Pulling back the curtain on the Astros’ prime breakout candidate

Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty ImagesThe Astros’ rotation was one of 2020’s pleasant surprises for the club. After ace Justin Verlander suffered a season-ending injury following his first start, expectations plummeted. But as the season progressed, it became clear that the Astros’ starting pitching was still a strength.

José Urquidy was one reason why. After missing the first several weeks of the 2020 season due to COVID-19 complications, Urquidy returned to the club in early September and made 5 regular season starts, amassing nearly 30 innings and finishing with a 2.73 ERA.

Urquidy would appear 4 times in the playoffs — 3 of them starts — and posted a serviceable 4.02 ERA in those 15.2 innings.

It’…