The Houston Astros have used a six-man rotation for much of 2022, but José Urquidy has proven himself a weak link, better suited to a relief role.
José Urquidy is a good pitcher. On most American League teams, he'd be utilized as a fourth starter, or even a third starter, but the Houston Astros are not 'most American League teams'.
Since the beginning of the year, the Astros have leaned heavily on a six-man rotation.
Bolstered an extreme surplus of starting pitching depth, the club has three aces, with a fourth returning from the injured list in Lance McCullers Jr.
Justin Verlander sports an ERA of 1.85, the 39-year-old is having the best season of his career. Meanwhile, Framber Valdez and Christian Javier each have ERAs below 3.00 with 40 starts between them.
McCullers, coming back from nine months on the IL, placed seventh in 2021 AL Cy Young voting and pitched Saturday for the first time since last October, blanking the Oakland A's for six innings.
That leaves two starters have have been good, but perhaps haven't quite lived up to the billing of the other four, Luis García, and the aforementioned Urquidy.
Stringing a six-man rotation has its benefits. Each starter has an extra rest day to recuperate, allowing them to go deeper into games and easing the strain upon the bullpen.
The downside to that is one fewer bullpen arm. As the baseball season reaches the dog days of August, the available starting pitchers for the Astros have reached a point physically, where everyone but McCullers is stretched out as much as possible. Any and all are capable of pitching six innings every night.
Moving one starter to the bullpen would mean Houston's better options start more games and a significantly bolstered bullpen.
Despite Urquidy's lower ERA, the choice to send him to the bullpen over García is easy. Urquidy's FIP is over half a run higher, and his xERA is over an entire run higher.
Urquidy has already played his best baseball, for Garcia, it's yet to come.
Urquidy boasts two plus-pitches but struggles with value on his tertiary offerings. García, meanwhile, has three plus-pitches, his cutter, changeup and curveball.
García's repertoire is far better suited to starting, as he must face hitters multiple times through the order.
In the bullpen, Urquidy can lean more heavily on his devastating four-seamer which has a run value of -9.
His changeup is -2 runs, but his other three pitches allow positive runs offensively.
Out of the bullpen Urquidy would be incredibly effective. He'd gain more velocity pitching in more specialized situations, able to more effectively utilize his stamina at higher-leverages.
Lacking a set multi-inning reliever, José Urquidy is the perfect bullpen candidate.