Four reasons why the Astros were terrible in April
This isn’t how things were supposed to go for the Houston Astros.
After soaring back into relevance with 86 wins and a postseason berth last season, they were supposed to continue building momentum with a roster built around superstars like Carlos Correa, George Springer and Dallas Keuchel.
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Instead, they’ve stumbled out of the gate looking like a team without an identity.
Granted, they haven’t played as poorly as those rebuilding Astros teams that lost 324 games between 2011-2013, but the results have been miserable. With Saturday’s 2-0 loss to the Oakland A’s, Houston concluded April with a 7-17 record. That’s tied for the worst mark in the American League along with another disappointing team, the Minnesota Twins. Houston actually has a worse run differential at -33, and the 123 runs they’ve allowed are the worst in the AL.
Honestly, miserable really only begins to cover their struggles. It’s not one of those situations where you can point at one thing as the problem, either. There are several problems, and they’re each taking a toll. But for the sake of being brief and being thoughtful of Astros’ fans feelings, we’ve narrowed it down to four big issues that contributed to their lousy April.
Ken Giles looks lost: Acquired in a major offseason trade from the Philadelphia Phillies, many thought Giles would step right in as Houston’s closer. It hasn’t panned out that way or even been a serious consideration for manager A.J. Hinch. That’s because Giles has been downright terrible since the beginning of spring training, and now he’s frustrated on top of it.
In his latest rough outing on Friday, Giles was charged with protecting a two-run lead in the eighth inning. He retired one batter, but not before allowing a home run and the eventual tying run to reach base. Houston ended up losing the game one inning later.
“I’m out of whack,” Giles told reporters after the game. “I’m not me right now, and that’s the crappy part right now. I’m not the guy I was the past two seasons. I’m somebody completely different on the mound, and I don’t feel comfortable up there. It’s just mechanical work. I don’t feel comfortable up there. I don’t feel right. I’m just trying to push through where I need to fix those things right now.”
That’s not what fans want to hear, but it’s undeniable based on his performance and results. Giles is sporting a 9.00 ERA in 10 innings. If the Astros want to start winning games that are close in the later innings, they’ll need to get Giles on track.
Carlos Gomez has been non-existent: Another big addition via a trade, Gomez hasn’t made a great impression so far in Houston. He was actually acquired last July, and he struggled mightily, hitting just .242/.288/.383 with four homers, 13 RBIs and 10 steals over 41 games. He’s been worse this season, hitting .213/.241/.275 with no homers, two RBIs and two steals.
Now, on top of all that, he’s hurt. First, he left Wednesday’s game in Seattle after getting hit on his right hand by a pitch. Then, on Friday, Gomez injured his rib cage while diving for a ball in left-center field.
All things considered, he seems like a good candidate for a some time off to heal both physically and mentally. We’re just not sure the Astros can afford that right now given the skills he brings to the table.
Road woes: The Astros weren’t exactly road warriors last season, finishing 33-48 away from Minute Maid Park. But that doesn’t mean they can get away with that type of record again this season. Houston finished April at 3-11 on the road. That includes going 1-7 on the road with the AL West. They could take one step toward fixing that by winning the series finale in Oakland, but they absolutely need some consistency and confidence away from home.
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The strikeouts: One thing that’s accepted with Houston’s offense is that there will be many strikeouts. They’re a young group and they’re a strong group, so the fact they’re leading MLB with 238 strikeouts is no surprise. It’s still a big reason why they’re losing, because they’re missing opportunities to get baseballs in play and pressure the defense with some of their dynamic athletes.
Let’s not limit this to the offense, either. Houston’s pitching is seventh from the bottom with 177 strikeouts. They’re allowing more baseballs in play than they’d like, and they’re turning that into a .982 fielding percentage, which is bottom 10 in MLB.
Amazing how much difference the strikeout can make, isn’t it?
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813
