Photo courtesy of Ted Kerwin.While Jose Fernandez and Shelby Miller have been the two most dominant rookie pitchers in the National League this season, there is another overlooked rookie pitcher that has quietly put up great numbers through the first four starts of his young career.
Jarred Cosart is just the second pitcher in the last 100 years to throw six-plus innings while allowing one run or less in his first four starts, according to the Elias Sports Bureau*(via The Houston Chronicle).
The Houston area native has not gotten a lot of notoriety because he plays for his hometown team the Houston Astros, who have the worst record in baseball. But through four starts, he is 1-0 with a .098 ERA and 11 strikeouts in 28 innings.
He can top out at 95 mph on the radar gun but he is not a power pitching strikeout artist like Jose Fernandez. He pitches to contact and compares favorably to Gerrit Cole in Pittsburgh. Currently hitters are make contact at a 89.5% rate.
His K/9 rate currently sits at 3.56. This is well below the marks he posted in the minors. There is upside and you can expect his K/9 to settle in between 6 and 6.50 strikeouts per nine.
His fastball tends to sink into the zone, which helps induce a high percentage of ground balls. His has an excellent groundball rate of 57%, and Cosart has not given up a home run through his first four starts.
There is a glaring problem for Jarred Cosart. While his first four starts were historic, he still walked more hitters (12) than he struck out (11). Obviously, this will catch up to him at some point. Teams will not be able to beat him with the long ball but they will eventually take advantage of his free passes.
He will not tally a lot of wins for your team even if he leaves the game with a lead. You have been warned. The Astros have the worst bullpen ERA in baseball at 5.14. Run support from the Astros is sporadic at best and many leads have been squandered this season in the late innings.
He will give you a very good ERA and WHIP as the season winds down. He will be an excellent candidate to stream when pitching at home in Houston. I see him finishing with an ERA around 3.50 with a good WHIP to go with it by the end of the season. This a good guy to grab if you are in need of late season pitching.
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