'El Reptil' ready to bounce back after up-and-down '23

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Each winter, Astros pitching coach Bill Murphy makes a trip to the Dominican Republic to check in on how the team’s native Dominicans are faring in the offseason, a group which includes Cristian Javier, Framber Valdez, Bryan Abreu, Ronel Blanco and Rafael Montero. The trip allows Murphy to have a bit more information coming into camp and a head start in spring.

Murphy really wanted to get some eyes last winter on Javier to see if the mechanical changes that Murphy and fellow pitching coach Josh Miller made with him late last year had resonated. What Murphy saw was a fitter and trimmer Javier -- he lost 15 pounds in the offseason by changing his diet while working with strength and conditioning coach Hazael Wessin -- who appears poised to rebound in 2024.

“He looks amazing,” Murphy said. “I saw it in the Dominican Republic. He looks absolutely fantastic, primed for maybe the biggest year of his career.”

That would come just in time for the Astros and Javier, who signed a five-year, $64 million contract extension a year ago and remains in line to be one of the team’s top-of-the-rotation starters for years to come. Javier responded with an uneven 2023 campaign that ended with him giving up three runs off four hits, including a homer, while recording just one out in his Game 7 start in the ALCS against Texas.

“I learned from it and moved forward and keep trying to improve,” said Javier, who’s called ‘El Reptil’ for his calm demeanor.

Coming off a stellar 2022 season, Javier began last season by going 7-1 with a 2.90 ERA and 1.04 WHIP in his first 14 starts, which covered 80 2/3 innings. The rest of the summer was a grind. He had a 7.27 ERA and a 1.63 WHIP in 13 starts from June 21-Sep. 9 before finishing with four solid outings including an 11-strikeout game on Sept. 20 against Baltimore.

The alarm bells went off for the Astros in June, when Javier walked five batters and gave up four runs in 2 1/3 innings in a win over the Mets. He gave up 14 runs and 17 hits in 8 1/3 innings over his next two starts -- both wins because the Astros were scoring a ton of runs -- which was enough to send Miller and Murphy to the drawing board.

“It’s something myself and Josh worked on with him at the tail end of last year. … He was trying to throw too hard too early in his delivery,” Murphy said. “Basically, what that caused was he was yanking out and cutting the ball instead of naturally throwing and trusting his delivery and his mechanics."

Javier, 26, said his struggles were mental and physical, but mechanics were the biggest part of it. He was carrying a bit more weight and said he wasn’t as fluid as he used to be.

“I was crossing [my body] a little too much as I was doing my release with my arm and my follow through, and as I made those adjustments, I started going more towards home plate,” Javier said. “Overall, I think the season went pretty well. I learned a lot from some of my outings that didn’t go how I wanted, but each day and from those outings, I was able to make adjustments, and those adjustments are what helped me at the end of the season to finish strong.”

Another issue that may have affected Javier’s performance in 2023 was his workload. Javier pitched four scoreless innings for the Dominican Republic last spring in the World Baseball Classic, which meant he had to get ramped up to pitch in games sooner than in years past. He then threw a career-high 162 innings in the regular season and 11 more in the postseason.

Murphy hopes a rested and fitter Javier can be ready to bear the workload of 180-200 innings and pitch at a high level.

“I think possibly he could have been a little bit tired and maybe what happened was he was trying to throw a little too hard because he was tired, trying to manufacture a little too much,” he said. “I think that this offseason, having some more rest and not having to pitch as long or pitch as soon, will be extremely beneficial for him, but we’re just trying to get him to relax. He’s ‘El Reptil’ for a reason.”