Jordan Lyles earns spot in the rotation

On a day the Astros lost their eighth in the past nine games, there was some news that could make Astros’ fans happy. Zachary Levine reported after the game today that Jordan Lyles is in the starting rotation for the foreseeable future. Aneury Rodriguez has been moved to the bullpen and Jeff Fulchino has been sent down to Class AAA Oklahoma City.

This was the logical choice as Rodriguez could not be sent to the minors being a Rule 5 draft pick, which only allows his services as long as he stays on the Major League roster for the whole season. The 6-5, 285 pound right handed pitcher has struggled in 2011 with a 1-3 record, three blown saves, and an ERA of 4.88. In the 27.1 innings pitched he did have 26 strikeouts but also had 16 walks and 28 hits.

Aneury Rodriguez was 0-4 as a starter with an ERA of 5.88 over eight starts. Rodriguez did have some good starts, one coming against the Reds when he didn’t allow a run over five innings and the other coming against the Dodgers when he only allowed one run over five starts. Rodriguez though was not consistent and when he was bad, he was really bad. In four of his starts he gave up four or more earned runs and a move back to the bullpen may be the best move for the young pitcher.

I think Jordan Lyles won this starting rotation spot with his performance yesterday as he bounced back from a poor performance in his second start in San Diego. Yesterday he went 6.1 innings, giving up only two runs and striking out five against the Braves. Over three starts he has pitched 17.1 innings giving up eight earned runs for an ERA of 4.15. The stat I like most is he has 12 strikeouts to only three walks. Lyles will make his next start on Thursday in the home finale against the Pirates.