3-headed pitching monster built via prospect stockpile

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — You know the Astros’ rebuild worked because they won their first World Series championship in 2017.

But how do you know a then-unprecedented destruction and reconstruction really, really worked?

Because Justin Verlander allowed just one hit in Game 1 of the 2019 American League Division Series.

Because Gerrit Cole recorded a franchise postseason-record 15 strikeouts in Game 2.

And because the smartball Tampa Bay Rays, in a deep 2-0 hole in this ALDS,

now get to face No. 3 Astros starter Zack Greinke in a potential season-ending Game 3 on Monday inside the outdated amusement park that is Tropicana Field.

“I’d like a win. That would be the best thing to happen to the organization is to get a win,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch said Sunday. “However (Greinke) needs to do that. In a perfect world, he follows the same script of getting deep into the game, and we have the lead and get the final outs.”

George Springer was drafted by the Astros and preceded general manager Jeff Luhnow in the organization. Jose Altuve had already made his major league debut before a massive teardown began in full. Michael Brantley was one of baseball’s smartest free-agent signings last offseason.

But the Astros’ three-headed pitching monster of VerlanderCole-Greinke, which enters Game 3 as the scariest sight in the 2019 playoffs, was created with a jealousy-inducing concoction of losing big, winning bigger

and stockpiling young talent.

Verlander wasn’t drafted and developed by the Astros like Dallas Keuchel or Lance McCullers Jr. Cole wasn’t signed as a free agent like Charlie Morton or Wade Miley — the 29-year-old righthander was the 2011 No. 1 overall pick that Pittsburgh was supposed to win big with annually. Greinke spent seven years in small-market Kansas City, then played for four more teams before joining his current club.

Things change. But there doesn’t currently appear to be a Jeff Bagwell — or Yordan Alvarez — among the names the Astros traded away to wrap Verlander, Cole and Greinke in orange and blue.

“Let me tell you, we’ve traded a lot of prospects over the last few years,” Hinch said. “Jeff has been very aggressive in trading guys. While they may not seem like your primary guys when you see all the guys up in the big leagues, they’re very good players that we’ve traded away over the last five years that I’ve been here.

“The key is always that there’s a lot of people that are working at this. There’s an international department that’s signing these players that are used to better

the big league team. There’s the supplemental players that we needed this year. We weren’t a team that was avoiding injuries. … That system that you keep, also the system that you have available to make trades, has made Jeff have the resources in order to make these moves. When they come over here, it’s our job at the big league level to maximize what our guys are.”

There was no way that owner Jim Crane, Luhnow, then-highly frustrated Astros fans or the skeptical media could have possibly envisioned in 2012 that Verlander, Cole and Greinke would combine forces to form the most dangerous Big Three in the 2019 playoffs.

Increased cash flow allowed the Astros to afford their modern monster. The addicting, team-first winning culture that Hinch began creating in 2015 made the rebuilt Astros more enticing. An internal emphasis on analytics and supreme inside baseball keeps getting the best out of all three, even with Verlander being 36 and Greinke 35.

But ultimately, the Astros remade their pitching staff — after making the playoffs for the first time in a decade in 2015 — by outmaneuvering a sport that,

more than ever, is dedicated to discovering the slimmest of competitive advantages.

“You need to build your team from every angle,” Hinch said. “This organization has been very, very good at finding the right talent, supplying us with more talent when we needed it — and timely talent. And that’s impressive that we’ve been able to put it all together.”

There were two fascinating sights Saturday inside Minute Maid Park for a roaring Game 2. Cole recording K after K, with the crowd consistently yelling for another. And a 107-win team filling out its playoff lineup with Kyle Tucker, a top prospect and 2015 top-five pick, and Alvarez, who was stolen from the Los Angeles Dodgers via a 2016 trade barely noticed at the time.

While other clubs started following the Astros’ tanking blueprint, the team that tanked and won it all mostly shipped away unpredictable prospects for Verlander, Cole and Greinke while keeping its best prospects in the local pipeline.

Verlander and Cole should finish 1-2 in this season’s American League Cy Young voting. In Games 1 and 2 of the ALDS, the power duo combined for two wins, 14 2⁄3 innings, 23 strikeouts and a 0.00 ERA.

Greinke must still prove himself to Astros fans in these playoffs. Game 3 is his first big stage.

But imagine being on the other side of this thus far. You played pretty good baseball in an opposing stadium against the best team in the majors. Your starting pitchers matched Verlander and Cole during the tight beginnings of both games. Yet it’s 2-0 Astros, you’ve been outscored 9-3, and when you’re set to throw your best arm in Morton, the road team will answer with Greinke (18-5, 2.93 ERA overall this season; 205-123, 3.35 ERA in his 16-year career) in Game 3.

Good luck winning the next three and staying alive.

The Astros still need one more victory to advance. The AL Championship Series and World Series still await.

But this is how it was dreamed up in late July: Verlander, Cole, Greinke.

An intimidating, potentially awesome pitching trio that could deliver the Astros their second trophy in three years.