Josh James (baseball)

James was drafted by the Houston Astros in the 34th round of the 2014 Major League Baseball draft with the 1006th pick.[10]

James made his professional debut in 2014 with the Greeneville Astros and spent the whole season there, going 1–3 with a 2.72 ERA in 39.2 innings pitched. He pitched 2015 with the Quad Cities River Bandits where he was 7–4 with a 2.63 ERA in 24 games (18 starts), 2016 with the Lancaster JetHawks where he posted a 9–5 record and a 4.81 ERA in 23 games (19 starts), and 2017 with the Corpus Christi Hooks where he was 4–8 with a 4.38 ERA in 21 games, 11 which were starts.[11]

He started the 2018 season with Corpus Christi and was promoted to the Fresno Grizzlies during the season.[12] With the two teams he was 6–4 with a 3.23 ERA, and 171 strikeouts in 114.1 innings (13.5 per 9 innings). James was named the Astros' Minor League Pitcher of the Year for 2018.[13]

In 2018, he saw a jump in his velocity, which he credited to a sleep apnea diagnosis.[14] His roommate in rookie ball in 2014, Ryan Thompson, complained often about James' incessant snoring, saying, "He was like a chainsaw taking down a national forest."[15] James saw a sleep specialist in December 2016 and was diagnosed with sleep apnea.[16] After he began using a CPAP machine, James said he felt "just a little bit more refreshed in the morning, a little bit more refreshed about the day, and slowly I started feeling a little bit better every day."[16] This translated into a gradual increase in his fastball velocity, growing from 94 to 95 miles per hour to 100 miles per hour.[16]

James was promoted to the major leagues for the first time on September 1, 2018,[17] becoming the lowest drafted pitcher in Houston Astros history to make a start for the team.[18] In 2018 with the Astros, he was 2–0 with a 2.35 ERA, in six games (three starts) in which he pitched 23.0 innings and struck out 29 batters. (11.3 strikeouts per 9 innings).[19] James was on the American League Division Series roster but did not see any playing time against the Cleveland Indians. In the 2018 American League Championship Series, James pitched 4.1 innings, giving up 6 hits and 4 runs and striking out 7.[20]

In game 4 of the 2018 ALCS, James recorded his highest velocity fastball, clocking in at 102.4 miles per hour and striking out Rafael Devers.[21]

In 2019 with the Astros, he transitioned from the starting rotation to the bullpen. On July 19, James served in an opener role, pitching a 1-2-3 first inning and recording one strikeout.[22] On September 3, 2019, he recorded his first career save against the Milwaukee Brewers. He ended the 2019 season 5–1 with a 4.70 ERA in 49 games in which he pitched 61+1⁄3 innings and struck out 100 batters (14.7 per 9 innings).[23] James was also a part of the ALDS, ALCS, and World Series rosters and is formally credited with the win in game 3 of the World Series.[23]

During spring training in 2020, James was part of a battle for the fifth spot in the starting rotation, a role he eventually won. James made two starts at the beginning of the delayed 2020 season before transitioning back to the bullpen. On August 20, he left the game against the Colorado Rockies with left hip discomfort, and he was placed on the 10-day injured list on August 22. James was activated on September 9th and posted a 1.35 ERA and 0.90 WHIP over his 6.2 innings of work in the month of September.[20] He was placed on the COVID injured list due to health and safety protocols on September 25. On the year, he was 1–0 with a 7.27 ERA with 21 strikeouts in 17+1⁄3 innings (10.9 strikeouts per 9 innings), over 13 games.[20] In his 4.0 innings of work in the 2020 postseason, he allowed 5 hits and 4 runs. Notably, James gave up a game-tying home run to Ji-man Choi in Game 5 of the 2020 American League Championship Series.[24]

On October 24, 2020, it was announced that James had undergone surgery to repair a labral tear in his left hip and would be out for 6–8 months.[25] In a spring training broadcast in March 2022, it would be revealed that James had also received a PRP injection in his right elbow at this time. Originally set to return in late May to early June, he was retroactively placed on the 60-day injured list on May 26, 2021, as he continued to recover from the surgery.[26] After completing rehab assignments with the Fayetteville Woodpeckers and Sugar Land Skeeters, James was activated off the injured list on August 1 and optioned to Triple-A Sugar Land. In his 20.2 innings in the minors in 2021, he allowed 7 earned runs and struck out 28.[27] James was recalled on August 31 and was optioned back to Triple-A on September 5. He was optioned and recalled two more times in the month of September. James had a 5.40 ERA in his 5.0 major league innings in 2021.[28] In his final appearance of the year for Sugar Land on October 3, he gave up 3 runs and left the game with an injury after hitting a 20 pitch limit.

On March 30, 2022, James was optioned to Triple-A Sugar Land, now called the Space Cowboys, after two major league spring training appearances.[29] On April 10, he closed out the team's first win since rebranding, simultaneously picking up his first save of the year.[9]