When Cristian Javier went to the bullpen in late May, general manager James Click said it did not reflect a shift in organizational thinking. Javier could best help the current club as a multi-inning leverage reliever, Click said. Long term, the team still viewed Javier as a starting pitcher.
Adhering to that, the Astros have monitored Javier’s workload, kept him stretched out to around 50 pitches and resisted throwing him on back-to-back days. As a result, his usage as a reliever has little rhyme or reason. The lack of a defined role leaves Javier in an awkward position as the playoffs draw near.
Javier is the type of arm that should aid the Astros in the American League Division Series against the White Sox. Whether the team trusts him is another matter to ponder. Javier’s home run propensity, pitiful command and general inconsistency would bring a bevy of risk to the team’s postseason bullpen, no matter how marvelous the matchup.
Chicago has a lineup comprised almost entirely of righthanded hitters. Javier pairs an elevated four-seam fastball and slider to neutralize them. Righties had a .455 OPS against Javier in 2020, when he finished third in American League Rookie of the Year voting. They have a .587 clip against him this season — the only constant in Javier’s circuitous journey.
Circumstance sent Javier to the bullpen after his breakout 2020 season as a starter. Houston signed Jake Odorizzi in spring training and Luis Garcia out-pitched Javier across the first two months. Javier’s command cratered when the Astros converted him, but the 24-year-old righthander flashes just enough stretches of brilliance to tantalize the team’s decision makers.
Javier struck out five of the first six hitters he saw on Sept. 26 against the A’s. Manager Dusty Baker allowed him to face them again on Friday at Minute Maid Park. Javier entered to start an inning and face the bottom of Oakland’s order. Earlier this season, Houston deployed Javier in mid-inning relief with men aboard. Javier allowed five of the 10 runners he inherited to score.
More comfort should arrive in a clean inning. Javier needed just 12 pitches to finish the seventh. Three of his first four hitters saw a first-pitch strike. Javier’s walked 32 batters in 52 ⅔ innings since becoming a reliever. Any stretch of good command is welcomed, however fleeting it may be.
It disappeared during an excruciating eighth inning, a befitting final scene of Javier’s frustrating season. He hit a batter, walked another and allowed two hits. Two fielding errors by Marwin Gonzalez at second base did not help, but Javier inflicted enough damage himself. He threw 46 pitches. Only 23 were strikes.
“It’s been a year of transition for him, but he never complains,” manager Dusty Baker said on Saturday. “He takes the ball. He’s not conditioned to go a couple days in a row because he’s so valuable in our plans for the future. We’ll just have to see if we can fit in where he can help us the most, but not harming him.”
Javier made his final start on May 23. He has a 4.07 ERA since June 3 and a 4.91 ERA in 17 appearances since the All-Star break — a span in which opponents have a .778 OPS against him.
Javier’s arsenal lends itself to the long ball, so the 16 he’s allowed can’t be considered a surprise. Pair that with walking 4.7 hitters per nine innings, though, and there is cause for concern.
The Astros seem intent on carrying Zack Greinke in their postseason bullpen as a multi-inning option. Odorizzi’s familiarity with the White Sox lineup and recent success should make him a serviceable candidate, too. It could leave Javier on the outside, even if he seems like such a perfect option for Chicago’s lineup.
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Will Cristian Javier fit into Astros' postseason plans? - Houston Chronicle
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