Jordan Lyles Stays in Astros Rotation

News came down after Sunday's game that Jordan Lyles is sticking with the big league club for now as a starter. To make room for the returning Wandy Rodriguez, the Astros optioned struggling reliever Jeff Fulchino to Triple-A Oklahoma City.

In order to make room for Wandy in the rotation, Houston also bumped Rule 5 pick Aneury Rodriguez back to the bullpen after he made nine starts. Aneury had replaced Nelson Figueroa in the rotation back in May, but his ineffective control doomed many of his starts.

I'm pretty sure this is a good thing for both the Astros and for Lyles. While I don't love the idea of Lyles pitching the rest of the season in the rotation, he has shown flashes of being good and holding his own at the big league level. That's enough to keep him around and let him learn on the job with the major league team.

As we've talked about in the past, Lyles probably won't get to Super Two status even if he stays with the major league team for the rest of the season. It's interesting that Fulchino was the victim of the roster crunch, though he certainly hasn't been good this season. In fact, it wouldn't shock me if any of the bullpen arms got sent down, with the possible exception of Mark The Shark.

I think this also is a vote of confidence for Aneury Rodriguez. The Astros really seem committed to keeping him around all season. He's not been good, but there have been times where you can see he's got talent to be a contributor one day. This Astros team isn't winning a pennant, so why not keep him around and see what happens?

What do you think? Are you happy with Lyles staying in the rotation? Did the Astros choose the right reliever to demote?