Houston Astros mid season review

Things are pretty bad in Houston, and the Astros have a crap record at 37-53 this tam sits 12.5 games behind in their division. However things don’t seem as bad for this team as they could be. This is a team that got off to a terrible start capped off by a 9-20 record in the month of May and a 3-12 record in interleague play. Sure that is pretty bad, but since June this team has played .500. SO gains have been made, but this looks like a team in dire need of a rebuild, and we should see them attempt to sell off some of their parts before the trade deadline.

Things are pretty bad for the offense. They have scored just 307 runs, and as a team they are hitting just .238. That is the second worst batting average of the 16 teams on the senior circuit. They have collected just 701 hits; 131 of those were doubles, 11 were triples, and just 57 were home runs. All of those numbers rank in the bottom two of NL teams. They have struck out 538 times, and drawn 237 walks.

It gets no better when we look at their pitching staff. Not one Astros regular five starter as a winning record of an ERA under three. They have given up 430 runs, 69 home runs, and the staff ERA is 4.43. They have allowed a incredible 832 hits. They have managed to strike out 630 batters, and issued 304 walks. Somehow their closer, Matt Lidstrom, has converted 21 saves and has an overall record of 2-1 with a 2.80 ERA.

The big question about this team heading into 2010 was would they be able to generate enough offense. With just 307 scored, the answer to that is oh hell no. The fact here is not one of the regular starters for this team is hitting over .300. On top of that this is a team whose average age is far closer to thirty than twenty and I would like to see a big youth movement begin this off season.

Related Links:

•Houston Astros news and notes
•The business of Major League Baseball
•MTR Baseball.com