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The Greatest Houston Astros Pitching Trio of All Time

By Austin Swafford |
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The Greatest Houston Astros Pitching Trio of All Time

Brian McTaggart recently did a look back at a historic pitching performance by Jim Deshaies that kicked off three consecutive days of dominant Astros pitching. It got me thinking about all the great pitching the Astros have had over the years. Great pitching has been their calling card almost since their inception.

Even when nothing else went right, they usually had good pitching. Just think back to their lone World Series run in 2005 when their pitching carried them by leading the league in awesomeness. Overcoming the lineup leading the league in bleh-ness (those are official stats calculated by the Swafford Power Index Tracker, or SPIT).

McTaggart’s retrospective got me thinking — what is the best trio of Astros starters of all time? Let’s take a look at their best starters through the years. And just for clarification up front, since you might see some individuals missing, I only selected trios that played together for three seasons or more. Accordingly, their stats are only the accumulations of what they did over those 3+ years.

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Next: 1970-1974

1970-1974

Larry Dierker
Record: 55-37
Win pct: .598
ERA: 3.29
WHIP: 1.22

Ken Forsch
Record: 32-37
Win pct: .464
Saves: 14
ERA: 3.50
WHIP: 1.31

Don Wilson
Record: 64-55
Win pct: .538
ERA: 3.01
WHIP: 1.19

TRIO TOTALS: 151-129 record (.539 win%), 17 saves, 3.23 ERA, 1.23 WHIP

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The godfathers of the Astros pitching legacy. Eight years after expansion, the Houston club was still trying to get things figured out. It wasn’t made any easier when this era saw them trade Joe Morgan to the Reds, but these pitchers represented the Astros with aplomb. And Dierker, of course, would come back a couple of decades later to manage another dominant pitching trio…

Individual distinctions: Dierker and Wilson were both selected to the All-Star team in 1971. Wilson led the club in WAR (6.1) in 1971.

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Next: 1975-1980

1975-1980

Joe Niekro
Record: 78-57
Win pct: .578
ERA: 3.34
WHIP: 1.30

Ken Forsch
Record: 46-44
Win pct: .511
Saves: 36
ERA: 2.92
WHIP: 1.20

J.R. Richard
Record: 96-65
Win pct: .596
ERA: 3.01
WHIP: 1.22

TRIO TOTALS: 220-166 record (.570 win%), 45 saves, 3.10 ERA, 1.24 WHIP

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This trio played together the longest of all the groups, undoubtedly in part as a result of players winning the right to free agency in December 1975. All of the following trios played together for only three years. But since this group played together for six years and featured the great swingman, Forsch, they amassed the most wins, and the most saves of any of the groups show here. They also led the Astros to their first division title and first postseason appearance in 1980, falling to the Phillies in the NLCS, 3-2.

Special distinctions: One no-hitter, thrown by Forsch in the second game of the season in 1979. It’s the franchise’s earliest calendar no-hitter. All three pitchers were also selected to one All-Star game — Forsch in ’76, Niekro in ’79 and Richard in ’80. Richard led the club in WAR in ’77 (5.6) and ’79 (5.4).

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Next: 1986-1988

1986-1988

Mike Scott
Record: 48-31
Win pct: .608
ERA: 2.77
WHIP: 1.01

Jim Deshaies
Record: 34-25
Win pct: .576
ERA: 3.56
WHIP: 1.24

Nolan Ryan
Record: 32-35
Win pct: .478
ERA: 3.20
WHIP: 1.17

TRIO TOTALS: 114-91 record (.556 win%), 3.13 ERA, 1.13 WHIP

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These three may have only played all together for three years, but they sure did provide some memorable thrills in that time. They led the Astros to their second division title and third postseason appearance, falling to the Mets in that unforgettable 1986 NLCS, 4-2. This trio also has the best WHIP and features one of the Astros two Cy Young Award winners. Unfortunately, this time frame doesn’t capture Nolan Ryan‘s best seasons, but there’s no doubt he belongs.

Special distinctions: Mike Scott threw a no-hitter on September 26, 1986, to clinch the NL West title. He also won the Cy Young in ’86 (one of only two the franchise has ever won), was selected to the All-Star game in ’86 and ’87, and led the team in WAR in each of those two seasons.

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Next: 1996-1999

1996-1999

Jose Lima
Record: 38-24
Win pct: .613
ERA: 3.86
WHIP: 1.18

Shane Reynolds
Record: 44-32
Win pct: .579
ERA: 3.83
WHIP: 1.29

Mike Hampton
Record: 48-21
Win pct: .696
ERA: 3.35
WHIP: 1.35

TRIO TOTALS: 130-77 record (.628 win%), 3.67 ERA, 1.28 ERA

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Because of his antics and the unfortunate implosion preceding his departure from Houston, it can be easy to forget that Jose Lima was once a critical part of a pitching trio that led the Astros on arguably their best run ever. Although they never advanced past the first round of the playoffs, these Astros teams won three consecutive divison titles. A remarkable run for a team that only has 5 division titles in their entire history. He’s no longer with us, but it will always be Lima Time somewhere.

Special distinctions: In 1999, Hampton and Lima were both selected to the All-Star team, both finished in the top-5 in Cy Young voting (Lima tied for 4th with teammate Billy Wagner), Hampton led the team in WAR (7.8) and won the Silver Slugger.

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Next: 2004-2006

2004-2006

Roy Oswalt
Record: 55-30
Win pct: .637
ERA: 3.14
WHIP: 1.21

Andy Pettitte
Record: 37-26
Win pct: .587
ERA: 3.38
WHIP: 1.23

Roger Clemens
Record: 38-18
Win pct: .679
ERA: 2.40
WHIP: 1.17

TRIO TOTALS: 130-74 record (.637 win%), 2.98 ERA, 1.17 WHIP

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Sure, this trio’s run preceded the collapse from which the Astros are currently emerging, but it all seemed like such a great idea at the time! This group led the Astros to two consecutive Wild Card postseason berths, won their first postseason series ever in 2004 and took them to their first and only World Series to date in 2005. This group put together the best win percentage and ERA of our trios, and as an unsurprising result, put together an amazing 6 top-5 Cy Young finishes between them in the three years they were teammates.

Special distinctions: Clemens won a Cy Young in ’04, led the team in WAR (8.2) in ’05, and was an All-Star each of those seasons. Oswalt was an All-Star in ’05 and ’06 and led the team in WAR (6.1) in ’06.

(Editor’s note: Where would Dallas Keuchel, Collin McHugh, and Lance McCullers Jr. rank on this list after three years together?)

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