2 Truths and 1 Lie About the Houston Astros

Lie: Pitching is a problem

The Astros chose to let Justin Verlander walk, and after a few poor outings, some are sounding the panic alarm. The 13 arms that have thrown a pitch have combined for a 3.48 ERA this year with a 1.3 WHIP. 

In only a 16 game sample size, stats remain unsustainably high or indescribably low. Luis Arraez is still hitting .471 for the Marlins. Meanwhile Alex Bregman is below the Mendoza line.

Six starters all have sub 1.00 ERAs. Cristian Javier’s is 4.24. 

Pete Alonso is on pace for 81 home runs. Yordan is on pace to drive in 203 runs. Ok, maybe that part actually happens…

The point is, it’s way too early to sound the panic alarm. 

The Astros had the best bullpen on the planet by a wide margin last season. Ryan Pressly was totally un-hittable in October. Do we think his ERA will stay at 8.44? 

After Javier was one of the best pitchers in the game last season, with a completely untouchable repertoire, do we really think he will continue to get hit while waling only 1.1 batters per nine. 

Luis Garcia has proven himself to be a reliable fourth/fifth starter in the bigs and just threw five scoreless on the road in the ALDS, and now he just can’t get outs after dominating the WBC? 

The Astros arms are just fine. As the law of averages kicks in, we’ll see again just how good this pitching staff is.