All Astros team, pitchers

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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.