Astros rotation evaluation: Verlander’s gem leads the way

Jose Urquidy – Pitches/Start: 71 | Strike %: 66.9 | Pitches per out: 5.3 | Game Score: 40

There’s an argument to be made that Urquidy pitched in some bad luck Sunday.  Sure, the Mariners erupted for five runs in the fourth, but one hit was a ball off the glove of Alex Bregman and another one that Yuli Gurriel should have handled and then a bomb.

Still, the Mariners were teeing off on Urquidy and he ended up with the worst game score of the first nine.

Not only that, but despite the fact that he walked only one and threw almost 66% strikes, Urquidy wasn’t efficient at all early and ended up giving up eight hits in four innings.

A solid first start, followed by a poor second leads to a below average first two starts. Urquidy throws strikes, but the Mariners squared many of them up and 5.3 pitches per out is about average on this staff at this point of the season.