Houston Astros Feature Four Highly-Rated Starting Pitchers Entering Stretch

The Houston Astros enter September with four pitchers that are among the Top 50 in baseball according to one expert.

Aug 18, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Astros starting pitcher Framber Valdez (59) reacts after a double play to retire the side against the Chicago White Sox during the seventh inning at Minute Maid Park. / Erik Williams-USA TODAY Sports

The Houston Astros have been beaten up all year when it comes to starting pitching. But as the season heads into September, Houston is actually in a really good spot.

The Athletic recently ranked the Top 150 starting pitchers in baseball, an exercise it goes through at various times during the season. With the final month approaching, four of Houston’s six listed starters were among the Top 50 rated pitchers.

And, no, Justin Verlander wasn’t tops among Astros pitchers, either.

The site used a number of stats, including Stuff+, future projections, strikeout-minus-walk rate, recent performances and the expected future schedule for the final month.

Framber Valdez, who has been a mainstay of the rotation all season and has generally avoided in the injury issues of other starters, was ranked No. 19, a nudge up from No. 21 in the last rankings.

After him was Yusei Kikuchi, who joined Houston at the trade deadline from Toronto. His ranking was No. 23, up three spots from No. 23. It shows that even though his record for the season is below .500 he’s been a consistent performer all season, based on the metrics that The Athletic used.

After Kikuchi was second-year starter Hunter Brown, who has shown great improvement the past few months and has developed into to more than just a fourth or fifth starter in this rotation. He jumped from No. 37 to No. 31.

Verlander was ranked right behind him at No. 38. The three-time Cy Young winner took a big jump from the last rankings, where was No. 57. Verlander spent two months on the injured list due to a neck issue and only returned to the rotation earlier this month

From there, Ronel Blanco — who threw a no-hitter earlier his year — was ranked No. 76, a three-spot jump from No. 79. Spencer Arrighetti, who like Brown has shown clear improvement, especially in the past few weeks, jumped from No. 131 to No. 90.

While their performances certainly play a role in the rankings, the schedule certainly had some influence.

Houston is in the midst of a four-games series with Kansas City at home this weekend. After that, the Astros get a mix of teams that are out of the race and teams that have contention on their minds — at Cincinnati, home vs. Arizona and Oakland, at the Los Angeles Angels and San Diego, another home set with the Angels and with Seattle and a season-closing road trip to Cleveland.

Houston enters Friday’s action with a four-game lead in the AL West over Seattle.