Cristian Javier is on the bump Thursday for the Houston Astros, taking the ball in the series finale against the Philadelphia Phillies. Manager Joe Espada has him tasked with maintaining a recent, much-needed surge from an “embattled” rotation.
The Recent Surge: A Glimmer of Hope?
The Astros’ starting pitching has been a rollercoaster this season, to put it mildly. For a long stretch, it felt like nobody could go deep in games, with a brutal run of 14 straight outings where no starter completed six innings, finally snapped by Hunter Brown back on August 28. But since then, things have felt… different. In the 11 games leading up to Wednesday, Houston’s starters suddenly compiled a fantastic 2.56 ERA over 56 ⅓ innings, which is the fourth-lowest in the majors over that span. Five of those 11 games saw starters actually throw at least six innings, with Brown and Hayden Wesneski each doing it twice and Peter Lambert once. That kind of reliability is a godsend, giving a much-needed breather to what’s been a truly “beleaguered” bullpen. Wesneski and Brown even threw back-to-back quality starts on September 2 and 3, something the team hadn’t seen in a month. Lambert and Wesneski followed that up with another pair of quality starts on September 6 and 8. Wesneski himself has been a workhorse since coming back from elbow surgery, bagging four quality starts in eight outings.
The Bigger Picture and Javier’s Challenge
So, yeah, that 2.56 ERA looks sweet on paper for the last couple of weeks. But don’t let it fool you, this rotation has been fighting uphill all year. Heading into Wednesday, the Astros still had the third-highest rotation ERA in the majors for the season, sitting at a tough 4.94. They’ve also logged the seventh-fewest starter innings across the league. That’s a huge problem. And while Javier did allow just one run in five innings in his last start against Arizona, the cold hard truth is neither he nor rookie Ethan Pecko has been able to consistently work deep into games recently. This is crunch time, and reliability from the rotation isn’t just “welcome,” it’s absolutely essential. Hayden Wesneski summed it up perfectly on Tuesday night, saying, “It’s pushing time, it’s time to go. So I go off of Pete, Hunter goes off me, we roll down the line. It’s really important games and guys feel it and it makes it simple: Hey we need to win, that’s it, it’s simple as that.”
What’s Next?
Those words hit different when you look at the standings. The Astros kicked off Wednesday with a tight two-game AL West lead over the Texas Rangers, and they’ve got the tiebreaker locked up too. With only 17 games left in their regular season, every single pitch, every inning, every start from here on out is massive. After this Phillies series, they’re set to face the AL East-leading Rays, but their rotation for that series hasn’t even been announced yet. So, can Javier keep this recent pitching momentum rolling and protect that division lead? We’re all watching to find out.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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