Odorizzi Eyes Return To 2019 Form After Signing With The ‘Stros

Former All-Star SP Jake Odorizzi inked a two-year deal with the Houston Astros — that’s right, the team that leads the league in stolen World Series championships.

Odorizzi is coming off of an injury-riddled 2020 season. He only pitched 13.2 innings and was unable to throw for the Minnesota Twins in the playoffs. His 2019 form is why the Astros are forking over $23.5 million guaranteed to the righty. That year his strikeout rate was a career-high 27%, and his home run percentage was a career-best 2.4%. Odorizzi’s ability to limit dingers and strikeout over a fourth of the batters he faced earned him the All-Star nod that season.

This signing was undoubtedly a knee-jerk reaction by the Astros, who just lost SP Framber Valdez for the foreseeable future due to a broken left ring finger. Valdez broke his finger on a comebacker from the New York Mets’ new star shortstop, Francisco Lindor. Odorizzi will likely slot in the rotation behind ace SP Zack Grienke and SP Lance McCullers Jr., which will take some pressure off of him to have to return to his All-Star form immediately.

This signing bolsters the fragile Astros rotation but will fail to push their World Series odds much further. The Astros do have a 70.2% chance to make the playoffs per FanGraphs, but that’s because my 5-year-old niece could steal a starting position on any of the other teams in the AL West.

Odorizzi will likely be reliable to pitch every fifth day based on his injury history. The positive takeaway about Odorizzi’s prior injuries is that they were minor and one-in-a-million chance weird, like the comeback line drive that caused his chest contusion last season. If he replicates his 2019 performance, Odorizzi can be the best pitcher in this rotation. Either way, this signing is not a difference-maker in whether or not the Astros make the World Series. They would have to pull out all the trash cans, cameras and microphones they could find if they hope to return to the big stage.