The Astros’ rotation has been ravaged by injuries: Arrighetti, Wesneski, and Blanco all unavailable. And this is on top of uncertainty surrounding Garcia, Javier, McCullers, and France, the former starting pitchers who are trying to come back from surgery.
The Astros have reached far down into their pitching depth to throw these starting pitchers into the breach: Colton Gordon, Brandon Walter, Ryan Gusto, and Jason Alexander. So far these guys have held up about as well as could be expected. Let’s be clear. These guys are pitching above their “reputation.” Two are prospects that aren’t highly ranked. Two are essentially older minor league free agents who have sketchy major league experience and bounced around several ML teams in the past.