Luhnow, Hinch looking to bolster bullpen
Relievers remain priority as World Series champs eye next season
Relievers are highly volatile by nature. From year to year, their performances can waver significantly, sometimes inexplicably. The reigning World Series champion-Astros experienced this on a month-tomonth basis last season, and the month in which several of their key arms happened to struggle was the one in which the stakes were highest.
Astros manager A.J. Hinch worked around the October woes of Ken Giles, Chris Devenski and Joe Musgrove by deploying his starters in relief. That strategy, of course, is not even close to sustainable over a 162-game regular season. So ahead of 2018, the Astros have sought to protect themselves from the unpredictable by improving their bullpen depth.
Free agents added
In free-agent signees Joe Smith and Hector Rondon, the Astros added two experienced options to supplement their returnees. Neither were top-tier free agents nor has either ever been an All-Star. But each represents an upgrade and simply another option for Hinch to turn to in leverage situations.
Barring an injury, Smith, who signed for two years and $15 million, and Rondon, who signed for two years and $8.5 million, give the Astros five locks for their opening day bullpen with Giles, Devenski and Will Harris being the others.
Joe Musgrove is most likely bound for the 2018 bullpen, but the Astros will probably stretch him out as a starter in spring training to let him compete for a spot in the event of multiple rotation injuries.
Brad Peacock’s 2018 role will remain uncertain until spring training. With their rotation at full strength, Peacock figures to compete with Collin McHugh for their final starting job. Arguments for in which role he’s most valuable could easily be made on either side.
“He’s one of them,” Hinch said, coyly, at this week’s winter meetings in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. “He’s on our team. He doesn’t have to worry about coming to spring training as a maybe. Last year he did.
“There’s a lot of different roles he can fill. I think that’s a big question that’s going to shaped by whether we do anything in the winter to add pitching or ‘Do we stay healthy?’ I feel like I can do anything with him from start him in one of the first five games to any number of roles in the bullpen and he’ll be really good.”
Peacock an option
Hinch, it should be noted, made these comments before the Astros announced their deals with Smith and Rondon. General manager Jeff Luhnow said “it’s hard to say” when asked whether Peacock would more valuable to the Astros as a starter or as a reliever. The 29-yearold righthander had a 3.22 ERA in 1112⁄3 innings as a starter and a 1.77 ERA in 201⁄3 innings as a reliever last regular season.
“He’s got tremendous value both ways for us,” Luhnow said. “We’ve had several guys come up and we haven’t been sure if they’re starters or relievers: Devenski, Musgrove, et cetera. Starters are harder to find in general and there are fewer of them out there. So, if you can get someone to be successful as a starter that has potentially more value long term.
“But Peacock has done a nice job both ways, and I don’t think we really know the answer to that yet. But we do know that he’s really good either way, so it gives us some flexibility in terms of constructing the rest of the roster.”
The candidates to make up the rest of the Astros’ bullpen will be many. Righthander Michael Feliz is a bounce-back candidate after a season in which he had a 5.63 ERA in 48 innings despite striking out 13.1 per nine. Righthander James Hoyt is coming off a 2017 in which his 12.0 strikeouts per nine and 2.6 walks per nine suggest he was better than his 4.38 ERA indicates.
Righthander Francis Martes will probably be best served beginning the season atop the Class AAA Fresno rotation rather than as the last member of the Astros’ bullpen. Righthander David Paulino should also begin in the Class AAA rotation.
Sipp on the spot
Theoretically, the Astros could field an all right-handed bullpen. Spring training should signify veteran lefthander Tony Sipp’s last chance to turn things around after two poor seasons since he signed his three-year, $18 million deal. The team still owes him $6 million, though, so Sipp will get the opportunity in spring to re-establish himself.
“I’m looking forward to seeing him in spring training,” Luhnow said this week. “He’s got a chance to really earn himself a spot on the team. There are no guarantees. Even though he’s under contract, he’s going to have to make our team because that’s what it’s like when you’re defending your title.
“But I like his chances because I think he made some modifications to a couple of things he was doing and the results that we were seeing, the early results in September, were pretty good.”
If Sipp doesn’t make the roster, the only other lefthander with a shot is Rule 5 Draft pick Anthony Gose, a converted outfielder who hasn’t pitched above Advanced Class A.
The Astros have long felt they don’t need to acquire a lefthander simply for the sake of acquiring a lefthander and they’d rather use quality righthanders who can get lefties out than a mediocre lefty.
Devenski and Harris once again figure to be their best options against lefties. Giles still figures to garner a bulk of their save opportunities, though defined roles have never been Hinch’s cup of tea.
“I’m comfortable with how A.J. assesses the talent in our bullpen and reacts accordingly,” Luhnow said. “The nice thing about having a manager that’s always looking to optimize how effective the bullpen is in terms of winning games is there are some times where guys that are used in the ninth inning are used in the eighth or the seventh.
“… I think that gives us a lot of flexibility. As we’re talking to agents and players, we’re telling them, ‘There is no role that you’d be coming into. You’re coming in to pitch important innings toward the end of the game, and there’s other guys that are going to be doing that and we’re going to mix and match based off of what makes sense.’
“But I have confidence that Ken Giles is going to be one of the very key relievers at the end of the games for us and in doing so probably rack up a fair number of saves.”