Former MLB executive thinks Houston Astros can still contend for AL Pennant

The Houston Astros look like a complete shell of themselves after being just one win away from advancing to another World Series in last year’s playoffs.

They are 12-22 and seven games out of first place.

Pitching continues to be this team’s problem, as they have eight blown saves on the season and rank 26th in MLB entering Tuesday with a 4.75 team ERA.

All good things must come to an end, and it feels like that’s what could happen to the Astros.

But former MLB executive Jim Bowden isn’t quite ready to close the book on the “golden era” despite a slow start to the year.

“Once this pitching staff is healthy and pitching to maximum strength, the Astros should get back into the pennant race, no matter how tough it seems right now,” he said. written in an article for Athleticism.

This is quite optimistic considering how few teams make the playoffs when they start off as poorly as this team.

Of course, the return of Justin Verlander, Framber Valdez, Cristian Javier and Jose Urquidy to their rotation should certainly stabilize things and allow them to not rely on the struggling arms they’ve had to call up, but other issues are also present. .

Houston’s bullpen was a real liability with eight blown saves and 11 losses credited.

Josh Hader looks like a totally different pitcher than he has shown throughout his career as he sits with a 6.14 ERA. But he is not the only one having difficulties. Ryan Pressly has a 5.27 ERA with two blown saves.

That’s not even talking about the offense looking much less potent than in years past, ranking 17th in most points scored on Tuesday.

But the good news is that all the Astros have to do is win their division to earn a spot in the playoffs, and with over 100 games still left, there’s a good chance they figure out the things and are starting to look like the team they were. should enter the year.

And then, once they’re there, anything can happen.