Astros struggling in wide-open West
The Houston Astros were a popular pick before the 2016 Major League Baseball season to reach the World Series for the second time in franchise history.
Houston reached the postseason for the first time in the American League last year and beat the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium in the Wild Card game before losing in an epic five-game series to the eventual champion Kansas City Royals. Despite the defeat against Kansas City, most believed Houston was about to emerge as a true power in the AL with tremendous young talent both on the mound and in the lineup.
However, the start of the season has not gone the way Houston would have hoped. The Astros have struggled out of the gate to a 5-10 record, sitting four games behind the first-place Texas Rangers in the AL West. Texas is easily the biggest threat to Houston in the division, having edged the Astros last year.
The sluggish beginning to the campaign has the Astros in last place, looking up in a division that luckily is very winnable. The Los Angeles Angels and Seattle Mariners have the look of teams that won’t eclipse 75 wins, while the Oakland Athletics are a hard group to figure. The offense is clearly nothing to write home about with Danny Valencia hitting in the clean-up spot, but the starting rotation and bullpen could be terrific.
While the Astros are much more talented than the A’s on paper, Oakland has the pitching to avoid long losing streaks. Meanwhile, the Rangers have some quality arms in the recovering Yu Darvish along with Cole Hamels and Derek Holland. At the plate, Texas boosts Prince Fielder, Elvis Andrus, Shin-Shoo Choo and others.
Houston has ample time to climb out of this early hole and make everybody forget about the start of April. If that is to happen, though, some of the key contributors from last season need to start producing. Going into Wednesday’s game against Texas, the Asrtos have Carlos Gomez, Luis Valbuena and Jason Castro all hitting below .200. On the mound, only Dallas Keuchel has an ERA below 3.00. The rest of the rotation has been horrible, with Scott Feldman (4.11 ERA), Collin McHugh (6.39), Mike Fiers (6.48) and Doug Fister (7.59) holding the club back.
The Astros have more than enough talent to make a nice run in the West and perhaps in October. Few teams can claim a roster including Jose Altuve, George Springer, Tyler White and Carlos Correa along with Keuchel, the reigning Cy Young Award winner.
While April can’t win you a playoff spot, it can cost you one. If Houston does not start playing better baseball, it could find that out the hard way.
