When Justin Verlander re-signed with the Astros in December, one of the questions that stemmed from it was Jake Odorizzi’s role with the team.
Before, the 11-year veteran comfortably projected to begin the 2022 campaign in the rotation, as Lance McCullers Jr. was expected to miss a fairly significant chunk of the season due to an arm injury he suffered during last year’s ALDS.
But after Verlander inked his new deal, there was speculation that Odorizzi could be bumped from the starting staff in favor of Cristian Javier, who had carved out a valuable multi-inning relief role in 2021 after primarily being used as a starter since debuting in 2020.