Houston Astros Star Pitcher Hoping His Physique Change Improves Performance
When Justin Verlander departed in free agency last offseason, the Houston Astros needed to rely on their young pitchers to fill the void that the legend left in their rotation.
They decided to full embrace their young star Cristian Javier with a five-year, $64 million contract extension in February 2023 that signaled a major commitment to the pitcher that had become a featured starter.
At the time, this seemed like a no-brainer.
Javier was coming off a season in 2022 where he posted an ERA of 2.54 across his 30 appearances and 25 starts. He threw the most innings of his career at 148 2/3 frames, but that did not hinder him one bit after his ERA+ finished at 150.
The righty was also an elite postseason performer that year, recording an ERA of 0.71 in three appearances and two starts, being a major asset in the Astros' World Series winning season.
But, he heavily regressed in 2023, posting his worst ERA of 4.56 across 31 starts.
The dominant playoff performer had a 4.09 ERA in three starts.
That's worrisome for Houston who is cash-conscious and has some important financial decisions to make in the upcoming years.
However, Javier is hoping that the change he made to his physique will improve his performance this season.
"[He] said he lost around 15 pounds this offseason. He acknowledged that some of his struggles last year could be attributed to some extra weight he was carrying around in addition to the already-documented mechanical flaws he had," Chandler Rome of The Athletic reports.
If improvement can come from this simple tweak, then that bodes well for the duration of his contract.
Javier is an important piece of this rotation and figures to be in the top-three throughout the year.
They'll need him to perform at his peak to compete for their third World Series title.
