Houston Astros Could Find Rotation Depth in Former Rangers World Series Champ

The Houston Astros have starting pitching depth problems and they’re unlikely to get much better anytime soon.

Houston has six pitchers on the 60-day injured list. The only one that could be back in a reasonable amount of time is Spencer Arrighetti, who was moved there recently as a procedural move to create a 40-man roster space. He is working back from a broken thumb and could be back in July.

The rest are TBA or out for the year. Ronel Blanco and Hayden Wesneski are done after Tommy John surgery. Luis Garcia and Cristian Javier are working their way back from that procedure and may be available late in the year. J.P. France is working back from shoulder surgery last year but has only worked up to throwing live batting practice.

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Framber Valdez and Hunter Brown have been fantastic. Lance McCullers Jr. is surging back into form. But the rest of the rotation needs some depth.

That’s where the Pittsburgh Pirates could come in. They have a left-hander the Astros are familiar with that could be available at next month’s trade deadline, per USA Today’s Bob Nightengale.

“The Pirates believe they could get a healthy return for veteran starter Andrew Heaney at the trade deadline,” he wrote.

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Heaney is with the Pirates on a one-year, $5.25 million deal after spending two years with the Texas Rangers, which is where the Astros are most familiar with him. He was part of the Rangers team that beat the Astros in seven games in the 2023 American League Championship Series and eventually went on to win the World Series.

Heaney enters the week with a 3-5 record and a 3.33 ERA. If the season ended now, it would be the second-lowest single season ERA of his career.

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More importantly, he’s giving the Pirates’ bullpen length. He has pitched in at least five innings in 12 of 14 starts and has pitched into the seventh inning in six games.

For the past few seasons, his durability has been his best asset.

Since he signed with the Texas Rangers before the 2023 season, he’s made nearly every scheduled turn in the rotation. He’s also moved into a part-time relief role at times. His playoff experience gives him experience the Astors need over potential starters like Colton Gordon or Ryan Gusto.

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He’s only won 10 or more games once in his career, which was his 10-9 record with Texas in 2023. Last season he went 5-14 with a 4.28 ERA, but he started 32 games for a franchise that was missing two key pieces of this year’s rotation.

The Astros don’t need Heaney to have a career year. They would just need him to take the ball every fifth day and do his job. There is value in that at the trade deadline when entertaining the prospect of a long postseason run.  

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