Is it the End of An Era for the Houston Astros?

By Ray Kuhn

No. Take a deep breath, and relax. We are just 20 games in the MLB season and there is a long way to go. The cliches ring true about it being a marathon and not a sprint, and they are well-worn and overused.

At the same time, though, they are true.

We are a reactionary people. It is only natural. You can only deal with what is in front of you and it’s hard not to react to it. Now over-reacting is a different story, but there is a very fine line between reacting appropriately and then extending that reaction.

Following sports, though, and being a fan, is all about emotion. In fact, we can say that about life itself. It’s difficult to remove emotion from situations at 100% but at the same time, we tend to think in absolutes.

Either the first 20 games of the Houston Astros’ season are the beginning of the end or they are a temporary blip. The sky is falling — or is it just some temporary cloud cover. There is no in-between. But should there be?

This year’s Astros do not resemble the 2017 World Champions at all.Photo byDan Schlossberg

There is no good way to sugar coat how bad the beginning of the season has been for Houston. Aside from Ronel Blanco and a few others, the team has not looked good. The Astros have been swept three times to begin the season, and it’s not hard to see why they are 6-14.

At the same time though, they have already played three games against the Braves, four against the Yankees, and seven against the Rangers. The schedule has not been kind to Houston, but they also have not done themselves any favors. If this stretch came in the middle of the season, it’s likely we would feel differently about things but for now, we can only judge Houston for what it is: a last-place team. However, with no one in the American League West standing out from the pack, they are still just 4.5 games out of first place.

For as bad as the Astros have been, they are hitting .268 as a team (third in the league) with 24 home runs (fourth), 84 RBI (13^th), and 87 runs scored (14^th). There are still improvements to be made by key players — we are looking at you, Jose Abreu — but on an overall basis, the sky isn’t falling there.

From a pitching perspective, that is certainly a different story. Framber Valdez was forced to the Injured List, Justin Verlander makes his season debut on Friday, but the Astros are still without Luis Garcia, Jose Urquidy, and Lance McCullers. Blanco has done a great job filling in, but the bullpen has also struggled.

With Verlander returning, and once Valdez finds his way back, things will look differently. Ryan Pressley worked through some early-season struggles in his new role, and newly-acquired closer Josh Hader is still doing just that. Rafael Montero and Bryan Abreu still form a solid duo and the Astros have also gotten some strong innings from Seth Martinez.

As the Astros try to balance contending with retooling and managing a diminished minor league system, they are walking a fine line. They have failed to generate much confidence with their early-season play, but all it takes is one 8-2 run for everyone to forget all about this.

With Alex Bregman, Kyle Tucker, and Valdez coming up on the need for new contracts, the Astros could potentially be at a crossroads. However, with 142 games left in the season and multiple Wild Card spots, can we write the Astros off just yet?

That’s not to say they will play deep into October this year, but the Astros — who have appeared in seven consecutive AL Championship Series — should play meaningful games in September.

It is just too early to determine whether they should be sellers or close the book on their dynasty.

Ray Kuhn can be found covering Fantasy Sports on Fantrax and Fantasy Alarm after previously covering the Houston Astros as part of the FanSided network at Climbing Tal’s Hill. Reach him on X/Twitter at @ray_kuhn_28 or raykuhn57@gmail.com as he is always interested in talking or writing about our great game.