Thomas Campbell-USA TODAY Sports
For the second time this season the Houston Astros were nearly no-hit by Texas Rangers starting pitcher Yu Darvish. This time it was broken up in the eighth by a solo homer. That is the story everyone sees first but the main storyline for the Astros out of this game was that it showed yet another great performance from Astros new starter Brett Oberholtzer. With only three starts under his belt, Oberholtzer has shown already that he will be a starter of the future.
He has good stuff and knows how to use it. That is what Bo Porter said about Darvish but it clearly could be said about Oberholtzer as well. In only three MLB starts he has a 2 – 1 record with 14 strikeouts and only 4 walks in 20 2/3 innings. Over that span his ERA as a starter only is 0.87. We aren’t talking about lame teams he has faced either. He has wins already over the Baltimore Orioles and Boston Red Sox. This was the only loss so far and he pitched great.
The Astros have already lost 80 games this season and very well could reach the century mark once again this year. Even with that sorrowful truth the Astros have a lot more to be excited about this year than most years past. I think losing 100 games this year would be fairly acceptable considering their situation. Given their list of good young prospects and stars, Oberholtzer included, they should come out fighting for at least a chance at the wildcard in 2014.
David Miller is a Senior Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @davidmillerrant, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google
