Astros will move Brad Peacock to the bullpen with off days in April

Astros manager states that the fifth starter will switch to the bullpen.

The Astros will look to continue their winning ways versus the Yankees tonight. After sweeping the Athletics behind Jose Altuve’s bases-loaded walk in the ninth inning. That series was a great sign that the offense was about to break out, we will see what will happen versus the injured Bronx bombers. While the offense stepped up, Brad Peacock took a step back. I discussed this on last night’s Locked On Astros and Talking Stros.

After impressing in his first start in Arlington, he just didn’t have his stuff yesterday. He gave up five runs in five innings, on seven hits and three strikeouts. He ran into some bad luck as a ball that was heading foul hit the roof in fair territory that fell at Michael Brantley’s feet. This may be a case of the ball surprising Brantley, but maybe he is still learning the ground rules of Minute Maid Park. He labored through the five innings on 90 pitches, but he did a good job limiting the damage.

This was a scheduled change.

In his first start, he surprised everyone after winning the fifth starter spot after a strong spring training. He held the Rangers offense to one run on two hits in 6 ⅔ innings pitched. He added five strikeouts making manager A. J. Hinch look like a genius. One of the reasons that Peacock won the job was his ability to go back and forth from the rotation to the bullpen. We saw him do it in 2017, he will do that again for the next two weeks of April.

Via Brian McTaggart, Peacock will move to the bullpen because of all the off days in April. He will not be available until Wednesday, but he could be used if a starter has an early exit. This will allow the Astros to keep the main four starters on regular rest and gives them an extra arm in the bullpen.

This is not a response to how he pitched yesterday, but instead something that was planned when setting the big league roster. Many teams do this unless they have a loaded rotation as the 2018 Astros did. Plus, this capitalized on getting more out of aces Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole. Peacock has a 4.63 ERA after allowing those five runs and has 9 strikeouts in 11 ⅔ innings so far.

This will also give the Astros three pitchers who can pitch multiple innings for the next two weeks. After that, Peacock will return to the rotation and wait for the inevitable time when Forrest Whitley replaces him, possibly in July. The Astros starter’s ERA took a hit after that game but still boast a respectable 3.31 ERA. Now, they need to take care of business and beat the Yankees before taking on the first place Mariners in Seattle this weekend.

***Stats from Baseball-Reference and MLB.com***