GM confident despite team’s slow start
WASHINGTON — The Astros awoke Friday off to their worst 20-game start to a season since 2016, the last year the franchise missed the playoffs. Their record of 6-14 was secondworst in the American League, as was their minus-23 run differential.
Myriad factors contributed to the unexpected start. The Astros entered their series opener against the Nationals with a 5.24 ERA, second-highest in the majors to Colorado. Their offense was tied for third in OPS but ranked 16th in runs per game, reflecting some spotty situational hitting.
Their rotation received a boost Friday with the return of Justin Verlander from the injured list. Before watching Verlander make his season debut at Nationals Park, Astros general manager Dana Brown addressed several elements of the team’s early struggles with Chronicle staff writer Matt Kawahara. Answers have been lightly edited for clarity.
Q: What, in your view, has led to the team’s start?
A: I think a big part of our start is we’re leading the majors in IL days, so we’ve had a ton of injuries. I don’t know if any team really could sustain the injuries that we’ve had. And I think we’re going to be fine, because we have depth. But when you look at the five starters that we had out — I mean, we’re getting JV back (Friday), thank God. But we still have (José) Urquidy out, Framber (Valdez) out, (Luis) Garcia out, (Lance) McCullers (Jr.) out. That’s a lot of IL days. Then you combine that with slow starts from our bullpen and some slow starts from some of our hitters. That puts you in a tough spot.
On top of that, all six of the series that we played before this one, the teams are either in first place or second place, or at least over .500. I think the Blue Jays are probably doing the worst out of all of them, and they’re a really good team. So we played (five) really good teams. … We’ll have our time when our guys are all back. We’re not going to suffer the whole season with all these injuries, let’s hope. And then some of the teams that we’re going to play are maybe not as good as some of the teams that we’ve been playing. So at some point, this thing will turn around.
Q: In spring training, you were bullish on the pitching depth and the rotation depth. Hindsight being what it is, do you feel like that was misguided?
A: Not really. If you think about it, no one could predict the start by our bullpen. Our top three bullpen arms have all got off to slow starts. I mean, that’s unheard of for that to happen. So I’m still bullish about how good those guys are. We’ve actually gotten decent pitching from our middle (relievers). And then I didn’t predict that Framber would go down, I didn’t predict that Urquidy would go down. We knew that there was a chance that JV could start on the IL. So there’s some things that led to where we are today.
But when you’re 20 games in and 142 left to go, I don’t think there’s any need to panic. I think it’s a long season. It’s a marathon and not a sprint. And at some point, we’ll get on all cylinders and this thing will turn around.
Q: Is there any concern with the back-end relievers? (Entering Friday, closer Josh Hader, signed to a five-year, $95 million deal in January, had an 8.31 ERA in 10 appearances. Ryan Pressly had a 9.45 ERA over eight outings. Bryan Abreu had a 6.00 ERA in nine appearances).
A: No, I just think they got off to slow starts. They’re all throwing the ball well. It’s a matter of executing the pitches, and if we execute the pitch that we need to execute, they’re going to be fine. It’s just so ironic that the guys got off to a slow start. There was no way to predict that. I think if you ask any majorleague general manager, he would take Abreu, Pressly, Hader at the back of his bullpen. Any manager, any general manager, would take those three at the back end of their bullpen. It just so happened that they’ve gotten off to a slow start.
Q: You’ve received the least amount of offensive production from your first basemen among MLB teams. How sustainable is that? Do you feel like there is a point where you have to explore potentially making a change there? (Entering Friday, Astros first basemen had combined for an MLB-low .382 OPS. José Abreu owned an .078/.158/.098 slash line in 16 games. Jon Singleton had a .250/.333/.313 slash line in 36 plate appearances).
A: Right now, we’ll continue to figure that out as we talk it through with the guys downstairs. But we’re going to continue to figure out how to get (Abreu) some playing time to see if he can get hot. And if he gets hot, we’ll be happy. And if he doesn’t get hot, we’ll have to circle back and make some decisions.
I think what we’ll do is we’ll have those guys share some playing time with the hopes of Abreu getting hot . ... We would like to have more production. But often times, guys don’t get off to good starts. It’s just the way it is.
Now, of course we can’t continue to go with no production. At some point, we’ll have to make a decision, and we’re talking through that now.
Q: How would you gauge the team’s mental state?
A: The group of guys are a little disappointed at their start. But I think they all understand and realize it’s a marathon and it’s not a sprint, and they know how good we really are. So I think they’ll be fine.