Houston Astros See Risks of Trading Pitching Prospects During Pirates Matchup

The Houston Astros faced off against some homegrown pitching against the Pittsburgh Pirates, showing the risks of their deadline deal.

Jun 21, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Astros starting pitcher Jake Bloss (39) pitches against the Baltimore Orioles in the first inning at Minute Maid Park. / Thomas Shea-USA TODAY Sports

Earlier this week, the Houston Astros began a series with the Pittsburgh Pirates. They had the bad luck of being scheduled to face off against the Pirates’ rookie phenom, Paul Skenes, in Game 1 of the matchup.

The Astros were able to score two runs off of him, but only one was earned, in six innings. They did make him work, as he was uncharacteristically wild with three walks and five hits allowed. Ultimately, it wasn't enough to get a win, as Houston lost 5-3.

The Astros struck out only six times by Skenes, which is the second-fewest punchouts he has had in a start in his career. In the bottom of the second inning, he struck out Jon Singleton for his 100th in his career.

As shared by Pittsburgh's official social media account, Skenes is just the sixth player all-time (since the current distance of the pitching mound was established in 1893) to reach triple-digit strikeouts in 13 or fewer games.

According to Sarah Langs, the first time it occurred was in 1995 when Hideo Nomo struck out 119. Second is Kerry Wood, who had 118 in 1998. Herb Score in 1955 had 107, followed by Jose DeLeon in 1983 with 106 and Masahiro Tanaka with 103 in 2014.

Paul Skenes is the 6th pitcher with 100+ strikeouts in his 1st 13 career app (since at least 1901), joining:

1995 Hideo Nomo: 119
1998 Kerry Wood: 118
1955 Herb Score: 107
1983 Jose DeLeon: 106
2014 Masahiro Tanaka: 103 https://t.co/sbuSNmLApF

— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) July 30, 2024

The player who was supposed to toe the rubber against Skenes on Monday night was one of Houston's top prospects, Jake Bloss.

Coming into the season, he was a top-10 prospect in their system after being drafted in 2023 like the Pirates superstar.

That would have been a fun matchup to watch, but Bloss was scratched from his start on Monday because he was involved in a deadline blockbuster. He was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays as part of the package for starting pitcher Yusei Kikuchi.

It was a trade many analysts believe the Astros have lost based on how much they traded away.

It is certainly a risk, as Kikuchi’s raw numbers aren’t great. Some of the advanced stats and analytics suggest he has pitched better than those numbers, but it has yet to translate.

Houston can learn firsthand from their series with the Pirates how risky it is to trade away pitching talent. Not to say Bloss was the same level of prospect that Skenes was, or even Jared Jones and Mitch Keller, but he does have untapped upside given how early in his career he is.

Giving up on that for a pitcher with a career 4.72 ERA is something that could come back to bite Houston sooner rather than later.