Colton Gordon has the best xFIP in baseball among rookie SP (min 30 ip). He is 37th best overall; lowering the threshold to 20ip shows Brandon Walter #5 overall. Gordon has the 4th lowest bb/9 among all MLB SP (min 30 ip); lowering the threshold to 20 ip shows Walter as having the lowest bb/9 in the entire league among SP.
Last year on June 25, 2024 the Astros record was 39-40 thanks to a 17-8 June. So they are 7 games ahead of last year’s pace and the team certainly looked a lot better “on paper” than this year’s team but they just keep on over performing. Hopefully the offense goes through a second half surge that continues into the playoffs.
Yordan is swinging the bat again. https://www.houstonchronicle.com/sp...lvarez-hitting-again-hand-injury-20392419.php
I cannot believe these guys are actually as good as they've been pitching .... But I'm incredibly happy they've pitched so well so far. We will see what it looks like after more of a book comes out on them / if they get worn down. Hader 20 for 20 is awesome
The Astros are 19-8 in their last 27. They have some tough series coming up with the Phillies, Dodgers and Cubs. Also - the Astros are at the top of the league in pitching at this point.
I’m working on an article right now looking at whether or not pitching has been lucky. it hasn’t. we are pitching this well. All the rookies have probably been a tad unlucky.
My totally nonprofessional observation is our pitchers all seem to have the ability to make the other teams batters swing and miss. This helps get out of sticky situations for sure. Maybe I'm wrong.
Assuming this holds up - Crane needs to privately call in Murphy and Miller and offer them 7 figure long term deals with an understanding that they will not discuss their pay or interview for any other jobs. Those two have quietly developed an amazing infrastructure with constant communication with coaches from the little league level, all the way to Australia, Korea and Japan and work with college professors to ensure that they are ahead of the curve. That isn't something one person can do and also be the pitching coach, it is amazing that the two of them can work so well together.
Yes and no? This is just my personal opinion based on observing the Astros and what I have been told - and my watching the MLB for 40 years. What I know is that the Astros in general have taken some pitchers and modified their delivery and approach - with the idea being to increase velocity (for some guys) and then once they are throwing harder, they work on improving control after the mechanics are in place. They did this with Arrighetti for example, and Javier and Urquidy. They don't do this for everyone, some guys they focus on spin rate or release point. However, they tend to do it for guys that are a few MPH low on the 2 and 4 seam and basically attempt to take a middling prospect and term them into a higher-level upside guy. I think that likely does lead to injuries for some guys, as they are giving more effort on their delivery and they are throwing harder and with more stress on their arms. There isn't a one size fits all approach though, they did not do that with Valdez or with McCullers. However- I also think that it is a smart approach, as a lot of these guys would not be big leaguers otherwise. If anything, the Astros perhaps need to reconsider how they value pitching contractually going forward. I would also point out that the Dodgers are considered excellent at pitcher development and they spend far more money on resources than the Astros and have more injury issues - now part of that could be having Mark Prior in charge of mechanics - some of it could be that the Dodgers are not risk adverse and will take pitchers with histories of injury issues, and some of it could be bad luck. Still - I look at the Astros, Dodgers, Rays and a few others that are very good at development and they have a lot of arm injuries...
