What The Astros Playoff Rotation Should Look Like

Game 3: J.P France

Now this is where things get interesting. After Valdez and Verlander, Dusty Baker has his hands full. Does he go with the struggling Cristian Javier on the backs of a dominant 2022 postseason? Does he go with the streaky Hunter Brown? Or does he go with the under-the-radar pitcher that wasn't even expected to throw an inning for the big league club in 2023 in J.P. France?

It has to be France. His name may not be as flashy and he may not have overpowering pure stuff, but he gets outs. France is 11-5 with a 3.61 ERA and 1.32 WHIP.

On August 24th, France went 2.1 innings, giving up 11 hits and two walks, allowing an unsightly 10 earned runs. Aside from that outing, France has a 2.96 ERA.

Now, he's over performing his expected metrics via Statcast, but he continues to limit damage and navigate traffic on the basepaths. Brown and Javier each are one baserunner away from combusting at all times.

France has walked the tightrope all season, successfully woking his way out of jam after jam. With so few relaible options, the Astros should go with the one that has been consistent all year. He's probably not going to go 7 scoreless in October, but France should get through the order between two and three times and have the Astros at worst within striking distance in doing so.