The Houston Astros have shut down rookie starter Jarred Cosart for the remainder of the season to protect his arm, reports Brian McTaggart of MLB.com.
Astros shut down RHP Jarred Cosart
The rookie right-hander’s Monday start was his last of the 2013 season.
Bob Levey
More Astros: Saving Cosart's Arm
Cosart, 23, made his 10th and final start for Houston on Monday. The right-hander allowed an unearned run while striking out three and walking six Mariners in five innings, earning his fourth big-league victory.
McTaggart observed that Cosart looked tired during his final outing, and the right-hander admitted as much after the game, saying he had "nothing left." The start brought his innings total between the minors and majors to exactly 153 innings on the year, roughly 40 more than he threw in 2011 and nine more than 2010.
Cosart has been a pleasant surprise in his two-plus months with the Astros. The young right-hander's big-league career started out about as well as anyone could hope; he carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning against the Rays in his debut, and followed that with seven innings of two-run ball against another likely postseason club, the Athletics.
Overall, Cosart owns a 1.95 earned-run average over 60 innings of work, though there may be some smoke and mirrors at play in his success. His five strikeouts per nine is not bad for a rookie in his first go through the league, but his .246 batting average on balls in play and strikeout-to-walk ratio of worse than one (35 walks to 33 Ks) indicates that he may not be that successful out of the gate next year without some positive change in his peripherals.
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