The Houston Astros will Move Jose Urquidy to the Bullpen

The Houston Astros have announced that Jose Urquidy will be moved to the bullpen for the remainder of the regular season, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.

It sounds as if José Urquidy won't make another start this regular season. He could be available out of the bullpen at some point on this homestand.

— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) September 30, 2022

This is not a knock on Urquidy but more that the Astros are loaded with starting pitchers. Justin Verlander, Framber Valdez, Luis Garcia, Lance McCullers, and Cristian Javier are ahead of Urquidy in the starting pitcher pecking order. Urquidy will likely work as a long man out of the bullpen for the Astros in the playoffs, should he make their postseason roster.

On the season, Urquidy has a 3.88 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, with 133 strikeouts in 162.1 innings pitched over 28 starts. Those numbers would make a top-five spot in most rotations for major league baseball teams, but not the Astros.

After giving several regulars time off during the past couple of weeks, manager Dusty Baker has stated that he will play his regular lineup over the last two series of the regular season. On Saturday, the Astros will take on the Tampa Bay Rays, who are still battling with the Toronto Blue Jays for the top wildcard berth in the American League and thus home-field advantage during the first round of the playoffs.

The Astros will start Javier while the Rays go with their ace, Shane McClanahan. The Astros are +136 (-1.5) on the run line and -166 on the money line, with an over/under of 6.5, over (-122), and under (-100). You can find the odds and props for this game and every other at the FanDuel Sportsbook.