Urquidy moves to bullpen for Phillies series
Astros righthander José Urquidy will not make another regularseason start and instead will be available out of the bullpen beginning Monday for the Astros’ threegame series against the Phillies.
Urquidy has made 28 starts for the Astros this season totaling 1621⁄3 innings, the highest singleseason inning count of his major league career. He pitched 107 innings across 20 starts in 2021.
Urquidy’s move to the bullpen signals that the Astros do not foresee him being part of their playoff rotation for the American League Division Series, though he is not out of consideration entirely to make the roster, according to manager Dusty Baker.
“Try to get him some work there (in the bullpen) and then we’ll see how he performs, see how his arm is, see how everything is and try to make a determination on who we got to keep,” Baker said Saturday. “We got some
major decisions.”
If Urquidy does not make the cut for the ALDS, he could still find a role pitching in subsequent playoff series.
Urquidy has made five career postseason appearances out of the bullpen for Houston, most recently in Game 5 of the 2021
World Series. In those games, he allowed two earned runs across eight innings with 10 strikeouts and four walks. His only two career regular-season relief appearances were in September 2019.
Urquidy’s last start was Sept. 23 in Baltimore, when he allowed one
earned run over 51⁄3 innings, lowering his season ERA to 3.88. He was in line to start Friday against the Rays before the Astros skipped his turn in the rotation, foretelling his fate.
Urquidy said Saturday he supported the decision to skip his start against the Rays, acknowledging both the need to rest his arm amid his career-high workload and the Astros’ desire to manage potential playoff pitching scenarios.
Urquidy said the Astros are exploring having him piggyback Lance McCullers Jr.’s scheduled start Monday against the Phillies.
Odds and ends
Baker said the Astros’ tentative rotation for the Phillies series is McCullers, Justin Verlander and Framber Valdez .… Righthander Josh James, who was on the 60-day injured list, underwent surgery on the flexor tendon in his right forearm this week. The club did not provide a timetable for his return. … Jake Meyers started in center field for the Astros on Saturday against the Rays, the beginning of what amounts to a trial period for Meyers to carve out a spot on the playoff roster.