Top Houston Astros’ pitching prospect Jarred Cosart gets a taste of the big league - MLB News
Jarred Cosart is the top pitching prospect for the Houston Astros and on Monday, he was given a chance to showcase his skills in Spring Training against the Detroit Tigers. It was not all hunky dory for the 22-year-old as he was taken to task by the Detroit
line-up.
Jarred got a chance to pitch in more than two innings and he ended up with four hits, an equal number of walks and three runs in the process at Joker Merchant Stadium. His 23 out of 48 pitches were in the strike zone, a fairly low percentage and something
that he will have to improve upon for better returns.
Astros’ manager is well aware of what a young player goes through in this kind of situation when he is just starting out and is not concerned about the outcome. He feels that the adrenaline can get the better of you when you are starting out and it pushes
you to try harder and harder and sometimes that does not help.
Bo believes that the pitcher like all other pitchers will improve his game as he matures and gets more experience at the top level. He feels that it takes time for a pitcher to understand that going fast is not the only important thing in pitching.
“A lot of times your adrenaline gets going and you want to go harder and harder and harder," manager Bo Porter said, "And as he pitches more and more, that maturation is going to take place and he's going to settle in and pull back a little bit, and be able
to make more quality pitches than trying to go faster. I think he's going to do fine. The competition is fueling him."
Jarred Cosart is quite obviously not very jubilant about the performance himself. He is well aware he will need to forget about this outing and get his act together in the remaining chances that he will get this spring.
“I know I've got five, six, seven more times out before Spring Training is over," Cosart said. "I have to put this one behind me.”
The pitcher is up for a chance to get in the starting rotation for the Houston ballclub but that is an unlikely event. Cosart has very limited exposure and has pitched in a total of six Triple-A games so far posting a 1-2 win-loss record with a decent 2.60
ERA. Five of those games he played as a starting pitcher.
It will take some time for the youngster to learn the craft and to be able to take the pressure at the highest level. For now, he should be content with the chance of playing with the top guys and making the most of this experience. The Majors will be there
when he is ready and this is one giant step in that direction.
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