Astros look to get Urquidy 'back to being the pitcher he was'

HOUSTON -- The Astros aren’t yet in position to consider pulling José Urquidy from their rotation, despite his recent struggles. Instead, the club is focused on figuring out why the right-hander has been prone to hard contact and sits with a 5.04 ERA through 11 starts for the season.

Urquidy lasted only 4 1/3 innings in Wednesday’s 6-3 loss to the Mariners at Minute Maid Park, giving up seven hits, five runs (four earned), two homers and a career-high four walks, three of which came in the third inning. For now, the Astros say their focus is getting Urquidy back on track to becoming an effective starter, something he’s been at points this year.

“I feel like he just needs to execute a little bit better,” pitching coach Josh Miller said. “His stuff has looked good, we've seen an uptick in velocity this year. It’s also been a little bit harder of a changeup leading into this start. I feel like he still has some issues where he gets ahead in the count and throws too hittable of pitches, but his stuff has largely been good. He just needs to execute better.”

Urquidy is 3-2 with a 5.73 ERA and a 1.88 WHIP in his last five starts, during which he’s allowed 42 hits in 26 2/3 innings. Opponents are batting .322 against him in that stretch. His .318 batting average against entering Wednesday’s game was the worst in the Major Leagues from among 120 pitchers with at least 40 innings pitched.

“He’s much better than he’s pitching,” Astros manager Dusty Baker said. “We’ve still got two-thirds of the season for him to pitch. Nobody’s going to go through the whole year pitching great unless you’re in contention for the Cy Young or something. He’s more concerned than we are.”

Urquidy is a strike-thrower who’s usually around the zone, which can make him prone to contact. Limiting hard contact is the key, which is why Urquidy this year added a cutter, similar to that of his teammate Luis Garcia. The goal was to give him a harder breaking ball down and away to right-handed hitters. He’s still trying to get a feel for it.

“I have to improve my offspeed for sure, with good intent and conviction,” Urquidy said. “Nothing big. In my case, I have to throw the cutter and have to work on it more.”

On Wednesday, three third-inning walks and a single led to a run against Urquidy, and he gave up two homers in the fourth -- a two-run shot by nine-hole hitter Cal Raleigh and a solo blast by Ty France that put Seattle ahead, 4-3. Baker sent him back out for the fifth because his bullpen was short-handed, but Urquidy lasted only three more batters.

“They were on him this time and the last time we faced them,” Baker said. “He’s not fooling them very much and they’re spitting on close pitches, real close pitches. Ordinarily they go for it. They were on him.”

Urquidy has a 6.25 ERA in seven career games (six starts) against Seattle in his career (since 2019), going 0-3 with a 10.38 ERA and 2.62 WHIP in three starts against them in 2022. He’s given up 27 hits in 13 innings against Seattle this season.

“It’s been a little difficult as of now, but there’s still a lot of season left and I think I’m going to keep working and get better,” Urquidy said.

With veteran right-hander Jake Odorizzi perhaps set to rejoin the rotation in the next couple of weeks, the Astros could have a decision to make between Urquidy and Cristian Javier, who hasn’t pitched well in his last two starts. There doesn’t appear to be immediate thoughts of bringing up top pitching prospect Hunter Brown, who has a 2.39 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP with 69 strikeouts in 49 innings at Triple-A.

“We need to see a little bit more from [Urquidy], obviously, get back to being the pitcher he was,” Miller said. “He’ll get the ball next turn, I believe in Arlington [next week] against the Rangers -- a team he’s had some success against in the past. Hopefully we can get the ball rolling that way.”