The Background to the Question:
Heading into the 2018 baseball seasons, a number of pitching-related facts are apparent:
- The Astros are the defending World Series Champions (I never get tired of saying that!)
- There is a perception that the Astros struggled to consistently fill their rotation throughout 2017, and as a result, the bullpen felt gassed at the end of the year*
- Their bullpen - at least in terms of their full-time relief pitching - struggled in the playoffs**
- The Astros' most frequent starters' in 2017 are not what one would define as "workhorses"***
- The Astros appear to have an excess of starting pitchers next year, including presumed top-5 of Justin Verlander, Dallas Keuchel, Gerrit Cole, Lance McCullers and Charlie Morton.