The tables that follow detail how 2018 Houston Astros major league pitchers performed relative to their league's starting pitcher or relief pitcher peers per my Fielding and Ballpark-Independent Outcomes (FaBIO) statistical evaluation system.

.

Methods

Each non-bunt, non-pitcher-batting plate appearance is sorted into 1 of the following 12 categories, and the pitcher is charged with the league's typical 2018 runs value for said event.

1. BB or HBP, 2. K, 3. IFFB, 4. GB to pull-third, 5. GB to center-third, ..., 7. LD to pull-third, ..., 12. OFFB to oppo-third

Each pitcher's final runs per plate appearance value is compared to the league peer group's mean and standard deviation for that parameter to obtain their Overall Rating, which can be further split to examine how the pitcher performed versus Opposite-Handed Batters (OHB) and versus Same-Handed Batters (SHB). A Batted Ball Rating is determined similarly after omitting all BB+HBP and K events (individual components of the Batted Ball Rating are also computed such as GB Rating, IFFB Rating, etc., using GB per batted ball, IFFB per batted ball, ... to better assess its origins and sustainability). A Control (CTL) Rating (using BB+HBP per PA) and K Rating (using K per PA) are also determined. A Youth Rating is determined by comparing the pitcher's age relative to the mean and standard deviation (SD) for that role (SP or RP) in their league.

Each rating will be expressed on a 100 to 0 scale where the number indicates the expected percentage of league peers beaten on the stat. 50 denotes league-average with 84 being one SD above average ("plus", indicated by a green number in tables), 97 being 2 SD above average ("plus plus"), 16 being one SD below average ("minus", red number in tables), and 3 being 2 SD below average ("minus minus"). Asterisks denote southpaws.

.

Results: 2018 Ratings of Houston Astros

.

Starting Pitchers

Justin Verlander edged Gerrit Cole by half a percentile point for Top Overall Rating among Astros SP in 2018. Taking Josh James' MLB debut marks into consideration with the 2018 MiLB ones has him as a leadpipe cinch to make the ALDS roster - one could make a case based on a combination of health and performance that James is presently the Astros 5th best pitcher of any type.

The ratings rather clearly pinpoint free-agent-to-be Dallas Keuchel as the weak link of the projected postseason starting rotation.

.

Relief Pitchers

Ryan Pressly progressed from good Twin to elite Astro in the wake of his July trade. Meanwhile former Blue Jay Roberto Osuna has fared somewhat better since the trade but remains rather middling at the K.

Collin McHugh, Brad Peacock, Will Harris, Joe Smith, Tony Sipp, Hector Rondon (more so), and Chris Devenski (especially so) all rate lower than they had at the All-Star Break.

.

Results: 2018 American League Top Pitchers

.

Starting Pitchers (minimum 300 batters faced)

Chris Sale has rather clearly been the circuit's best starter when he has been able to toe the rubber. Key differences between the Astros' two Cy Young candidate lay in that Verlander is more prone to the pulled OFFB (extrabase hits) whereas Cole is more likely to yield the BB and LD (singles).

Of the 11 Non-Astros AL SP who posted a plus or better Overall Rating, the Astros draw the misfortune of facing 4 of them in the AL Division Series round: Carlos Carrasco, Trevor Bauer, Corey Kluber, and Shane Bieber (who is better than you think and very much dominates RHB). And should the Astros overcome that hurdle (still taller in that Mike Clevinger was 3 percentile points away from being a 5th Indians SP on the above leaderboard) and advance, they will face another 2 of those 11 pitchers in the AL Championship Series so long as the Athletics are not the opponent.

.

Relief Pitchers (minimum 150 batters faced)

Owing to a strong all-around game and utter K dominance Edwin Diaz would be the lone viable Cy Young candidate among this crowd.

Ryan Pressly rates 5th best among league qualifiers on Overall Rating and would stand to be the lone Astros pure reliever who sports a more dominant pitching profile. In capturing 4 of the Top 15 spots, potential repeat ALCS foe Yankees again roster the most elite crop of pure relievers among AL playoff combatants. A la the Astros, the Athletics would be better characterized as being deep in quality relievers as opposed to loaded with dominant relievers.

.

On Tap

On Thursday I will break down the Astros and Indians pitching staffs focusing more on second-half performance and how individual relative strengths and weaknesses may come to be important during the Divisional Series round.

.

Exit Poll

Who gets your vote for Houston Astros Top Pitcher of 2018?

.