Every few seasons Brian Moehler decides that he doesn’t stink and this appears to be one of those years. Moehler has pitched in 15 games (10 starts) for the Astros this season and he is 4-3 with a 3.82 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP. With a lot of the Astros’ starting pitchers either getting injured or just flat out going into the tank…..Moehler has been a godsend for them. If the Astros decide to sell at the trading deadline and Moehler is still pitching good they might be able to get a prospect for him.

Veteran lefty Tim Byrdak is off to a good start of his Houston Astros’ career. He has pitched in 14 games for the Astros this season and he is 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA and a 1.41 WHIP. His only drawback so far this season is the fact that he has walked 8 batters in only 11.1 innings. Byrdak has appeared to find a home in Houston as the only lefty they had in the bullpen was Rule 5 pick Wesley Wright.

The Astros should find a way to just pitch lefty starter Wandy Rodriguez at home. At home, Rodriguez has started 15 games and he is 6-3 with a 2.94 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP. On the road however Rodriguez has been horrible. In 14 road starts, Rodriguez is 2-10 with a 7.31 ERA and a 1.68 WHIP. Overall, Rodriguez has started 29 games and he is 8-13 with a 4.83 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP. With baseball getting specialized so much the Astros should find a way to limit Rodriguez to starting home games. The Astros are still in last place in the National League Central with a 65-86 record which has them 13.5 games behind the Cubs & Brewers. The more important thing for right now is that the Astros are still 1 game behind the Pirates for fifth place.

The only pitchers that looked good in the first half of the season for the Astros were Brad Lidge, Roy Oswalt and Wandy Rodriguez. Brad Lidge lost his closers job on opening day but he has straightened himself back out through hard work. Lidge is 2-1 with a 2.34 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP so far this season. He is on the DL now but it’s possible that he could get his closers job back when he returns as Dan Wheeler has done a poor job. Roy Oswalt is 8-5 this season with a 3.53 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP this season. He would have much better numbers if the bullpen was better and the offense could score a few more runs. Lefty starter Wandy Rodriguez had a good first half of the season as he was 6-7 with a 3.87 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP. His record should be better but that’s not his fault.

Wandy Rodriguez and Chris Sampson have both been pleasant surprises so far this season. With Andy Pettitte and Roger Clemens bolting to New York the Astros needed someone to step up and the kids have done a good job. Wandy Rodriguez should have a much better record than 4-6 as he has a 4.19 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP. Rodriguez has an outstanding strikeout to walk ratio of 3.9 (71-18) which has him tied for 13th in all of baseball for pitchers who have made at least 5 starts. That’s really important in Houston where the ball flies out of the stadium at an alarming rate. Rookie Chris Sampson earned his way into the rotation with a solid Spring Training and his good pitching has carried over into the regular season. Sampson is 6-5 with a 3.29 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP so far this season. Sampson is also a strike thrower as he’s only allowing 2.23 walks per 9 innings. Both Rodriguez & Sampson would have better records if not for the bullpen troubles the Astros have had so far this season.