Young Astros' starter Jarred Cosart appears to have pitched his last starting assignment this week. The Astros are monitoring and protecting all of their young starting pitchers' season work load. And Cosart is the first to be shut down this season.

Cosart threw 153 innings between AAA and the majors this year, substantially exceeding the 115 innings he pitched in the minors last year. Personally, I think this is a good move by the Astros. Cosart is only 23 years old and appears to be one of the Astros' main hopes for the future in the rotation. Cosart has pitched a lot with runners on base, adding to the stress innings, and also has thrown more than 110 pitches in several games. This is a prudent move in order to avoid over-taxing his arm in his debut season.

It's hard to disagree with the move based on Cosart's own words:

"Honestly, I don't have much left," Cosart said Monday night. "My body is tired. This is new for me. Missing time last year with the blisters gave me an extra blow, almost a two-week break for my arm. It's kind of like starting over and I missed no time this year, which was a huge plus for me. That was one of my goals this year, to stay healthy this year and be able to come in next year."

Cosart would end his first major league season with a 1.95 ERA in 60 IP. That would put him at the top of rookie starting pitcher rankings this season (depending on how teammate Brett Oberholtzer ends the season). Cosart's ERA seems to have outstripped his peripherals, leading to a higher FIP and x-FIP. Yet his FIP of 4.38 and x-FIP of 4.68 is respectable for a rookie pitcher. No matter how you look at it, Cosart is an interesting pitcher, and it will be intriguing to see how he follows up his sparkling rookie performance.

Brad Peacock (145 IP) and Jordan Lyles (153 IP) appear to be the next candidates for a scheduled shutdown. Manager Bo Porter said that decisions will be made before their next starts. Lefties Oberholtzer and Dallas Keuchel may have a little more leeway, since they are not as close to their career high innings pitched.

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