...but first, a moment with Dallas Keuchel.
Dallas Keuchel, copious strikeouts aside, has been fairly human this year. Today he delivered a loss against the Indians, and he has a 3-5 record. He still has a low ERA, and he's still very much able to strike people out, but he's bringing up the rear in the Astros' rotation this year.
...Although, it's safe to say that Dallas Keuchel would probably be bringing up the rear of the rotation even if he was pitching as well as he did in 2015.
This is a year where Lance McCullers, with a 5-2 record and a 3.68 ERA, is the FOURTH-BEST pitcher on the team. Where Collin McHugh's success as a reliever isn't being drawn into question. Where not even Brad Peacock's absence is being felt.
The Astros have a 3-man team that's scarier than arguably any other in the AL. Justin Verlander is having his best season in years, with a 1.05 ERA, 84 strikeouts, and a great record. He's the ace that Dallas Keuchel should have been, and the Astros are fortunate to have him. GERRIT COLE, meanwhile, has 94 strikeouts, which is the MOST IN THE MAJOR LEAGUES RIGHT NOW, and has a 1.75 ERA with a 4-1 record. Cole is having his best season yet, and all of the control woes he had in Pittsburgh haven't showed up yet. And then there's Charlie Morton, an unlikely fireballer who's won 6 games and hasn't lost one yet, with a 1.94 ERA and 70 strikeouts. This guy's career essentially started the second he picked up an Astros uniform, and he's been just as awesome as he was last year.
Even better, the lineup's not doing too bad either; Altuve, Correa and Springer are back to their old tricks, Brian McCann's hitting, and Alex Bregman's continuing his 2017 work. This is a tighter, more fearsome roster, arguably, than the one that won the World Series. And even if the Angels keep bobbing back and forth with them at the top of the AL West, they have a serious leg up in this rotation, which is the best in the MLB, outside of maybe Washington.
This is the kind of rotation where, if they keep it up, some huge things could happen around October.
Coming Tonight: A veteran pitcher that's probably the only arm on his western team that seems to know what he's doing.
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