Rodriguez, 23, may not have gotten the call in a regular season, as hes never ever pitched above A-ball. The Astros are more limited in their options, so hell jump directly to the big leagues on the heels of last years 2.40 ERA, 9.8 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 in 105 frames in between Class-A and Class- Advanced.
The Astros have actually placed Justin Verlander on 10-day injured list due to a lower arm stress and chose the agreement of right-hander Brandon Bielak, MLB.coms Brian McTaggart tweets. Houston has also optioned infielder Taylor Jones to alternate camp and recalled right-hander Nivaldo Rodriguez.
Bielak, 24, was the Astros 11th-round choice back in 2017 and presently ranks in the leading half to leading third of the groups 30 finest prospects. He divided the 2019 season in between Double-A and Triple-A, pitching to a combined 4.22 ERA with 8.8 K/9, 3.7 BB/9, 1.0 HR/9 and a 46 percent ground-ball rate. Both MLB.com and FanGraphs label him as a potential fourth/fifth starter in their reports on him, keeping in mind that he does not have a true plus pitch however has typical across-the-board offerings, a long lasting frame and history of tossing strikes.
Verlander the other day publicly rejected a report that hes anticipated to miss the remainder of the 2020 season with the injury, tweeting that he is hopeful rest will recover the current problem and permit him to return. For now, Verlander wont toss for a minimum of two weeks and will be re-evaluated after that shutdown. In his lack, a once-formidable rotation now looks susceptible. Lance McCullers Jr. was sharp in his return effort from Tommy John surgery, and veteran Zack Greinke is stays a high-end choice. But the choices beyond that set include Framber Valdez, Josh James and numerous other mainly unproven names (Bielak amongst them).
