Cristian Javier is prime example of Astros’ staying power, now can they win it all?
Much to the chagrin of baseball fans everywhere but the Gulf Coast, the Houston Astros are not going anywhere.
Game 4 of the World Series was a prime example of that, as the Astros barreled their way back into the series in one of the most convincing ways possible, with a combined no-hitter to tie the series up. It was a storybook type of game the likes of which baseball has never really seen in those circumstances. Regardless of your feelings about the legitimacy of a four-man no-hitter, the fact remains that the Astros put together nine of the most commanding innings in baseball history.
But the way they did it, on the shoulders of a homegrown player still very much in his prime, with the help of similar players around him, tells you everything you need to know about the Astros’ particular brand of staying power.
It’s truly a marvel to think that Cristian Javier is the fourth starter on this team. Yankee fans know Javier well — he threw seven innings of the Astros’ combined no-hitter at Yankee Stadium in June, then held them to one hit in 5.1 innings during his playoff start in the Bronx — but he has a claim to the title of best pitcher that most people have never heard of. Or at least, he had that claim until becoming front-page news on Wednesday night.
Phillies’ Game 3 starter Ranger Suarez is in that conversation as well, but Javier one-upped him and then some. Using his fastball over and over and over again, the 25-year-old took all the life out of the Phillies’ bats and stole all of the mojo that had been bubbling inside Citizens Bank Park, where the home team had been averaging seven runs per game in the postseason. With Philadelphia fielding a homer-happy, free-swinging lineup, the conventional wisdom would usually be to finesse them with offspeed pitches.
Javier had other plans. Firing his four-seam fastball on 72% of his total pitches, the unheralded stud kept the Phillies hitless for all six innings of his shift. After his domination on Wednesday, Javier’s postseason line now includes 12.2 innings, 16 strikeouts, two hits and one run, which was Eugenio Suarez’s solo homer in the first game of the Division Series. His World Series debut came with nine strikeouts and more weak contact than a boxing match at a retirement home. This not only made Javier the Game 4 star, it could also set him up for a legendary return in a potential Game 7.
To call this the game of Javier’s life is too obvious. To call it one of the best games of all time is not as outrageous as you’d think. Prior to him becoming public enemy No. 1 in Philadelphia, the only pitcher who ever completed a longer no-hit outing in the World Series was Don Larsen in his 1956 perfect game. While Javier did not get the chance to complete nine innings like Larsen did, he did fan more hitters than the Yankee right-hander did that day, despite facing seven fewer hitters.
Javier’s heater at the top of the zone was the recipe for swinging strikeouts on Wednesday, and dotting it at the bottom of the zone left several hitters staring as it nipped past their knees for a strike. The lack of hits against Javier is nothing new, and it’s not just a Yankee or Phillie problem. During the regular season, the league batted .169 against him, lowest of any pitcher who threw at least 140 innings.
Next up on that list was his teammate Justin Verlander, who will get the ball on Thursday in hopes of sending his team back to Houston needing just one win for the championship.
The Astros are baseball’s model franchise when it comes to team building. Fruitful player development plus smart trades and free agent signings have equaled six straight trips to the American League Championship Series. Along with Javier (signed by the Astros out of the Dominican Republic) and Verlander (whom they traded for in 2017), the other most important pitchers on the team are homegrown starters Framber Valdez, Lance McCullers and the dominant relief trio of Ryan Pressly, Rafael Montero and Ryne Stanek. Pressly and Montero came over in trades, and seamlessly took over after Javier in the no-hitter, while Stanek was a free agent who definitely is not breaking the bank.
The fact that Stanek wasn’t used in Game 4 tells you even more about how resource-rich the Astros are on the pitching side. Bryan Abreu, one of eight qualified relievers with a 35% strikeout rate during the regular season, pitched the seventh inning instead. That’s not a bad alternative. Right on cue, as if he wanted to make a name for himself on the grand stage just like Javier, he struck out the side. Together, Javier, Abreu, Montero and Pressly racked up 14 K’s and created a whiff on 32% of the Phillies’ swings. If not for a few borderline pitches being called balls and some disciplined takes by Brandon Marsh and Kyle Schwarber, this mix of Astro lifers and veteran castoffs would have been perfect.
The hitting, though, is almost entirely a product of the Astros’ scouting, draft rooms and minor league system. Especially in Game 4, when Alex Bregman had the big hit and Kyle Tucker had the best overall plate appearances, the relentless power of the Astros’ machine was on full display. Bregman and Tucker were two of the jewels of the Astros’ heinous losing during the early 2010s, which resulted in high draft pick after high draft pick. Tanking doesn’t work if you flub those picks though, and grabbing Bregman second overall in 2015 will go down as one of the best selections in club history.
Wouldn’t you know it, three slots later — the Bregman pick was possible because they were awarded a compensation pick for failing to sign their 2014 first rounder — the Astros took a high school outfielder from Florida named Tucker. That kid blossomed into a Gold Glover, All-Star and two-time 30-home run hitter by the time he was 25. Tucker has been balling all postseason, showing both why he was such a high draft pick and one of the more talented hitters in the game, and he still has two more seasons on his contract before reaching free agency. If the Astros are smart (and we know they are), he’ll be locked up well before that.
With Javier, Bregman, Tucker, Valdez, McCullers, Abreu, Jeremy Pena and Yordan Alvarez all 28 or younger, things are looking bleak for the rest of the American League. Verlander and Jose Altuve won’t be around forever, but the cupboard is more than full enough to sustain this team well after they’re gone. The new core has already proven strong enough to weather the losses of Carlos Correa, George Springer, general manager Jeff Luhnow and their old coaching staff.
Now the only question is whether they can do what Correa, Springer and a series of low-tech baseball criminals infamously did in 2017: win the whole damn thing.
