Houston Astros: Silver Boot Preview

GAME 1 – Scott Feldman (0-1, 3.48) vs. Derek Holland (1-0, 2.31)

Scott Feldman will face his former team for the 10th time.  Feldman holds a 3-4 career record against the Rangers and has a lifetime ERA of 4.27 in Arlington. Both of his starts this year have resulted in losses for Houston. However, Feldman pitched well in his last start against the Royals, going 6.1 innings and giving up two runs, both unearned. Feldman did commit an error in that game that led to the runs being scored, and that, coupled with little run support, left him still in search of his first 2016 victory.

One step to him earning that win may be to get more ground balls than in his first two starts. A sinker-baller by trade, Feldman has always been a ground ball pitcher. So far this year, he has produced more fly balls than grounders, which could prove dangerous in the jet-streams of Globe Life Park.

Holland has started off 2016 decently, with his most recent outing resulting in a win. He will face a tough task on Tuesday night as the Astros have always fared well against him. Current Astros batters are hitting .390 collectively versus Holland, and Carlos Correa has four hits in six at-bats with two of those hits being home runs. For most of the hitters it is a relatively small sample size, but of all the Rangers pitchers, Holland has by far had the most trouble with the Houston lineup.

An interesting note on Holland, out of his 140 career starts, he has received run support of six or more runs a total of 59 games. So, 42% of the games he pitches, the Rangers offense usually gives him ample run support. However, he rarely has won games in which he gets 0-2 run support, and has just over a .500 winning percentage in games where he gets 3-5 run support. Therefore, if Feldman can hold the Rangers offense to four runs or less, the Astros have a pretty good shot of beating Holland and the Rangers.

Prediction: Astros 6 – Rangers 4

Next: Game 2 Prediction