FanPost

Who gets the Majority of Astros 5th Spot Innings Moving Forward?

I am going to attempt to answer this with No Math, or past stats. That will be up to you to back up your predictions, if you wish. Or, you can simply guess between the choices.

Let us pencil in Cole, Verlander Peacock and Miley as of this writing, as the Starting Rotation. This may change altogether, but for today, let's discuss these candidates;

1.) Josh James

2.) Framber Valdez

3.) Corbin Martin

4.) Tyler Ivey

5.) Wildcards on 40-man; Armenteros, Abreu, Perez, McHugh

6.) "Other" candidates will come from the minors not listed, or by trade / acquisition.

A strong case can be made for the vulnerability of the moment upon the Astros, which probably has Front Office buzzing to find opportunities from teams who are potentially left in the dust (NL West, AL East, and so on).

I think a prevailing factor will be, 'which candidate refines his location?' Ivey has the edge, but all of them are battling inexperience in degrees. The likely answer is trading for an experienced filler. Another common thought will be to stretch out James.

Thinking outside the box, Astros could try Tandems (even if they don't publicly admit). Some of the newly promoted pitchers, and those 'tweeners in the BP can pitch 4+ innings. Why not begin to experiment, (e.g., start Martin, hope for 6 innings, but have quick FramberHook available on call). If this plan continues, then there won't be a #5, per se, but a series of spot starts, or experiments to see what sticks.

What are your thoughts about short, and long term solutions?