For as much criticism as Dana Brown has received for the majority of his offseason pitching additions, it doesn’t extend to what Kai-Wei Teng has done thus far. Courtesy of a trade with the Giants in January, Teng has been one of the Astros’ better pitchers this season (3.12 ERA, 3.87 FIP), with 13 of his 15 appearances occurring as a reliever. But, in recent weeks, Houston has made it clear that they wanted to stretch Teng out and have him start.
To be honest, I am not entirely sold on that plan, but I am open to seeing what happens. We’ll see if Teng can reach that 80 to 85 pitch threshold as noted by Joe Espada a couple of days ago. It’ll be interesting to watch as Teng got to 63 pitches in three innings against the Reds in his last start, although he started the fourth but didn’t record an out.
How Teng pitches may not greatly matter if the lineup can’t score more than a couple of runs. You never say never, but I don’t have much confidence in this lineup. I have a feeling Jacob deGrom might like this matchup.
Braden Shewmake continues to make a good impression, with the shortstop hitting fifth behind Christian Walker. It is worth noting that Cam Smith is on the bench again, with Zach Cole handling right field duties. Zach Dezenzo is in left field with Brice Matthews in center. But the bottom half of the order remains a sore point for the Astros, especially in the games when Jose Altuve, Isaac Paredes, Yordan Alvarez, or Walker don’t contribute.
The game will be broadcast at 6:10 p.m. CT on SCHN with radio coverage on KBME 790 AM.
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