Astros' Ace Valdez Primed to Make Postseason Statement
The Houston Astros have lost their last three series in a row. The more alarming thing is that two of the three were against the two worst teams in Major League Baseball.
Warning signs have begun to surface with the pitching staff giving up a high amount of runs and their prominent hitters going cold.
During this stretch, the Astros have still been able to maintain their lead in the AL West, holding a half game lead over the Seattle Mariners and Texas Rangers entering Friday.
Houston begins a home weekend series against the Kansas City Royals, who won their previous series less than a week ago.
With their ace Framber Valdez on the mound Friday, he has a chance to make a postseason statement.
Since his poor form in July and much of August, the left hander has a 2-1 record with a 1.71 ERA in September. He's starting to look like the dominant pitcher that he's been in the past and during the beginning of the season that had him in Cy Young conversations.
But he needs to smother the Royals in this start, not just to ensure a regular season victory, but to show that he'll be the top-end pitcher of the staff that the Astros will need to make a deep playoff run.
Kansas City has been swinging the bat well over the past seven days, scoring 30 runs in the last five games.
It's a confident, young team who knows they can beat Houston since they've done it before.
Valdez needs to ensure the Astros get off to a good start in this series, unlike what they've done in the past, dropping the first two games during their three series defeats.
With the division still up in the air, it's time for the team to start playing playoff baseball and their ace needs to be a big part in making sure that happens.
