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| Taylor Buchholz |
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The Astros are now 10 - 0 in games started by Wandy Rodriguez, Taylor Buchholz, and Fernando Nieve, and 4 - 0 in games after a loss by Andy Pettitte.
Buchholz ran out of gas today, and while the strikeout and walk numbers might worry you somewhat, it's important to note that 1) two of the walks came late and 2) Buchholz was able to get ahead of batters today with a first pitch curveball seemingly at will. If he can continue to do that, and retain the corollary ability to get it over behind in the count when needed, it won't matter how many people he strikes out: he's gonna get so many half-assed, cockeyed swings that he'll do just fine simply on balls put in play.
However, maybe we should just expect to see a jack given up every nine innings or so, which is even more reason that Hickey will need to work with him as much as possible to keep the walks at reasonable levels.
Nothing is certain in life, but as with Wandy, you see enough things with Taylor that make you think the success you're seeing is a grounded one, with a solid, repeatable method, and that it is more than just random luck that has pushed him into the winner's circle twice so far.