The
Astros have had more than their share of outstanding starters over
the years. They've had a number of really good starters put together
remarkably similar stats. Some guys you may easily remember, others
you may not. You could easily make an argument to play musical
chairs with all of these positions. You can even make an argument
make an argument for different guys being on the list. I finally had
to make up my mind for a top five. Here it is.
Starting
pitcher: J. R. Richard JR is
one of the most intimidating pitchers I'll ever seen. Sadly, JR was
felled by a stroke in the 1980 season. JR was in his prime at the
time. He still had time to establish a great pitching legacy with
the Astros. From 1976-79 JR's win totals were 20-18-18-18. Before
being stricken by a stroke in 1980, he was 10-4 with an ERA of 1.90.
For his 10 years with the Stros he went 107-71 with an ERA of 3.15.
I could relate a lot of stats about JR, but he's one of those guys
you really had to see to appreciate. At 6'8” with a 100 mph
fastball and wicked slider, I'm surprised anybody ever got a hit off
him.
Starting
pitcher: Nolan Ryan Speaking
off guys that seemed unhittable, Nolan Ryan falls into that category.
Nolan pitched for the Astros from 1980-88. His numbers closely
mirrored those of JR Richard's. In 1981 and 1987 Nolan led the
league in ERA. His record for those nine seasons was 106-94 with an
ERA 3.13. His WAR for those years was 25.4. While Nolan was still a
dominant pitcher with the Astros, he was at his peak with the Angels.
Starting
pitcher: Roy Oswalt While Roy
may not have been as flashy as Richard and Ryan, generally speaking,
he got as good or better results. In 2004 and 2005 Roy won 20 games.
In 10 years in Houston, Roy went 142-82 with an ERA of 3.24. Roy's
WAR was the best in the history of the Astros pitchers at 45.6. From
2001-2010 Roy was a consistent feature of the Astros rotation.
Starting
pitcher: Joe Niekro While the
Astros have had a number of hard throwers throughout the years, Joe
Niekro was a different kind of an animal. Joe wasn't a hard thrower
and even had a knuckle ball. He didn't get a lot of strikeouts
either, striking out only 4.7 per 9 innings in his 11 years with the
Astros. He still had two 20 win seasons and six more with double
digit wins. Joe finished his years in Houston with a record of
144-116 an an ERA of 3.22. It just goes to show there is more than
one way to be successful in the majors.
Starting
pitcher: Mike Scott From
1985-89 Mike won 86 games for the Astros. He had a monster season in
1986, leading the NL in wins with 20, innings with 275..1, strikeouts
with 306 and ERA with a mark of 2.22. Mike had great movement on his
pitches. How he got that movement was a matter of conjecture.
Bottom line, he got really good results. Some guys that just missed
this list are Don Wilson, Larry Dierker and Ken Forsch. The Stros
have been deep in starters over the years.
Relief
pitcher Billy Wagner Billy
was yet another flame thrower who plied his trade for the Astros.
Billy notched 225 saves in his nine seasons with the Astros. His
whip for those seasons was 1.043. That gives some insight to just
how tough he was to hit. While some of the other hard throwers on
the Astros looked the part, Billy didn't. He was relatively small in
stature but had a huge fastball.
Relief
pitcher: Dave Smith Dave is
second on the Astros all time save list with 216. From 1985-90 Dave
had between 23-33 saves. While not spectacular, Dave was solid over
a long period of time.
Relief
pitcher: Brad Lidge Brad spent
six years with the Astros, saving 123 games with an ERA of 3.30.
Brad's time with the Astros was up and down, but when he was good he
was very good. Beyond giving up having a rough post season, Lidge
had his career best regular season in 2005. Brad saved 42 games with
an ERA of 2.29. His strikeouts per nine innings with the Astros was
an attention getting 12.6. Lidge nails down the third spot in the
Astros pen.
Those
are my picks. How do they compare to yours? Let me know, in a
respectful manner.
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