The defending World Series champion Houston Astros will be among the most active teams leading up to the Aug. 1 MLB trade deadline. That has been made clear throughout the past couple weeks with trade rumors surrounding the team at nearly every turn.
According to Jon Morosi of MLB Network, that could include acquiring first-time All-Star pitcher Michael Lorenzen from the Detroit Tigers. Morosi notes that Houston joins the AL East-leading Tampa Bay Rays in the market for the reliever turned starter.
This shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise. Astros general manager Dana Brown noted recently that they are in the market for a starting pitcher.
“With the pitchers that we’ve had going down, it could put us in a situation where we come up short or we don’t get to that next round of the playoffs. A good arm would be really, really helpful. The problem is, there are not many good arms out there,” Brown on Houston Astros MLB trade deadline plans.
Lorenzen, 31, is not among the top-flight pitchers available ahead of Aug. 1. But he has pitched well for Detroit this season.
- Michael Lorenzen stats (2023): 4-6 record, 3.75 EA, 1.13 WHIP
A first-time All-star this season, the veteran hasn’t given up a run in his past two starts (11.2 innings pitched). This adds to his value with less than two weeks to go before the deadline.
Related: MLB trade tracker with grades
Houston Astros record: 53-43, 2nd place in the American League West
If the season ended today, Houston would be a wild card team in the American League. It entered Thursday’s action 4.5 games behind the in-state rival Texas Rangers for first place in the AL West.
Pitching has been somewhat of an issue for the defending champs this season. That includes starters José Urquidy and Luis Garcia currently being on the 60-day injured list.
Hunter Brown (4.26 ERA, 1.32 WHIP) and Cristian Javier (4.39 ERA, 1.22 WHIP) also have not lived up to expectations behind Framber Valdez in the Astros’ rotation.