Astros Off to Rough Start in April

The first month for the Astros in the American League was not a good one.  There were a few bright spots such as a 9-1 win in Yankee Stadium and taking two series from the Seattle Mariners but the Astros were on the losing end in most of the other games, finishing with a record of 8-19 for the month.

At the end of last season, I put together a blueprint to get the team back to respectability and then to contention.  The first step, this year, was to be a slight improvement with a win total in the 60s. They will have to pick up the pace to make.it.  A continuation of the April performance would yield a record of 48-114.

The team has several problems but the biggest is the pitching, both starters and relievers.  Three of the five starters had an ERA over 7.00 in April and the staff ERA was 5.42, by far the worst in the major leagues.  Three of the starters were unable to survive the first inning in one of their starts.  The only bright spot was Lucas Harrell who pitched well in 5 of his 6 starts and picked up 3 wins.  Bud Norris was inconsistent and the other 3 starters compiled a record of 1-11.  Starting pitchers have pitched as much as 7 innings on only 3 occasions.

The bullpen has been overworked and largely ineffective.  It will probably be a revolving door all year as it was in April.  The bullpen recorded only three saves, two by inconsistent closer, Jose Veras, and the other by starter Eric Bedard on opening night.

The offense has been a little better, ranking close to the league average in most categories rather than at the bottom as they were last year.  The top offensive performer has been Jose Altuve with a batting average of .330 and an on-base percentage of .374.  Astro management brought in Carlos Pena, Chris Carter and Rick Ankiel to provide some power in the lineup and they contributed 13 home runs but piled up 109 strikeouts.  Carter fanned 46 times and will easily surpass the major league record if he continues at his current pace.  Ankiel has struck out in 32 of his 54 plate appearances.  The team is also on pace to break the major league record for strikeouts.

All four of the Astros full-season minor league clubs had winning records in April, which reflects favorably on the plan to build up the minor league system with a series of trades.  However, the players received in the trades have not yet had a significant impact in the major leagues and there is concern that there are few players in the system with high ceilings.