For second year in a row, Astros missed on pitching at trade deadline. Can fragile rotation hold up?
· Yahoo Sports
SAN DIEGO - Deterred by asking prices and optimistic about internal options, the Houston Astros did not augment their pitching staff before a trade deadline.
Those internal reinforcements did arrive, but their performance down the stretch underwhelmed, and it contributed to the Astros missing the playoffs.
Visit raccoongame.org for more information.
That was last year. After this year's deadline unfolded similarly, with no additions on the pitching front, Houston's aspirations to return to the postseason may hinge on its tenuous rotation avoiding a reprise.
After making one deadline trade to acquire center fielder Daulton Varsho, general manager Dana Brown said last week the Astros "felt like we got close" in their pursuit of pitching help, but they made no deals there while weighing "what it's going to do to your prospect capital and the future of the organization."
JEFF BAGWELL:How Astros star fought alcoholism, got sober
It echoed a year ago, when the Astros balked at asking prices that were "too high" for pitching, as Brown said then, and focused on adding to their lineup. Erratic offense did prove arguably the main reason they missed the playoffs by a win, but the stretch run also illustrated the risk in their rotation approach.
Houston placed an onus on pitchers returning from surgeries - Cristian Javier and Luis Garcia, who were both coming back from Tommy John procedures; Spencer Arrighetti in his return from a thumb fracture; and for depth J.P. France returning from shoulder surgery - to fortify its major-league rotation.
Of that group, Javier alone remained in the rotation for the final two months and posted uneven results. Arrighetti made five starts before an elbow issue ended his season, Garcia made two starts before he re-injured his elbow and France returned late in the year for a brief appearance as a reliever.
Again, this year, the Astros are positioned to rely on two pitchers who just returned from elbow surgeries - Ronel Blanco and Hayden Wesneski - to hold rotation spots. Both are already taking regular turns, with little experienced depth behind them if any issues arise.
Wesneski's first two starts back have been encouraging. He has a 3.86 ERA and threw 5⅔ and 6 innings in them, despite totaling fewer than 80 pitches in both. Manager Joe Espada said after Wesneski's outing Tuesday he is keeping the right-hander around 80-85 pitches initially "before we can extend the leash."
"But his stuff is good, the velo is there, breaking pitches have the action that we're looking for," Espada said. "So he's checking all the boxes."
Blanco, slated to start Friday's opener against the Padres in his fourth start back, had a 7.36 ERA in his first three outings. He fell short of completing five innings in two of them, while allowing five home runs and eight walks in those 14⅔ innings.
Brown, in an appearance Wednesday on the Astros' flagship radio station 790 AM, voiced optimism that Blanco is "going to get back to the old Blanco." Brown also suggested, however, the Astros could "rotate him and (Tatsuya) Imai out at times, just to get him built back up."
"Once you come off these injuries, sometimes it's really tough to get your rhythm and consistency," said Brown. "So we'll monitor it closely with the (40-plus) games that we have left. But there's an opportunity that maybe we could put him in the pen for three or four innings, kind of like we're doing with Imai."
Since moving Imai to the bullpen last weekend, the Astros have remained vague about their plans for the right-hander down the stretch. Imai entered one game against Toronto in relief and worked three perfect innings. Espada said Tuesday that Imai was "being considered" for a start on this road trip.
Brown, in his radio appearance, said the Astros "feel like at some point (Imai)'ll be back in the rotation." Plugging him back in amid a playoff push would only magnify the pressure on Imai and the Astros' staff to rein in the inconsistency that has defined his first MLB season - and do so while the stakes increase.
Imai has cruised at times, but his tendency to derail early risks a toll on Houston's bullpen. If the plan is to rotate him back into occasional starts, having a stretched-out arm behind him could offer coverage - be it Blanco or someone else - but still carries uncertainty unless the Astros commit to a piggyback idea.
After his relief outing against the Blue Jays, Imai said he was alerted before the game he would likely be used after Javier ended his start and for multiple innings. The Astros trailed when he entered, however, leaving open the question of whether they would have handled the late innings differently with a lead.
Amid all of the rotation machinations, perhaps no pitcher has the chance to be more pivotal than Javier.
Javier, the highest-paid pitcher on Houston's roster, struggled in three starts before missing three months to a shoulder strain, then was stowed in the bullpen. He has a 6.59 ERA in 27⅓ innings, but his last two outings comprised five scoreless relief innings in Anaheim and a quality start against Toronto.
Only others' struggles have put Javier back in a position to start, yet none of the Astros' other options to fill out the rotation have his experience. Javier resembling his pre-surgery form could bolster the middle of the rotation behind Hunter Brown and Peter Lambert and ease the demand on the pitchers above.
The depth Dana Brown lauded this spring has dwindled. Trading Arrighetti for Varsho depleted it further, though Arrighetti was on the injured list. Mike Burrows is rehabbing from elbow neuritis, with no projected return date. Erstwhile starter Kai-Wei Teng is pitching as a reliever at Triple-A Sugar Land.
Houston just promoted pitching prospect Bryce Mayer to Triple-A, where he joins fellow prospect Ethan Pecko, forming perhaps a next wave of starting depth. Delving into it during a stretch run would double as an admission by the Astros of diminished faith in their options with major-league experience.
Entering Friday, the Astros still had the majors' third-highest rotation ERA. The group sported a 5.16 ERA since May 22, when Houston began a pivot from being 11 games under .500 to two games over with a 1-½ game division lead. Sustaining the latter, again, will fall to arms already in place.
Subscribe
There’s more to Houston with the Chronicle. Subscribe today for just 25¢.This article originally published at For second year in a row, Astros missed on pitching at trade deadline. Can fragile rotation hold up?.