Astros Show Some Signs of Improvement in August
September 4, 2013 by Bill Gilbert · Leave a Comment
Before finishing the month of August with a disappointing five game losing streak, the Astros had shown some signs of being competitive. Though the team’s record in the month was only 8-21, the Astros led in 22 of their 29 games. That they only won 7 of these games pinpoints the team’s most glaring of their many weaknesses, the bullpen.
The numbers below illustrate just how bad the Astros have been this season:
Astros
MLB Average
Astros Rank
3.87
4.19
23rd
.239
.254
27th
.299
.318
29th
.382
.398
23rd
.681
.716
29th
1,273
30th
5.28
4.19
30th
4.86
3.88
30th
4.62
4.02
28th
5.28
3.59
30th
The Astros are clearly below the major league average in important hitting and pitching categories with the biggest deficiency being in relief pitching. Former GM, Gerry Hunsicker once said that the bullpen is the easiest part of a club to build. If that is true, GM Jeff Luhnow should have a rebuilt bullpen in place for 2014. Hunsicker also once said that he expected Morgan Ensberg and Jason Lane to achieve the same level of success in the major leagues as Lance Berkman. We know how that turned out.
Despite the poor overall performance in August there were some bright spots. Jason Castro continued his breakout year in August, batting .338 with 5 home runs and an OPS of 1.067, and won his second AL Player of the Week award this year. Three young starting pitchers, acquired in trades by former GM, Ed Wade, joined the starting rotation and performed well. Brett Oberholtzer was 2-1 with an ERA of 3.24, Jared Cosart was 0-1 with an ERA of 2.10 in 5 starts, and Paul Clemens was 0-0 with an ERA of 1.50 in his only start.
The Houston minor league teams continued to play well. All four full-season clubs at the AAA, AA and Class A levels are in the playoffs starting after Labor Day. Two of the short-season clubs are in first place headed for the playoffs.
On a personal note, we made a weekend trip to Houston in August and I saw my first two major league games this season. Surprisingly, the Astros scored two decisive wins over Toronto, 12-5 and 6-2 in the games I saw. What are the odds of going 2-0 with a home record of 21-47? It was the 49 th straight year that I have seen major league games in Houston.
