Absolutely. What he's doing now in the majors is what he did in the minors. Teams struggle to hit him hard. They struggle to string together hits against him. They struggle to score against him as a result. He's the best player on that team right now.
Except that every one of their farm teams is either in first or second place...at the halfway point, every one of them was in first place. There's talent in this organization....it's just young.
Jason Castro is still the best player on this team. I think Cosart has a Roy Oswalt like ceiling, which is very good as a 2nd tier ace, but ultimately falls short of that. I think he'll at least be as good as Bud Norris, and probably fall in between the 2. Have to love the way it has started, and same goes for Oberholtzer.
Maybe this is off topic, but calling Roy Oswalt a second tier starter is just incorrect. He had the third highest WAR of any starter (behind Halladay and Santana) from 2001-2010, and I think that deserves some merit.
I haven't been able to see Cosart pitch much. What's driving his better performance in MLB vs. in the minors? Is this just a situation that other clubs haven't seen him yet to adjust?
I disagree with you on Castro. I'm not sure Castro is even the best catcher in the organization. Cosart, through 6 starts, is already more impressive than Castro is imo.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>From 1962-2013, there have been 660 pitchers have first 6 games come in starts; among this group, Cosart’s 1.15 ERA is the 6th lowest.</p>— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) <a href="https://twitter.com/brianmctaggart/statuses/368035385399463936">August 15, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Plyrs w/lower ERA than Cosart in 1st 6 starts since '62: S.Rogers (0.88), Z.Duke (0.92), C.Carlos (0.93), T.Browning (0.95), J.Weaver (1.12)</p>— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) <a href="https://twitter.com/brianmctaggart/statuses/368037950816153600">August 15, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
He was relatively healthy and great for a decade, but that time frame is going to be advantageous to him, since essentially he was in his prime that entire period, while other guys were not. I also didn't call him a 2nd tier pitcher, I called him a 2nd tier ace. Tier 1 Aces: Pedro Martinez, Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson to give you a frame of reference.
Have to say that after Cosart's 1st or 2nd start, I expected some dropoff. A movement towards a 2.75-3.50 era range. I am still trying to discern whether he really is this good, or our opponents have yet to take him seriously enough to gather the scouting data to exploit his weaknesses and/or make the necessary adjustments when facing him.
I'm not able to watch the games but I picked this kid up a while back in my keeper fantasy league. What's with the low strikeout rate? Doesn't he throw in the mid 90's?
One of the things the Astros ask their minor leaguers to do is work on things that may not be there best assets during games. Once they get to the majors, they are going to use what works best in a game situation and work on other stuff on the side. Perhaps that is a contributing factor.
