Painful assessment of Astros’ struggles is a sobering reminder of the tough road ahead

It's abundantly clear that the Houston Astros are in a freefall at the moment. Even with Yordan Alvarez playing like an MVP while both Cam Smith and Christian Walker show flashes of promise, the Astros' pitching staff is a disaster. The team finds itself in last place in the AL West with no end to the pain in sight.

The Astros have a track record of performing at a high level, so don't write the Astros off just yet. There's still talent on this roster. But as The Athletic's Jim Bowden correctly pointed out (subscription required), the Astros have not only failed to live up to expectations, but there isn't a clear path to solving their problems.

Astros' struggles don't come with quick fixes

It would be one thing if the Astros had a hitter or two in a slump, or were dealing with a couple of injuries. Those sorts of things can definitely result in rough patches, but can also be mitigated with a couple of roster moves. That is not the case with Houston.

The sheer scope of the Astros' pitching issues, as Bowden noted, does not lend itself to easy solutions. They lost two of their best starters in Hunter Brown and Cristian Javier, and no one has any idea when Tatsuya Imai will be back or what he will look like once he does.

Bryan Abreu has cratered, and closer Josh Hader is on the 60-day IL with a shoulder injury. Even if the Astros had significant pitching depth in the minors (which they don't), no team can realistically replace those kinds of losses.

There's more to the Astros' struggles than just injuries. Lance McCullers Jr. is healthy, but hasn't pitched well. Houston traded for Mike Burrows to help anchor their rotation, and he has a 6.75 ERA through his first five starts. The fill-in starters like Ryan Weiss, Cody Bolton, and Colton Gordon failed to help and/or got hurt themselves. At some point, there won't be enough arms left.

If Imai returns and has fixed whatever problems he was having, Spencer Arrighetti continues to perform well, and Houston finds a couple bullpen arms who can help, the immediate future suddenly looks brighter. However, that's a big ask at the moment and, given the Astros' luck so far this season, there's little guarantee that things will start breaking their way anytime soon.

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