Grew up an outfielder before transitioning to pitching at the age of 16...less than two years later, signed by the Astros as a 17-year-old international free agent out of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic on March 18, 2015...signed by Astros scouts Oz Ocampo, Roman Ocumarez and Leocadio Guevara...Received the nickname “El Reptíl” (the reptile) during his time in the Astros minor league system, due to his poise, calm demeanor and slow, calculated movements on and off the mound...originally given the name by his High A Manager Morgan Ensberg and his pitching coach at the level, Drew French...Ensberg was a former All-Star player for the Astros, playing for the club from 2000-07...Works predominately with his low to mid 90s fastball, which has been nicknamed the invisiball...his fastball, which is a four-seamer, has a ride with high spin rates...coupled with his three-quarters arm slot, the pitch has strong deception to hitters...he follows that pitch up with a slider and a 12-6 curveball...Just three years in the Majors, Javier has already been an author of several special moments, none bigger than starting the club’s combined no-hitter in Game 4 of the 2022 World Series...the night was extra-special for Javier, who had flown his father, Cecilio, and mother, Trinidad Mieses, in from the Dominican Republic for the game...in talking with his parents the night before the game, Cecilio and Trinidad predicted that their son, Cristian, would throw a no-hitter in Game 4....Javier tossed six innings of no-hit ball the next day...his mother had seen him pitch before in the United States, but that night was his fathers first time to watch his son pitch in the Majors in person...Was originally added to the Astros 40-man roster on Nov. 20, 2019...after pitching three years in the Majors, the Astros and Javier agreed on a five-year contract that will keep Javier in an Astros uniform through the 2027 season...the deal was officially signed on Feb. 10, 2023.
2023
Spent his first full season out of the rotation, posting a 4.56 ERA (82ER/162.0IP) with his first 150+ inning season of his career...the Astros went 21-10 when he started in the regular season...Has pitched primarily as a starter over the 2022-23 seasons...among qualifying AL pitchers over that span, ranked fourth in opponent average (.204) and tied for sixth in strikeouts per 9.0 (10.23)...Prior to the regular season, represented his native country (Dominican Republic) at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, getting the winning decision on March 13 vs Nicaragua as he threw four scoreless innings with four strikeouts in his start...Made his fourth career Opening Day roster...Went 7-1 with a 2.90 ERA (26ER/80.2IP) in his first 14 starts to begin the season...also recorded a 1.04 WHIP, eight quality starts, and a .219 opponent batting average during that span...Struck out a career-best seven consecutive batters on April 23 at ATL...was one away from matching the Astros franchise record, which has been accomplished on several occasions...Went 4-0 with a 2.40 ERA (8ER/30IP) in May...ranked tied for first among MLB pitchers in May in wins (4)...among AL pitchers was second in opponent average (.157) and seventh in ERA (2.40) in May...Tossed six scoreless innings on June 15 vs WSH, recording a career-high 15 flyball outs to zero groundouts with the only assist in his outing coming on a caught-stealing by Martín Maldonado in the second inning...per Elias, the last pitcher in the Majors with a scoreless outing of 6+ IP without recording a groundout was TB RHP Luis Patiño on 7/29/21 vs. NYY...no Astros pitcher has had a scoreless outing of 6+ IP without recording a groundout in franchise history...Reached 500 career strikeouts during his outing on Sept. 3 vs. NYY...reached that number in his 104th career game, making him the seventh player in Astros history to reach 500 strikeouts within their first 104 career appearances (all coming with the Astros)...Was his first postseason as part of the rotation, making three starts during the 2023 playoffs...opened this postseason by extending his scoreless innings streak in the postseason to 20.1 innings, which ranks as the longest in franchise history...Had his best postseason start in Game 3 of the ALDS at MIN, working five scoreless innings on one hit allowed, while working around five walks.
2022
Third-year swingman pitched primarily out of the rotation this season, making 25 starts compared to just five relief appearances...was great in both roles, as a starter posting a 2.81 ERA (40ER/128.1IP) and as a reliever a 1.26 ERA (2ER/14.1IP)...Was one of most dominant pitchers in AL this year... among pitchers with 140+ innings pitched, had lowest opponent batting average in AL (.170)...was 16 points lower than the second-place and the AL Cy Young winner RHP Justin Verlander (.186)...His .170 opponent batting average this season falls in line with his career opponent batting average of .178...among pitchers to toss 300+ innings over the 2020-22 seasons, Javier has posted the lowest opponent batting average of any pitcher, besting 2nd-place RHP Corbin Burnes (.195)... right-handed hitters are hitting .143 (76x530) against Javier in his career...since 2020, Javier’s .143 opponent BA vs. righties is also the lowest in the Majors (min. 420 batters faced)...Also ranked second in K’s per 9.0 (11.74) and fourth in WHIP (0.95) this season...his 11.74 K’s per 9.0 ratio trailed only RHP Shohei Ohtani (11.87) (min. 140IP)...In addition to his high strikeout rate and extremely low opponent batting average, induced pop ups at an elite rate...posted the highest fly ball percentage (56.9%) in the Majors this season (min. 140 IP)...Was great the entire season, but finished the year in an extremely dominant stretch...over his last six starts, he posted a 1.08 ERA (4ER/33.1IP) with 44 strikeouts, a .127 opponent batting average and a 0.75 WHIP...Did not allow a run over his final four starts (23IP) ans his last 25.1 innings...marked the longest active streak in the Majors at the end of the season and ranked as the third-longest in the AL this season... including his two starts this postseason (11.1IP), finished his season by not allowing a run in six straight starts...Javier allowed just seven hits in 34.1 innings pitched in those six starts for a .067 opponent average...On June 25 at NYY, pitched 7.0 innings of the Astros combined no-hitter...combined to toss it with RHP Hector Neris (1IP) and RHP Ryan Pressly (1IP)... marked the Astros 14th no-hitter in club history and their third combined no-hitter...C Martín Maldonado was behind the plate for the no-hitter...During the no-hitter on June 25 at NYY, Javier began a streak of striking out two-or-more batters in an inning for 13 consecutive innings over parts of three starts from June 25-July 6...became just the third player since 1961 to have a streak of 13+ innings, joining Corey Kluber in 2014 and Aroldis Chapman in 2020-21...Struck out a career-high 14 hitters in 7.0 innings of dominant work on July 1 vs. LAA...marked the most strikeouts by an Astros pitcher since RHP Gerrit Cole also struck out 14 on Sept. 24, 2019 at SEA...Had an absolutely prolific 2022 POSTSEASON, making his first two playoff starts and tossing 6.0 innings of Astros combined no-hitter in G4 of the WS...overall, was 2-0 with a 0.71 ERA in playoffs, striking out 16 in 12.2IP...allowed just two hits and one run, which came in a 1.1 inning relief appearance in G1 of ALDS at SEA...The no-hitter in Game 4 of the World Series was just second no-hitter ever in WS history and third ever in playoff history (RHP Don Larsen’s perfect game on 10/8/56 in G5 of WS and RHP Roy Halladay on 10/6/10 in G1 NLDS)...is the only combined no-hitter in playoff history...Became just the seventh pitcher ever to start two no-hitters in a single season, with only one other pitcher ever split his no-hitters between reg. and postseason games (Halladay)...Javier is the first pitcher ever to start two combined no-hitters in a career...also joined teammate RHP Ryan Pressly as only pitchers ever to pitch in two combined no-hitters in career...In the start before the no-hitter, went 5.1 scoreless innings in G3 of ALCS at NYY...struck out five and allowed just one hit...Finished postseason on a 12-inning scoreless streak.
2021
Finished his second MLB season, recording a 3.55 ERA (40ER/101.1IP) with 130 strikeouts, a .186 opponent batting average and a 1.18 WHIP...His .186 opponent average ranked first in the AL (min. 90 IP)...allowed just 67 hits in his 101.1 IP...held righties to a .155 mark (33x213) and a .587 OPS...Owned the second-lowest ground ball percentage in the Majors at 28% (min. 90 IP)...Made his second consecutive OPENING DAY roster...Began the season in the Astros rotation, recording a 3.14 ERA (17ER/48.2IP) with a .173 opponent batting average, a 1.03 WHIP and a 3-1 record in nine starts...Moved to the bullpen for his final 27 outings...recorded a 3.93 ERA (23ER/52.2IP) with 72 strikeouts in 27 appearances as a reliever...In the POSTSEASON, he recorded a 3.38 ERA (4ER/10.2IP) with 19 strikeouts...was stellar in Game 4 of the ALCS, tossing 3.0 scoreless innings with two walks and three strikeouts.
2020
23-year old made his Major League debut, making 10 starts and two relief appearances while finishing third in the AL Rookie of the Year voting...Posted the highest finish by an Astros pitcher in the Rookie of the Year voting since Roy Oswalt finished in second in the 2001 NL Rookie of the Year voting...Went 5-2 with a 3.68 ERA (21ER/51.1IP), 18 walks, 48 strikeouts and a .188 opponent batting average (34x181) across his 10 starts...Allowed just 36 hits in his 54.1 innings pitched, good for a .188 opponent batting average (36x192)...led all AL rookies and ranked fourth among AL pitchers in opponent batting average (min. 150 batters faced), behind only Shane Bieber (.167), Kenta Maeda (.168) and Lucas Giolito (.184)...Recorded the third-best WHIP by a rookie pitcher in club history (0.99), behind only Chris Devenski’s (0.91 in 2016) and Bill Dawley (0.92 in 1983)...Posted the third-best opponent batting average by a rookie in franchise history (min. 200 batters faced)...only Billy Wagner (.165 in 1996) and Bill Dawley (.185 in 1983) posted better marks as rookies...Had the seventh-lowest hard-hit ball rate in MLB (29.3%, min. 100 batted balls)...Among AL pitchers with at least 150 batters faced, ranked seventh in WHIP (0.99)...Led all AL rookies in ERA (min. 150 batters faced), and opponent average, and ranked tied for fourth in wins, tied for second starts, fourth in innings pitched and third in strikeouts (54)...Gave up three runs or less in nine of his 10 starts...OPENING DAY: Made his first career Opening Day roster...Made his MLB debut on July 25 vs. SEA, tossing 1.0 scoreless inning of relief...Made his first career Major League start on July 29 vs. LAD (1ER/5.2IP)...struck out Max Muncy, Mookie Betts and Cody Bellinger to open up the game...per Elias, became the second pitcher in Astros history to strike out the first three batters he faced in his first Major League start, joining Frank DiPino (Sept. 7, 1982 vs. SD)...Became the first Astros pitcher to allow two hits or fewer in at least 5.0 innings in his first Major League start since Jarred Cosart on July 12, 2013, vs TB...Was also the first Astros pitcher to allow one run or fewer in at least 5.0 innings in his first Major League start since Vince Velasquez on June 10, 2015...Gave up just 10 hits over his first four Major League starts for a .147 opponent batting average (10x68)... marked the fifth-best opponent batting average over a pitcher’s first four MLB starts in franchise history, behind Taylor Buchholz (.134), Darryl Kile (.138), Tom Griffin (.143) and Mike Madden (.146)...Struck out five Dodgers hitters over 2.0 scoreless innings of relief on Sept. 13 at LAD...became the third rookie reliever to strike out five-plus Dodgers hitters in an Interleague game, joining Baltimore’s Dylan Bundy (7 K’s on July 6, 2016) and Boston’s Casey Fossum (5 K’s on June 23, 2002)...POSTSEASON: Made five relief appearances in the postseason across all three rounds, going 2-0 with a 2.89 ERA (3ER/9.1IP), five walks and 13 strikeouts...The Astros went 5-0 in his appearances...Both of his wins came in series-clinching games (ALDS Game 4 vs. OAK, Wild Card Series Game 2 at MIN), making him the second pitcher in club history to record two wins in series-clinching games in a single postseason, joining Charlie Morton (2017)...Became the sixth pitcher in MLB history to earn the win without allowing a run in multiple series-clinching games in a single postseason, joining Mike Stanton (2000), Derek Lowe (2004), Jeremy Affeldt (2014), David Robertson (2017) and Ryan Madson (2018)...Began his postseason career with 6.1 scoreless innings, spanning three outings...WILD CARD SERIES AT MIN: Threw 3.0 scoreless frames in the series-clinching Game 2 to bridge the gap to Ryan Pressly for the save...earned the win, striking out two with two walks...ALDS VS. OAK: Pitched in Games 1 and 4, earning holds in both Astros wins...threw 1.0 scoreless frame in Game 1, and 2.1 scoreless in Game 4.
2015-19
Appeared in 26 games, including 18 starts, across three Minor League levels: Class A Advanced Fayetteville (7g) Double A Corpus Christi (17g) and Triple A Round Rock (2g)...recorded a 1.74 ERA (22ER/113.2IP) with 170 strikeouts and a 0.97 WHIP...among all minor league pitchers with at least 100.0 inning pitched, ranked first in opponent batting average (.130), second in ERA, third in strikeout rate (37.7%), sixth in strikeouts and eighth in WHIP.
2018
Spent the season between Quad Cities (11g) and Buies Creek (14g) where he posted a 2.70 ERRA (33ER/110.0IP) with 146 strikeouts...was named the Midwest League Player of the Week for the week of May 27, after tossing 10.0 innings of four-hit ball with 18 strikeouts in two appearances.
2017
Played in just 14 games, including seven starts, between Buies Creek (2g), Tri-City (4g) and Quad Cities ( 8g)...posted a 2.25 ERA (15ER/60.0IP) with 80 strikeouts...allowed just three homers and recorded a save in his only opportunity.
2016
In just his second professional season, appeared in 13 games with six starts, recording a 2.29 ERA (13ER/51.0IP) with 66 strikeouts and a 1.02 WHIP....was named Appalachian League Pitcher of the Week for the week of Aug. 14, after tossing 9.0 innings of three-hit ball with 11 strikeouts.
2015
Appeared in 14 games with the DSL Astros in his first professional season...recorded a 2.13 ERA (10ER/42.1IP) with 50 strikeouts, nine walks and a 0.92 WHIP.
