Middling Astros Sit at .500 36 Games In

Projections, Playing Time, xWins, Projected and Should Be Standings

May 08, 2025

A 9-1 win on Wednesday took some, but not all, of the sting out of a 2-4 road trip that included series losses in Chicago (gulp) and Milwaukee.

Reversing a trend from recent seasons, the Astros are 11-7 at Daikin Park and 7-11 on the road.

The Astros bats are 20th in wOBA (.303) and 18th in wRC+ (96) while the arms are 5th in ERA (3.48) and 4th in FIP (3.48).

The bullpen has been particularly good, currently 4th in bullpen ERA (2.80) and leading the league in FIP (3.02).

Batter and Pitcher Projections

Playing Time Breakdown

This team will not meet my need for stability, as there is a different lineup and order daily.

I promise to deal with it if that means the team wins, but if they don’t I’m likely to write about it.

As we know by now, the Astros have a decision to make on Brendan Rodgers, but his peripherals are much better than his actuals, meaning there is likely some offensive upside moving forward that isn’t there with Dubon.

Dubon has sparkled in the field.

Likely a timeshare moving forward.

With Yordan out, it gives Espada more leeway to DH Altuve and put Dezenzo in left, yet it’s a little surprising to see Altuve logging only 58% of the innings in left.

It feels like Cam is losing the grip he had on RF with the emergence of Dezenzo and once Yordan returns and the DH role is limited for Altuve playing time in right field will decrease for Smith if Dezenzo continues to play well.

One position that there is not much question about is centerfield, where Jake has locked things down as of late.

Detailed Pitching Numbers

A sparkling performance by Framber to close out the series in Milwaukee.

Over 7 innings, he limited the Brewers to one run, retiring Milwaukee in order three times and being successful in 2 of 3 shut-down opportunities.

I haven’t said many good things about Bryan Abreu this season, but he also had a good series in Milwaukee, retiring the Brewers on 6 pitches yesterday and in order on Tuesday.