The recent struggles of Framber Valdez, Cristian Javier, and Hunter Brown have received a lot of attention. And for good reason: it is difficult to see how the Astros can win a tight playoff race if the team can’t figure out how to reverse the recent rotation problems. The struggles include hard contact, unusually short outings (which will ultimately hurt the bullpen), and erratic command of pitches.
While it’s important to diagnose and fix these pitchers’ individual issues, poor pitching results are a team issue that includes run prevention. Run prevention is a combination of team defense and pitching.