Cristian Javier reached two-strike counts against 15 of 24 batters but failures to execute proved costly as the Astros dropped their series finale against the Padres on Sunday.
Karl Anderson/Associated Press
SAN DIEGO — Facing his fifth batter Sunday, Cristian Javier built a 1-2 count against Jackson Merrill. Javier elevated a four-seam fastball, his signature pitch, to the top of the strike zone. Merrill, the Padres center fielder, scorched it 411 feet over the center-field wall.
The sequence distilled a theme of Javier’s outing in a Houston Astros loss defined by their own offense’s malaise. Javier was staked to an early two-run lead but, in his third start since returning from a shoulder injury, saw it erased amid a struggle to put hitters away.
In five innings at Petco Park, Javier allowed eight hits. Six occurred in two-strike counts. Those included Merrill’s home run and two singles preceding a blast from Fernando Tatis Jr. which became the decisive swing in a 7-2 Astros loss and marred Javier’s evening.
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“The stuff was good,” manager Joe Espada said. “Just the execution to put hitters away wasn’t as sharp.”
Javier got into advantageous counts. He threw first-pitch strikes to 19 of 24 batters faced and got to two strikes against 15 of them. He still finished with two strikeouts, as the Padres whiffed on just five of their 46 swings against the right-hander.
More than his line Sunday, the latter numbers may be worth noting. Javier had a gaudy 33.2% strikeout rate in 2022, his breakout season. It was 23.1% the next year, his last fully healthy season before elbow surgery. Javier struck out 21.7% of batters faced in his eight starts last year after returning. He owned a strikeout rate of 18.4% in this injury-shortened season entering Sunday.
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Javier did induce a 26.9% swing-and-miss rate in his first nine outings this season, per Baseball Savant, slightly above MLB average and up from a 24% mark last year. But the drop in his strikeout rate, for a fly-ball pitcher allowing the second-highest average exit velocity of his career, is troubling. The sample size is small, but Javier has a 6.68 ERA over 32 ⅓ innings.
Adding a cutter recently with the Astros’ help gives Javier another pitch to throw in the zone and try to use to induce weak contact, but it remains a complementary pitch. Javier introduced it two outings ago and threw 11 on 86 pitches against the Padres. Their hitters put 21 balls in play against Javier averaging an exit velocity of 94.2 mph; 95 mph is the Statcast hard-hit threshold.
“It doesn’t worry me, I just have to keep working,” Javier said, through interpreter Otto Loor, of the lack of whiffs. “If I stick to my game plan and keep attacking, I think the swing and misses, those will come.”
BATTERS
AVG
OBA
AB
R
H
2B
3B
HR
RBI
BB
SO
SB
CS
E
Team Totals
.245
.321
4014
550
983
179
10
161
523
402
969
38
16
51
Alvarez
.322
.435
426
79
137
24
0
35
86
82
90
1
0
2
Peña
.297
.357
279
54
83
12
1
13
37
21
60
8
1
6
Correa
.279
.369
122
22
34
8
0
3
16
18
26
1
0
1
Delgado
.273
.314
33
3
9
1
0
1
4
2
5
0
0
2
Allen
.260
.307
104
17
27
4
0
1
11
7
24
2
0
5
Diaz
.256
.282
223
25
57
9
0
8
28
8
37
0
1
2
Shewmake
.256
.272
78
10
20
4
0
3
9
2
13
0
0
2
Paredes
.251
.345
410
45
103
20
1
15
60
45
69
0
0
6
Altuve
.243
.306
367
54
89
15
1
13
34
33
81
2
2
4
Walker
.240
.319
425
59
102
24
1
22
67
41
112
0
0
0
Trammell
.238
.322
160
25
38
6
1
7
20
16
54
3
2
2
Harris
.226
.286
31
4
7
0
1
0
4
2
6
2
0
0
Smith
.220
.293
381
49
84
15
2
15
42
35
105
10
2
5
Vázquez
.216
.270
199
18
43
7
0
5
23
15
41
1
0
0
Loperfido
.216
.314
102
13
22
7
1
1
12
14
31
1
1
1
Wade
.216
.341
74
10
16
4
0
2
15
14
18
0
0
0
Meyers
.213
.268
141
15
30
7
0
3
11
10
31
1
2
0
Dezenzo
.213
.280
75
11
16
4
0
1
3
7
31
1
0
1
Matthews
.197
.250
208
23
41
5
1
7
22
15
71
4
4
1
Price
.167
.231
12
1
2
1
0
0
0
1
6
0
0
1
Spence
.162
.244
37
4
6
1
0
0
3
3
15
0
1
1
Cole
.157
.189
51
4
8
1
0
3
8
1
21
0
0
1
Varsho
.143
.280
21
2
3
0
0
1
2
4
5
1
0
0
Johnson
.143
.294
14
1
2
0
0
0
0
2
3
0
0
0
Whitcomb
.130
.167
23
2
3
0
0
2
5
1
11
0
0
0
Salazar
.056
.227
18
0
1
0
0
0
1
3
3
0
0
0
___
PITCHERS
W
L
ERA
G
GS
SV
IP
H
R
ER
HR
BB
SO
Team Totals
60
59
4.59
119
119
37
1054.1
938
578
538
161
494
1038
Meyers
0
0
0.00
1
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
Hader
3
1
1.08
27
0
16
25
10
3
3
1
10
36
Santa
0
1
1.17
10
0
0
15.1
8
6
2
1
6
9
VanWey
1
0
1.50
5
0
0
6
5
2
1
0
0
5
Okert
5
1
2.20
57
1
0
57.1
38
15
14
6
12
59
Lambert
8
6
3.09
20
20
0
113.2
87
40
39
12
44
111
Sousa
0
1
3.38
14
0
0
10.2
8
6
4
1
7
10
Brown
3
1
3.53
11
11
0
58.2
41
25
23
7
32
63
Pearson
1
0
3.60
16
0
1
20
16
10
8
1
12
16
Blubaugh
4
2
3.61
44
0
1
72.1
56
31
29
10
33
74
King
2
3
3.83
47
0
6
49.1
50
23
21
7
17
40
Wesneski
2
0
3.86
2
2
0
11.2
11
5
5
0
4
8
De Los Santos
1
3
4.07
51
0
5
55.1
50
28
25
7
12
53
Abreu
4
3
4.29
45
0
7
42
29
22
20
7
30
55
Teng
5
6
4.35
25
10
0
68.1
62
37
33
10
30
67
Arrighetti
7
5
4.60
17
17
0
88
68
47
45
12
50
87
Roa
0
1
5.19
7
0
0
8.2
10
5
5
1
7
6
Bolton
0
1
5.40
8
3
1
20
21
12
12
3
14
22
Ullola
0
0
5.40
3
0
0
5
4
3
3
2
1
7
Imai
6
4
5.55
16
15
0
61.2
50
38
38
9
40
77
Burrows
4
9
5.99
18
17
0
94.2
112
69
63
21
35
75
Javier
1
3
6.68
10
6
0
32.1
39
24
24
6
16
25
McCullers
2
3
6.86
8
8
0
39.1
38
32
30
7
22
43
Blanco
0
1
6.98
4
4
0
19.1
15
15
15
6
11
17
Murray
0
0
7.43
8
0
0
13.1
19
11
11
1
7
8
Weiss
0
3
7.62
9
2
0
26
35
24
22
8
20
30
France
0
0
8.10
3
0
0
6.2
6
6
6
1
5
4
Salazar
0
0
9.00
1
0
0
1
1
1
1
1
0
0
Alexander
1
1
9.33
4
2
0
18.1
21
19
19
4
8
14
Gordon
0
0
11.57
4
1
0
9.1
21
12
12
6
3
11
Muñoz
0
0
15.75
3
0
0
4
7
7
7
3
6
6
Contributions from Javier are critical right now for an Astros club that did not add pitching at the trade deadline. He is part of a tenuous five-man rotation that includes two pitchers — Hayden Wesneski and Ronel Blanco — who recently returned from elbow surgeries. Blanco has lasted fewer than five innings in three of four starts since his return.
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Blanco’s rotation spot is scheduled to recur Wednesday, in the finale of a series against San Francisco. The Astros did not announce a starter for that game, though, which would require Blanco to pitch on four days’ rest for the first time since his return. That Tatsuya Imai did not pitch in San Diego, despite being available in relief all series, suggests he could be available for a spot-start.
Houston Astros center fielder Daulton Varsho (18) andleft right fielder Taylor Trammell (26) watch a home run hit by San Diego Padres’ Jackson Merrill during the second inning of a baseball game Sunday, Aug. 9, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Karl Anderson)
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San Diego Padres’ Fernando Tatis Jr. hits a home run during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros, Sunday, Aug. 9, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Karl Anderson)
Karl Anderson/Associated Press
Houston Astros’ Jose Altuve reacts after grounding out during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the San Diego Padres, Sunday, Aug. 9, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Karl Anderson)
Karl Anderson/Associated Press
Houston Astros pitcher Cristian Javier works against a San Diego Padres batter during the first inning of a baseball game Sunday, Aug. 9, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Karl Anderson)
Karl Anderson/Associated Press
Houston Astros pitcher Cristian Javier works against a San Diego Padres batter during the first inning of a baseball game Sunday, Aug. 9, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Karl Anderson)
Karl Anderson/Associated Press
Houston Astros pitcher Cristian Javier works against a San Diego Padres batter during the first inning of a baseball game Sunday, Aug. 9, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Karl Anderson)
Karl Anderson/Associated Press
Houston Astros pitcher Cristian Javier works against a San Diego Padres batter during the first inning of a baseball game Sunday, Aug. 9, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Karl Anderson)
Karl Anderson/Associated Press
San Diego Padres pitcher Randy Vásquez works against a Houston Astros batter during the first inning of a baseball game Sunday, Aug. 9, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Karl Anderson)
Karl Anderson/Associated Press
San Diego Padres’ Fernando Tatis Jr., right, celebrates with teammate Freddy Fermin at home plate after hitting a home run during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros, Sunday, Aug. 9, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Karl Anderson)
Karl Anderson/Associated Press
San Diego Padres’ Fernando Tatis Jr. celebrates at home plate after hitting a home run during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros, Sunday, Aug. 9, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Karl Anderson)
Karl Anderson/Associated Press
San Diego Padres’ Fernando Tatis Jr. runs near third base after hitting a home run during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros Sunday, Aug. 9, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Karl Anderson)
Karl Anderson/Associated Press
Javier joined Houston’s bullpen initially upon his return from a shoulder strain — a revealing move with the highest-paid pitcher on its roster — but attrition and five scoreless relief innings July 27 in Anaheim both spurred his return to the rotation the last two turns. Javier threw a quality start against Toronto, but he was more susceptible Sunday.
Houston, by not adding at the deadline, raised the impetus on starters including Javier to perform. Its lifeless offense overshadowed his outing Sunday, yet his trajectory bears watching. Javier said his main focus against San Diego was “to be around the zone and attack the hitters,” which he realized. Espada cited pitch execution late in counts as the primary issue.
“I think when you get a lineup like that one, you have to really get down under some bats, you’ve really got to execute your fastball and throw it up in the zone,” Espada said. “Because if you miss, you’ll give up some damage.”
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No inning better illustrated that than a pivotal fourth. Javier began it with a 2-1 lead. Luis Rengifo beat a low 0-2 changeup for a leadoff single. Javier retired his next two batters before Freddy Fermin hit a two-strike fastball into the hole between shortstop and third base and beat an infield single, extending the inning and turning the Padres lineup over.
Catcher Yainer Diaz visited the mound before Tatis took his at-bat. Javier started it with a fastball above the zone. He and Diaz then turned to his changeup, a pitch Javier had thrown 8.5% of the time to right-handed hitters this season entering the game. They threw Tatis three in a row.
“I thought it was a good plan to attack him,” Javier said. “He was just able to execute.”
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Tatis took the first two changeups, a ball and a strike. In a 2-1 count, Javier threw another in the lower part of the strike zone. Tatis sent it 421 feet to the Western Metal Supply Co. building in left field, a three-run blast that put Houston in a deficit it never erased. Javier said he wanted to locate the pitch in-zone due to being behind in the count, though Espada deemed it not “low enough.”
“I stuck to my game plan, they executed on the pitches they needed to,” Javier said. “It’s just stuff that I can’t really control on that end.”