The Astros’ Five Greatest Pitchers

Justin Verlander (2017-22, 2023-present)

While the other pitchers on this list have served longer for the Astros than the five-plus seasons from Verlander—virtually missing two of those years to injury—the future Hall of Famer’s inclusion at the top is clearly a case of quality above quantity.

A long-time ace who appeared to be on a slow decline in Detroit, Verlander hemmed and hawed over whether to accept a trade to Houston from the talent-shedding Tigers—and finally said yes literally two seconds before the trade deadline. He would not regret the decision; revitalized within an organization with a winning vibe, he won all five of his remaining regular season starts with a terrific 1.06 ERA, then took another four victories with a 2.21 ERA in the postseason to follow, picking up ALCS MVP honors along the way. Just days after securing his World Series ring, he gave a different kind of ring to supermodel girlfriend Kate Upton as they married in Italy.

Verlander kept up his renewed lease on pitching life with the Astros in the years to follow. He finished a close second in the 2018 AL Cy Young Award vote; won it the next year with a 21-6 record (including his third career no-hitter) and a personal-best 300 strikeouts; and after missing two years due to various injuries topped by Tommy John surgery, returned better than ever in 2022 at age 39, posting his first-ever sub-2.00 ERA (at 1.75) to go along with an 18-4 record and his second Houston Cy (the third of his career). His WHIP (walks/hits allowed per inning) totals of 0.80 (2019) and 0.83 (2022) are the two top such figures in Astros franchise history.

Though Verlander has put together an overall strong playoff record of 17-12 with a postseason-record 244 strikeouts, personal success in the World Series remained elusive. He had gone winless in eight career Fall Classic starts, with six losses, before finally nabbing his first triumph in what was thought to be his last game with the Astros, giving the team a 3-2 series lead over the Philadelphia Phillies before Houston took the title a game later. Following that success, Verlander signed a two-year, $86 million deal with the New York Mets—but returned to the Astros midway through the 2023 season as the Mets, floundering under a gargantuan payroll, sought to unload him.

Roy Oswalt (2001-10)

The wiry right-hander from Mississippi, a member of the gold medal-winning American baseball team at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, quickly leveraged his success to the majors, becoming the Astros’ ace for the next decade while taming Minute Maid Park’s hitter-friendly conditions in its early years.

Oswalt began his rookie year of 2001 as a reliever but was brought into the rotation in June, responding with a 12-2 record in 20 starts—setting him off on a path that would make him the National League’s winningest pitcher during the 2000s with 137 wins, against just 70 losses. He won 20 games in back-to-back seasons (2004-05), then followed that up with a 2.98 earned run average that led the NL in 2006. In the Astros’ run to the 2005 NL pennant, Oswalt figured prominently—winning three games and being named the NLCS MVP, allowing just two runs in 14 innings.

In an interleague game at Yankee Stadium in 2003, Oswalt initiated one of the strangest no-hitters recorded when he retired the side in order in the first inning but had to depart with a groin problem; five Houston relievers followed up and kept the Yankees hitless for the remaining eight innings.

Oswalt finally suffered his first losing season (6-12) with the Astros in 2010, through no fault of his own; his ERA was a fine 3.42 as the team barely averaged more than two runs of support per start. Seeing no immediate future for a depreciated Houston team, Oswalt requested a trade and got it, being sent to Philadelphia where he avoided his first losing season overall, winning seven of eight decisions to finish the year at 13-13.

J.R. Richard (1971-80)

Tall (6’8”) and intimidating with an electric fastball, Richard showed incredible promise and began to peak when, in 1980, his career was suddenly cut short by a massive stroke that nearly killed him.

In his very first start for the Astros, Richard startled the baseball world by tying the major league record for most strikeouts by a first-time pitcher with 15; three of those came against the great Willie Mays as Richard beat San Francisco, 5-3. Wildness on the mound kept him from securing a permanent spot on the Astros, but when he threw 33 scoreless innings at the Triple-A level in 1974, the Astros had to bring him back for keeps.

Richard was largely successful in spite of his reckless throwing habits. Three times he led the NL in walks (including a career-high 151 in 1976) and three times led the majors in wild pitches; he once threw a 10-inning shutout while walking 10. But with experience came adjustment, and Richard’s habit for walking began to wane—all while his strikeout totals began to climb. In 1978, he became the first NL right-hander since 1900 to strike out over 300 batters; a year later, he did it again, striking out a career-high 313 to go with a 2.71 ERA that led the majors.

In 1980, Richard was off to a sensational start, posting a 10-4 record and 1.90 ERA that led to a start at the All-Star Game. Shortly afterward, he began to experience nausea and numbness in his arm. The Astros were skeptical at first, but when Richard collapsed during a throwing workout several weeks later, it was discovered that he suffered a full-blown stroke. Returning to the mound was no longer a concern; saving his life was.

Richard recovered but encountered post-stroke symptoms such as dizziness and blurred vision. He attempted a comeback in the minors and even rejoined the Astros late in 1982, but never appeared; it was said that the Astros worried that the lingering effects of his stroke would make him a liability on the field.

Richard’s life after baseball became every bit as sad as the way his career ended. He lost his wife, his money and soon found himself living homeless under a highway overpass a few miles from the Astrodome. With help from former teammates and a conversion to Christianity, Richard was able to turn his life around.

Joe Niekro (1975-85)

Lesser known but as solidly talented as brother Phil, Joe Niekro also embraced the knuckleball midway through his career and put it to good use with the Astros.

Though he played for six other teams in a 22-year career, Niekro’s longest and most established tenure came in a 10-year stay at Houston, where he collected his only two 20-win performances of his career (back-to-back in 1979-80) and was the victor in 144 games overall.

Niekro enjoyed his finest moment in 1980 when, in a one-game playoff at Los Angeles to decide the NL West title, he threw a complete game, 7-1 victory that gave the Astros their first postseason berth in 19 years of existence. In the NLCS to follow, Niekro was even sharper—firing 10 shutout innings before being removed in a scoreless game that ended in the Astros’ first-ever playoff win, a 1-0 decision over the Phillies in Game Three.

In the years to follow, Niekro remained a solid workhorse but was dealt away from the Astros at the right time, as his career hit a fadeout in 1988 well past the age of 40. Infamously, Niekro is best remembered for the moment in 1987 when, pitching for Minnesota, he was caught with an emery board in his pocket while pitching on the mound; he was suspended for 10 games.

Mike Scott (1983-91)

Scott was no more than a common pitcher with little more than a good fastball when, after the 1984 season, Houston general manager Al Rosen called upon good friend Roger Craig, then the pitching coach for the world champion Detroit Tigers, to teach Scott the split-finger fastball. Apparently, Scott aced the lesson; using the splitter, he became a pitcher reborn.

Graduating from Craig’s class, Scott went from a 5-11 mark and 4.68 ERA to 18-8 and 3.29 for Houston—but he really turned it on a year later in 1986, lowering his ERA to a major league-best 2.22 and more than doubling his strikeout total to 306, all while hitters could only bat .186 against him. Scott put the ultimate stamp on the season when, facing his old guru Craig—now managing divisional rival San Francisco—he no-hit the Giants to clinch the NL West crown. In the NLCS against the cocky, favored Mets, Scott remained phenomenal; he tossed two complete game wins, allowing just a run on eight hits and a walk while striking out 19 in 18 innings, all while the Mets complained that Scott was scuffing the ball—amplifying accusations made earlier by others around the league including, ironically, Roger Craig. Nevertheless, Scott was named NLCS MVP, the first time a member of the losing side had copped the honor; he was also a slam-dunk choice for that year’s NL Cy Young Award.

Scott remained potent but more mortal in the years to follow, even winning a career-high 20 games and finishing runner-up in the vote for another Cy in 1989. But shoulder injuries ensued, and in 1991 he lasted just two games before being shelved; it would be the last time he pitched.