Fifteen days ago, the home clubhouse inside Daikin Park was quiet. Trying to avoid a sweep at the hands of the St. Louis Cardinals, the Astros rallied for three runs in the eighth inning, only to lose in the tenth.
At the time, Houston was 8-15 with a 6.11 team ERA and what felt like an entire roster on the injured list. They were in a free fall.
15 days later later, that free fall appears to be over.
The Astros have gone 6-6 in their last 12 games, nine of which have come on the road. They took two
of three in Cleveland before dropping two of three to the Yankees, then rebounded after losing the first two in Baltimore, falling to a season-worst nine games below .500, to win three of their next four, capped by Sunday’s extra-inning victory in Boston.
How has the team stabilized during this 12-game stretch? A pitching staff that once looked depleted, seemingly losing an arm to the injured list every day, has been merely below average as it gets healthier.
Houston’s 5.06 team ERA over the last 12 games ranks 23rd in baseball. That’s not good, and not where they want to be in September, but it is progress. So is the improvement from Mike Burrows and Bryan Abreu, with the latter tossing two scoreless innings on Sunday at Fenway.
The emergence of Spencer Arrighetti, along with three solid outings from Peter Lambert, has also provided a boost.
The Astros’ pitching staff is still far from whole, but it is trending in the right direction. Tatsuya Imai is set to make his second rehab start this week with Triple-A Sugar Land, and Josh Hader could reclaim the closer’s role when he is eligible to return from the injured list on May 24. Hunter Brown and Cristian Javier may also be back sometime in June.
Two years ago, the Astros went 15-14 in May after a 9-19 start in March and April. That set the stage for a 17-8 June and an AL West title.
The key to climbing out of an early-season hole isn’t doing it overnight, it’s stopping the digging in the first place.
It’s too early to tell if the Astros have stopped digging or merely taken a break from doing so, but a six-game stretch against the Dodgers and Reds could provide an answer.
