24-year old righty reliever Samuel Gervacio was the Astros’ #19 rated prospect heading into this season according to Baseball America. He has pitched in 25 games (0 starts) for the Astros this season and he is 1-1 with a 1.93 ERA and a 1.02 WHIP. Gervacio has only allowed 12 hits in 18 2/3 innings this season for the Astros while whiffing 23 batters showing that he has solid stuff. His work with Houston is a huge improvement over the year he had in AAA-ball this season. Gervacio worked in 39 games in AAA and he was 2-2 with a 4.82 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP. He whiffed 58 batters in 52 1/3 innings in AAA while only allowing 43 hits showing that he has good stuff despite the sub par ERA. The Astros could really use another good, cheap arm in the bullpen so they hope Gervacio is the real deal.

The Astros have been waiting for some time for 30-year old lefty starting pitcher Wandy Rodriguez to live up to his vast ability. The wait appears over as he has turned into a dominant starter. Part of the reason for that is that he’s starting to pitch better away from Houston where he dominates. Rodriguez has started 27 games this season for the Astros and he is 12-9 with a 2.93 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP. His strikeouts are also way up as he has 155 of them in 168 2/3 innings. The reason for that is because he’s attacking the strike zone with his fastball. There is no reason to think that Rodriguez won’t finish this season strong and possibly earn some Cy Young Award Votes (he has no chance of winning it).

The only person expecting big things this season out of 29-year old righty reliever Jeff Fulchino was himself. But he has been very effective in middle relief for the Astros this season. Fulchino has pitched in 30 games (0 starts) for the Astros this season and he is 3-3 with a 3.45 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP. If Fulchino keeps pitching well he might have found a home in Houston.

Lefty Wandy Rodriguez has been the best starting pitcher for the Astros so far this season and that’s saying a lot when Roy Oswalt is on the staff. Rodriguez has started 5 games so far this season and he is 2-2 with a 1.69 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP. He has only allowed 21 hits while striking out 27 batters in 32 innings showing what kind of stuff he has going right now. If Rodriguez can keep up the good work the Astros could be better than most experts thought they would be.

The Houston Astros have surged in the National League Central lately winning 9 of their last 10 games to pull within 2.5 games of the Brewers in the Wild Card Race. A big part of the reason for the Astros recent surge after sleepwalking the first half of the season is #1 starter Roy Oswalt’s pitching the last couple of months. In his 9 starts in August and September, Oswalt is 7-1 with a 1.56 ERA and a 0.82 WHIP. He has been even more incredible this month as he has started 3 games (2 shutouts) and he has a 3-0 record with a 0.00 ERA and a 0.38 WHIP. Oswalt’s overall numbers look pretty solid now despite him having a rough start to the season. He has started 29 games for the Astros this season and he is 15-9 with a 3.54 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP. The Astros need Oswalt to keep up the good work if they are going to make the playoffs this season.