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Astros: Believe it or Not, the Astros are in the middle of pack in LOB
By Eric Huysman
The Astros LOB stats are not as bad as you might think.
The Houston Astros are playing like it’s 2014 again, no, that is too generous, they are playing like it’s 2013. While it is still early in the season, the Astros are not playing like a winning team. They still have the talent, and their failure to launch has surprised many people around baseball. There have been mental lapses on the bases way too often as well as the ugliest swings and misses ever. Most of the focus has been on the Astros LOB and RISP for the Astros struggles.
Left on base, LOB, is the number of runners left on base when the final out of the inning is made. I’m sure if you are reading this, you are aware of what it means because you are a baseball fan. Earlier today, I heard the host of a local radio station refer to the Astros as Team LOB. We got rid of Chris Carter and added a contact/power hitter in Tyler White and we have all of our young studs a year older and wiser. Are we really that much worse than the rest of the league in runners left in scoring position?
According to TeamRankings.com, the Astros are in the middle of the pack regarding stranding runners on base. The Pittsburg Pirates have the most LOB in all of baseball, before yesterday’s games, with an average of 19.13 LOB per game. The Cincinnati Reds are in the lead with an average of 11.00 LOB per game. The Reds have an 8-8 record, and the Pirates have a 7-8 record.
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Where are the Astros? They are right in the middle with the 15th most LOB in baseball with and an average of 13.80 LOB per game, with the Arizona Diamondbacks closely behind them with 13.81. In last night’s game, the Astros only stranded ten runners while scoring four runs. Normally four runs would be enough for ace Dallas Keuchel, but all bets are off against the Rangers.
Runners left in scoring position, the Astros are in the middle there as well, around 13th most RISP with 3.80 per game. The Pirates also have a .380 team on-base percentage, while the Astros are around .314 on-base percentage. The Pirates get on base more, so of course they will not be able to drive them all in consistently. The good news about the LOB is that the Astros are getting on. Unfortunately, the players are not able to deliver in the clutch.
Next: Astros: A Spark is Needed
The Astros still appear to be swinging for the fences instead of making contact and see what would happen. They will continue to get on base and eventually the players behind them will get the big hit to score some more runs. Remember the Rangers got off to a poor start to last year, it’s still early, but the Astros have got to find a way to get runners home. Let’s hope they get hot with some home cooking this weekend.
***Stats from TeamRanking.com***