A quarter of the way through the 2026 season, the Houston Astros are somehow both one of the best offensive teams in baseball and one of the worst teams in baseball, period. The lineup has carried a pitching staff ravaged by injuries and disastrous performances, keeping Houston within striking distance in a weak AL West despite a 16-24 record and the highest ERA in the majors.
The Offense
The one area where the Astros have exceeded every expectation is at the plate. Houston has led the majors in runs scored and ranked third in batting average at .272, second in OBP and OPS. Yordan Alvarez has been in MVP conversation all season, slashing .324 with 13 home runs and 29 RBIs. Christian Walker has been equally productive, with nine home runs and a resurgent approach against fastballs that produced the first home run anyone has hit off Shohei Ohtani this season. Jose Altuve remains a presence at the top of the order. The new hitting staff, brought in to replace dismissed coaches Alex Cintrón and Troy Snitker, deserves credit for an offense that has carried this team through a catastrophic pitching situation.
The Pitching
There is no gentle way to say this. The Astros entered the week with a staff ERA of 5.82, the highest in baseball. The rotation has been historically bad in the early innings, with no pitching staff allowing more runs in innings one through three than Houston’s. The bullpen ERA of 6.20 is last in the majors.
The injuries have been the primary culprit. Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, Tatsuya Imai, Ronel Blanco, Hayden Wesneski, Brandon Walter, and Bennett Sousa have all spent time on the injured list. Josh Hader, the closer, missed the first month with biceps tendinitis and is currently on a minor-league rehab assignment with a target return date of May 24. The rotation has leaned heavily on call-ups and cast-offs to get through the first quarter of the season.
The Unexpected Arms
Against that backdrop, three pitchers have provided genuine stability. Spencer Arrighetti entered the season at Triple-A Sugar Land and is 4-1 with a 1.88 ERA in five starts. Mike Burrows has battled batted ball luck all season but delivered his best start as a major leaguer Friday in Cincinnati, seven scoreless innings in a 10-0 win. Peter Lambert, a former Rockies journeyman who pitched last season in Japan, re-signed with Houston on a minor-league deal after requesting his release and has a 2.42 ERA in four starts, including a seven-inning gem against Ohtani.
The Injuries
The list is staggering. Carlos Correa will undergo season-ending ankle surgery. Jeremy Peña, the starting shortstop, has missed most of the season with a hamstring strain and is just now nearing a minor-league rehab assignment. Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, Tatsuya Imai, Ronel Blanco, Hayden Wesneski, and Brandon Walter have all been on the injured list. Catcher Yainer Diaz is out indefinitely with an oblique strain. Outfielders Jake Meyers, Joey Loperfido, and Taylor Trammell are all on the IL. Closer Josh Hader missed the first month. The Astros have used 14 players on the injured list through 40 games.
The AL West
The one saving grace is the division. The AL West has been mediocre all season. Houston entered the week 4.5 games behind the Seattle Mariners and within striking distance of a division that nobody has run away with. The A’s have been at or near the top of the division at barely above .500. It is a race the Astros can still theoretically win, if the pitching staff stabilizes and the injured players return healthy.
The Bottom Line
The Astros are a team in crisis. The injuries have been historic in their breadth and timing. The pitching has been historically bad. And yet the offense has been so good that Houston remains in the conversation in a weak division. The next 40 games will tell the story. Hader is due back May 24. Imai returns to the rotation this week, for better or worse. Peña is days away from a rehab assignment. Brown could be back by early June. If those things happen, this team looks very different. If they don’t, the trade deadline conversation gets very uncomfortable very quickly.
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