Brett

Oberholtzer

Oberholtzer hasn’t been great this season, going 0-2 with a 9.49 ERA in three starts at Triple-A. But the Astros burned their bullpen in Saturday’s blowout loss, so he will serve as a fresh arm should they need it. If he does get in a game, it will be his first major league appearance.

Oberholtzer allowed two earned runs in two innings with Houston. He will probably be up and down all year.

It was a night of regression for the 24-year-old lefty. He had rattled off two straight dominant outings and also put together some good pitching lines in August, but it never seemed meant to last. Oberholtzer shouldn’t be trusted in standard fantasy leagues for his next turn in the Astros’ rotation next week in Cleveland.

Oberholtzer didn’t get much help from his defense, as they committed three errors behind him. The southpaw allowed four hits and three walks while striking out a pair. His ERA sits at a surprising 2.71 through nine starts and three relief appearances. Meanwhile, he has walked just 12 batters in 66 1/3 innings. There might not be much fantasy upside here, but he has made a favorable impression for a rotation spot in 2014.

It was another impressive performance for the 24-year-old left-hander, who threw his first career shutout last Sunday against the Mariners. Oberholtzer has a stellar 2.65 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and 35/7 K/BB ratio in his first 54 1/3 major league innings. He’s worth a try in standard mixed leagues for his start next week versus the Angels.

Oberholtzer walked just one and fanned four on the evening. All of the damage against him came in a three-run rally in the fourth inning, highlighted by a two-run double by David Adams. The 24-year-old southpaw has burst onto the scene with an impressive rookie campaign, posting a 4-5 record, 2.76 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and 45/13 K/BB ratio over 71 2/3 innings. The advanced metrics suggest that he may be pitching over his head a bit, and the strikeout totals don’t jump off the page, but Oberholtzer will certainly be worth a late-round flyer next year if he secures a spot in the Astros rotation.

Oberholtzer punched out five and issued one free pass. The sheer dominance of this outing was unexpected, to say the least. First off, no Astros starter had pitched a complete game all season. Secondly, Oberholtzer had surrendered eight runs on 15 hits over his last two starts. And lastly, the southpaw had never pitched more than seven innings prior to today. The 24-year-old improves to 4-1 with a 2.79 ERA, numbers he’ll attempt to defend on Saturday in Oakland.

Meanwhile, Lucas Harrell is listed as a reliever. While there’s nothing official yet, this would seem to indicate that Oberholtzer will get an extended chance in the rotation. It’s worth a shot, as the 24-year-old southpaw tossed seven scoreless innings in Wednesday’s win over the Orioles.

As expected, Lucas Harrell will head back to the bullpen. Oberholtzer is worthy of the opportunity, as he tossed seven shutout innings in Wednesday’s win over the Orioles. It will be tough to trust him against Boston, but the southpaw is worth a flier in some AL-only leagues.

The left-hander allowed two earned runs in two innings with the Astros earlier this year. He has a pedestrian 4.60 ERA in 74 1/3 innings this season at Triple-A.