The latest news on the Astros starting rotation

The Astros rotation injury watch continues as we enter Day 23 since Charlie Morton was placed on the disabled list.

As you all know, the Astros starting rotation has been ravaged by injuries. Arms. Backs. Legs. It doesn’t matter. Injuries hold no prejudice.

It doesn’t take Sherlock Holmes to deduce that the Astros need most of their starting rotation to be ultimately successful in October. And the team finally received some good news in recent days.

First, you have this update about the status of their injured quartet of pitchers from one of Houston’s finest, Mark Berman of Fox26.

Oh, there is also a tidbit about Josh Reddick. After all, concussions are a serious injury since it involves, you know, the brain.

But we are concentrating on starting pitchers, specifically ones who receive paychecks from the Astros. This update over the weekend has to be encouraging. I mean, this has to be better than not throwing or catching.

Then there was report from another solid Astros source, Jake Kaplan, of the Houston Chronicle.

“Normal”, you say?

“By golly, dear Waston, I’ll take it!”

Don’t forget that normal to McCullers before his recent disabled list visit was a 2.58 ERA and 2.92 FIP in 76.2 innings. So, yeah, normal is good in this circumstance.

As I stated earlier, the Astros will need in the very least Keuchel and McCullers to return to make fall baseball worth watching for Houston’s faithful. Add Morton and possibly McHugh into the equation, and Jeff Luhnow may be fine with staying pat during the trade deadline. Of course, another quality starting pitcher can go a long ways. And you can never have enough good starting pitchers on your roster. Just ask the Los Angeles Dodgers.

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The durability will likely be a consistent concern, though, as Keuchel, McCullers, and Morton have required lengthy stays on the disabled within the last fourteen months. And McHugh’s “dead arm” and subsequent issues in his first start with the Fresno Grizzlies in April do little to alleviate any rotation concerns. In fact, the Astros may be wise to acquire another starting pitcher by the trade deadline even if the pitching staff starts to become a bit crowded.

**Statistics courtesy of FanGraphs**