We’re over a week into the MLB season and the 0-7 Astros stand alone as baseball’s last winless team. In fact, they’ve been the only winless NL team for five days now. On Monday afternoon they were shut out for the third time in seven games, beaten 5-0 by Adam Wainwright and the Cardinals.
Astros Fall To 0-7 ... And It Could Get Worse
↵If 0-7 wasn’t bad enough, here are some other numbers that really put it in perspective:
- ↵↵They’ve scored just 13 runs (1.86 per game) and have allowed 42 (6 per).
- ↵They have a team OBP of .245 (worst in the NL by 33 points) and a .294 slugging percentage (worst by 58 points).
- ↵Their 5.95 ERA is the NL’s third worst, ahead of only the Nationals (6.20) and Pirates (7.47!).
↵↵The Astros are already in pretty dubious territory: Even before Monday’s loss, Jayson Stark noted that six teams since 2000 have opened the season 0-6. and five of the six finished 68-94 or worse. But, with a tough April schedule, things could actually get significantly worse before they get better.
↵The Astros have already been swept in home series by the Giants and Phillies,and Monday they started a six game road trip that takes them to St. Louis and Chicago. If they don’t find a way to win one on that trip (and they might not), they’ll be 0-12 when they return home for a nine game homestand against the Marlins, Pirates and Reds.
↵Fortunately, it’s not all bad news: Lance Berkman is expected to return next week, and his presence is sorely missed on a team whose leading hitter is Jeff Keppinger. But the Astros might already be 10-12 games under .500 when he debuts, and they’ll have a steep hill to climb to avoid finishing in the bottom half of the NL Central.
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