Consider this for a moment: The Astros’ starting rotation is in such shape that the organization would rather rely upon Ethan Pecko making his Major League debut than, say, Tatsuya Imai. In August. With a postseason berth within grasp, but still not a guarantee.
No offense to Pecko, that’s certainly a bold choice. And also a damning indictment on this front office, with this rotation now leading baseball in the number of starters used in 2026.
Injuries have played a role in how many starters, including openers, that Houston has utilized this season. But you can’t ignore the elephant in the room that, other than Peter Lambert, nearly every single addition to the starting rotation hasn’t panned out. Not acquiring a starting pitcher in each of the past two trade deadlines is another sticking point.
Thankfully, the AL West has embraced mercy throughout, and Pecko’s first opponent was the Angels, an organization not exactly known for excellence. Frankly, neither are the Astros at this point. But the organization tried to pick out as soft of a landing spot for Pecko, and it doesn’t get much better in that regard than the Angels.
Does that mean it was truly a soft landing? Nah, it didn’t work out exactly that way.
Pecko only lasted 3.2 innings, striking out four while walking three and allowing two earned runs. Across those 18 hitters, the right-hander didn’t have the most stellar debut. His most utilized pitch, the four-seam, wasn’t particularly good. Only three whiffs on 12 swings. Again, Pecko walked three and did allow three hits. There was a baserunner in every inning he pitched. But he did limit the damage, with the wheels starting to come off in the fourth inning. Denzer Guzman’s RBI double drove in two with one out, but Pecko and Bennett Sousa stopped the bleeding.
With Pecko on the mound, the hope is that the lineup would’ve contributed some runs to help alleviate some of the pressure on the pitching staff. I think we all knew, barring something unexpected, that Pecko likely wasn’t throwing more than four to five innings. Unfortunately, he didn’t make it past the fourth, but you get the point. The lineup continued to struggle, however.
Christian Vázquez solo home run in the third off of Walbert Ureña kicked off the scoring, with Jose Altuve and Cam Smith each driving in a run in the fourth. Otherwise, it was a forgettable night for the lineup, with 12 strikeouts compared to five hits and three walks. But three runs were just enough to secure a victory, with the bullpen throwing 5.1 scoreless innings. Joe Espada was also ejected, and Jeremy Peña suffered a right-hand contusion.
Hey, an ugly win is still a win. They all count the same in the standings. Wednesday’s win against the Angels, in addition to the Rangers’ loss to the Nationals, moves the Astros back to two games over its in-state rival for the AL West lead. The Mariners won, so they remain four games back.
Feature photo from Astros on X
Angels too, 5 hits and 12 Ks.
I couldn’t help myself….Arrighetti for Varsho.
Whose decision was it to let Hennigan go on August, 2? Obviously, he was under contract until the end of the season.
This situation we are in is not about the players, it’s about the organization. Specifically, the front office.
Most of the coaching contracts have an “out” clause if the coach is offered a promotion in another organization. Not sure how that’s defined contractually, but I assume getting offered a hitting coach position at a major university qualified in Hennigan’s case.
That would be odd. MLB and college athletics (NCAA) sharing rules.
According to Stuff+, Pecko was quite good, albeit a small sample. 4 pitches well above average in stuff. (FB, Sinker, Curve, Slider) Two pitches well above average in location. (sinker, curveball) I think the Astros anticipated a 4 – 5 inning outing from Pecko. He has pitched only 4 and 5 innings in his two AAA outings this month, and he hasn’t pitched more than 5 innings since June. (I don’t know if that is performance related or if they were trying to control his work load.)