In case you're just tuning into the 2026 season, things aren't going great in Houston. The Astros escaped with a split in a doubleheader with the Orioles yesterday despite allowing a combined 15 runs in those games. They enter play Friday sitting on a 12-20 record. Houston's bullpen has been far and away the worst in baseball, due in no small part to star closer Josh Hader's lengthy stint on the IL to begin the season. Bryan Abreu went from arguably the game's best setup man to a low-leverage middle reliever in short order; his fastball is down more than two miles per hour, and his ERA sits just shy of 13.00. Veterans Enyel De Los Santos and Steven Okert were low-cost pickups last year who played big roles. Both have regressed (and then some) in 2026.
Meanwhile, a rotation that brought in several new arms this winter has only been marginally better. Again, injuries have played a role. Ace Hunter Brown is out with a shoulder strain. Offseason pickup Tatsuya Imai, a star righty in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball, struggled before hitting the IL with arm fatigue. Cristian Javier is sidelined into at least June with his own shoulder strain. Ronel Blanco and Hayden Wesneski are still on the mend from 2025 Tommy John surgery. Neither is expected back before the All-Star break.
The lineup has at least provided good production. Houston hitters are batting .265/.346/.438 as a team. A disproportionate amount of their production has come from slugger Yordan Alvarez, who's decimating opposing pitchers at an MVP-caliber clip, but he's not alone. Christian Walker has more than just righted the ship after an awful start in 2025 -- he's arguably hitting better than he ever has before. Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa have been comfortably better than average at the dish. Isaac Paredes has found his stride after a slow start himself.
Even on this side of the ball, however, the 'Stros have had challenges. Jeremy Peña has been limited to just 10 games thanks to a pair of injuries (broken finger, hamstring strain). Jake Meyers looked solid through a dozen games before an oblique strain sent him to the shelf. The reacquired Joey Loperfido was solid through 20 contests before straining his quad. In recent weeks, Houston has regularly trotted out lineups including players like Braden Shewmake, Daniel Johnson and Dustin Harris, each of whom was acquired simply because the club needed warm bodies and lacked depth.
That's a symptom of a much larger and more concerning trend in Houston -- one that calls into question the club's outlook well beyond the current season.
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The Astros have spent big money where they should have pursued cheaper options and pinched pennies where they should have spent.
This winter that didn’t do nearly enough to rebuild the pitching staff. And didn’t even bother to address the outfield.
When you combine bad decision making at the MLB level and a series of bad drafts, you end up with a zombie baseball team.
@Jardinero
The did move Sanchez to the Jays while bringing back Loperfido. So they did dump a bigger salary to get back a MiLB salary. Addressed the OF while cutting payroll.
They had a very good long run. The type of run that is basically the peak for any team that is not the Yankees or Dodgers. There are very few teams that would not want to trade the 2016-2025 season with Houston. 2 WS titles, 2 additional AL pennants, 3 LCS appearances is an unbelievable 10 year run. I still don’t like HOW they built that team by tanking, but they did an excellent job of it.
Jeff Luhnow built a team that was a winner for a decade. Dana Brown hasn’t shown anything at all to me. Crazy that even Hunter Brown came from Luhnow. Stros have been living off that. It was going to end. They’ve reached it now.. Still have some attractive pieces to sell off when they accept it.
You can say whatever about Jeff Luhnow from the cheating scandal. But that man could identify talent
I agree B’more. Dana Brown was on a telecast a month ago saying how he was “very pleased” with the surplus of pitching they had signed before the season. Guess which team is dead last in all pitching stat categories after 30 games.