in 1998 may be controversial, but he was so incredibly dominant in that stretch for the greatest Astros team in the Astrodome era.
Cole and Verlander were more dominant, but to me the primary measure of accomplishment is to not allow runs. Wins mean nothing, and the Astrodome during the 80's was one of the most pitcher friendly parks ever. Clemens (likely substance enhanced) 2005 season is one of the greatest ever. 12th greatest ERA+ in a full season.
Not going to stack up from a cumulative stats standpoint given that he wasn’t on the opening day roster, but Oswalt’s 2001 rookie season was as dominant a debut stretch that the Astros fans had ever seen in a long long time. also keep in mind this is still during the steroid era and nobody had proven that they could pitch at MMP yet.
When I saw topic I thought we'd be talking the whole staff for a season. Coles stretch to end 2019, until WS game 1 , was incredible.
I almost voted for Rocket, that season the the height of the steroid era. But JV 2019 for me takes it--offense is up in this era, too. That was incredible. Scottie takes third for me.
The Randy Johnson run after the trade was the most dominant thing ever. The level of confidence that we were going to win the game when he took the mound was off the charts. The only thing I've seen like that is Mike Scott at times in 1986.
Scott against the stacked Mets lineup is the most dominant stretch of pitching I've seen. If Richard had stayed healthy I think the 80 team would've won a WS.
The Randy Johnson run was absolutely dominant. I was the first vote for him on this poll! I was a teen at the time, and was the most excited I had ever been for Astros baseball. Unfortunately, our anemic offense blew it in the playoffs
Technically the Astros had that same opportunity with Randy Johnson.... in fact it was speculated that the Astros were going to benefit more from the multiple off days, due to this, than the Padres. They could have had a Nolan, Randy, Clemens, JR Richard rotation that series... and the exact same outcome would likely transpire. That offense, while loaded, was prone to being shut down by power strikeout pitching (that was also the Kerry Wood year).... and Sterling Hitchcock.
Obviously in hindsight the offense didn't produce in the playoffs... but that team Astros led the league in OBP and put a bunch of men on base in game 3. The team wasn't just Biggio and Bagwell - Bell, Alou, Berry/Spiers, Everett, even Ausmus. But they all crapped the bed in that series, and Randy went 0-2 in his starts despite a sub-2 ERA. Hard to win when your offense strikes out 49 times in 4 playoff games. That's one thing I've appreciated about the current core - they don't shut down in the playoffs and they can all handle power pitching.
Its a 3 way tie for me as far as dominance goes.. Mike scott 1986- he seemed unhittable almost every time out that year. I was 13 so maybe rose colored memory goggles. I was so geeked about that team. randy down the stretch 1998. My lord was he unbelievable. Cole from june on in 2019. Maybe the most dominant performance if I had to pick one. Tough call. I Just missed JR Richard. I was only 7 when he finished.
Just imagine if we could pick five of those guys to be on and start for our 2021 team? That would be intense! 1) Ryan 2) Verlander 3) Clemens 4) Johnson 5) Scott
Yes... this lineups ability to limit strikeouts is what truly makes them elite. Even in the shortened year, they struck out the least. Fully aware of how great that 1998 team’s lineup was, from start to finish. That being said, they did have the ability to not just get shut down... but dominated... by power starting pitching.
This is about single seasons, and Lidge was completely f**king untouchable in 04, including a dominant postseason run. He was great in 05 as well, until game 5 anyway.
