Do you remember the last time the Astros started a season 2-7? If you guessed 2011 — the team that ultimately won only 56 games — then you would be, unfortunately, correct. The season when Jim Crane bought the club. It was also the last season before Jeff Luhnow was hired. So, in other words, it has been quite some time since the professional baseball team in Houston started a season so dang lousy as this 2024 squad has.
Saturday’s game proved to be an accurate microcosm of this season. But, for the most part, it wasn’t a lost cause early, unlike the first game of this series. Sure, the lineup didn’t do much to warrant optimism — the only two runs were scored due to an error from Corey Seager — but France kept the game close enough, allowing three runs across 5 2⁄3 innings. But that means the lineup hopefully comes through at least once or twice to put across another run or two. Anything to help pad that margin. Put pressure on the opposing pitching staff. Instead, the Astros bailed out Jon Gray when the game possibly swung in their favor. José Abreu, owner of a .220 OPS to start the season, flew out on this full-count pitch with Gray on the ropes in the third inning.
Another run or two in this situation likely changes the direction of this game. Instead, Abreu makes a dreadful — I cannot emphasize the dreadful part enough — swing decision and the Astros don’t truly threaten to score again until the ninth inning when the game is mostly decided. Of course, this train of thought is contingent on the bullpen doing its job, which hasn’t been the case all season. Again, Bryan Abreu and Ryan Pressly couldn’t keep the opposing team off the scoreboard, with the former allowing a hit that scored what was ultimately the deciding run — charged to France — while the latter allowed four runs in only 1⁄3 of an inning. So, even if Abreu converted earlier in the game with the bases loaded, the bullpen has done little to inspire any confidence up to this point.
So, where do the Astros go from here?
The pressure is building, well, as much as it could in early April. The bullpen, starting with Abreu and Pressly, needs to pitch better. Hader can’t blow another save, whenever he gets that next chance. An inconsistent lineup has to find a way to become consistent. But digging a deep hole early in the season could prove too much for this team in this division. Take 2016 as an example, when Houston finished April with a 7-17 record. While the Astros would eventually rebound and finish with an 84-78 record, that poor start was enough to keep them from the postseason that year. Both the Rangers and Mariners finished with better records that year. While climbing out of this early hole, and being only five games below .500, isn’t an insurmountable task, it could prove to be the difference if the margin for error is small enough. It almost was last season between staying home or a postseason berth in the highly competitive AL West. It could be again.