Cosart Is Perfect
Jarred Cosart (David Manning-USA TODAY Sports)
If this is what it is like to be wrong, then I am perfectly fine with it.
As Jarred Cosart looks to build upon his successful debut last season, it is hard to get better than a 1.95 ERA in 10 starts, prior to tonight his Spring Training has been and up and down as far as results go. But as we know, the spring is about more than results. It is about the process.
But against the Washington Nationals this evening, for Cosart both the process and results were there. In fact that might be an understatement because in reality, the right-hander was perfect.
The Astros defeated the Nationals 2-0, and Cosart faced 15 batters and retired all 15. Regardless of who the opponent is, five perfect innings are five perfect innings and they should be recognized as such. But tonight, Cosart did it against the Nationals starting lineup which included Denard Span, Ian Desmond, Ryan Zimmerman, Jayson Werth, and Bryce Harper. Cosart also struck out nine batters.
Houston didn’t get much offense going against Washington starter Taylor Jordan and managed only one run on a Jason Castro groundout that drove in Jose Altuve. Jesus Guzman later added a solo home run to close out the scoring.
Raul Valdes loaded the bases in the sixth inning with two hits and a walk but escaped without allowing a run. Mike Foltynewicz following with two scoreless innings as he struck out four batters. Josh Zeid picked up the save and added two more strikeouts.
As he should be, Cosart was pleased with his outing as everything was working well for him.
“They just kind of said throw it out the window and go pitch,” Cosart said. “Mechanically everything was in sync. Being able to throw my curveball for strikes was huge. … just trying to keep them off-balance, the basics of pitching.”