What to expect from a former Rockies player is always an enigma since the mile-high air does strange things to the flight of a baseball. Taking a crack at the mystery, the Astros hope Tuesday’s acquisition of Pedro Astacio will replace a hole in the rotation left by ailing ex-ace-to-be Scott Elarton.
One of the few bright spots for the Astros last year was the second-half offense, which was the hottest in baseball. The Astros entered the first half of this season without skipping a beat. They rank at the top of the National League in the most important offensive categories and, as their road statistics demonstrate, are by no means a mere creation of Enron Field:
Split R/G Avg OBP Slg HR% ------------------------------------- Total 5.52 .276 .352 .474 4.50 NL Rank 2nd 2nd 2nd 2nd 1st ------------------------------------- Road 5.30 .272 .346 .463 4.45 NL Rank 3rd 2nd 2nd 1st 2nd
Record and Standings
Record W L ----------------- April 12 12 May 14 13 June 15 12 ----------------- Total 41 37
Unlike the first two months of the season, in June the Astros played reasonably well the second half of the month. They stood at .500 on June 15 but subsequently won nine of 14 games.
What have they done?
Like April, the Astros excelled the first half of the month, going 11-4 through May 17. The rest of the month they went 3-9, including an eight-game losing streak. The offense and pitching both declined during the collapse, but given that the staff continued to post a decent ERA, the line-up was chiefly to blame:
Dates R/G ERA --------------------- 5/01-5/17 5.33 3.73 5/18-5/31 4.58 4.78
Sometimes there’s no place like away from home. At least that’s what many Astros fans thought after the team followed a 6-1 road trip with a 1-5 homestand. The can’t-win-at-Enron-Field explanation of what’s ailing the Astros was punctured, though, by a sweep at Los Angeles last weekend. The ineptitude against the Dodgers suggests that the problem isn’t the ballpark, but the ballclub.
The Astros are among the top clubs in the National League at getting runners on base. Their 13.84 baserunners per game trail only Colorado’s 14.41 and San Diego’s 14.11. With so many ducks on the pond, Astros sluggers have had ample chances to build their RBI totals.
