Astros Starter Will Feel Pressure With Stretch Run, Contract Talks Looming

It was a great weekend series for the Houston Astros, who were able to defeat the New York Yankees in two out of three games.

With the battle for the American League West becoming razor-thin, every game counts for the Astros. The team has been able to hold on to the lead in the division for most of the season, but the Seattle Mariners are playing very well and are charging to take over first place.

One of the reasons for the recent struggles of Houston has been the number of injuries they have had to deal with, especially in their starting rotation and lineup.

It would have been very easy for the franchise to fold when Yordan Alvarez went down, but the team has continued to find a way to a win.

At the trade deadline, much of the focus for them was on adding some depth and talent to a lineup that needed it. However, there was a glaring need in the rotation for a middle-of-the-order pitcher as well, which went unaddressed.

The Astros have a lot of pitchers scheduled to come off the injured list soon, and their thinking before the deadline might have been that one of those returners will be able to fill that need.

While that could end up being the case, it does put some pressure on the top of the rotation.

Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report recently wrote about the pressure being on southpaw Framber Valdez down the stretch.

“So in addition to the pressure of pitching to keep Houston atop the AL West and pitching to increase his payday this offseason in free agency, there's some pressure on Valdez to save this bullpen by continuing to pitch deep into games on a regular basis.”

After trading away Kyle Tucker with one year remaining on his contract over the winter, there was some thought that Valdez could have been next.

Will Valdez Handle the Pressure?