These are your Astros...through April

It's the end of April and somehow I have a worse record than the Astros did in real life, through April. Sigh. The offense as a whole has cooled down, with Bourn still being strikeout king of the lineup. Pence has been pretty clutch, still leading the league in RBIs. Brett Wallace has come back to respectability and has moved up to the 2-spot in the lineup, as Angel's production there was dropping off. Brett Myers should be coming off the DL soon and Barmes will hopefully be back within the month. The pitching staff has struggled, with Wandy having tough luck. The bullpen has inched back to being average, and Del Rosario has really come on as a late-inning guy. I also sent Wilton Lopez to AAA where he'll have a few weeks to sort himself out (11.70 ERA, 10 IP). Well, here's the stats, ugly as they may be.

Houston Astros (8-19)

The lineup

CF Michael Bourn (.241/.339/.269), 13 R, 8 RBI, 3 2B, 16 BB/ 36 SO, 9 SB/ 5 CS

1B Brett Wallace (.269/.307/.398), 12 R, 7 RBI, 8 2B, 2 HR, 5 BB/ 26 SO

RF Hunter Pence (.364/.395/.636), 18 R, 29 RBI, 15 2B, 1 3B, 5 HR, 6 BB/ 28 SO, 2 SB

LF Carlos Lee (.340/.358/.427), 11 R, 11 RBI, 3 2B, 2 HR, 3 BB/ 21 SO

2B Bill Hall (.354/.407/.595), 15 R, 9 RBI, 6 2B, 2 3B, 3 HR, 5 BB/ 27 SO

3B Chris Johnson (.296/.310/.380), 12 R, 14 RBI, 6 2B, 1 HR, 3 BB/ 15 SO, 1 SB

C Jason Castro (.284/.370/.318), 13 R, 10 RBI, 3 2B, 10 BB/ 25 SO, 1 CS

SS Angel Sanchez (.243/.299/.300), 8 R, 12 RBI, 1 2B, 1 HR, 5 BB/ 16 SO

The bench

INF Jeff Keppinger (.245/.393/.265), 9 R, 2 RBI, 1 2B, 11 BB/ 7 SO

OF Jason Michaels (.208/.259/.375), 3 R, 3 RBI, 2 2B, 1 3B, 2 BB/ 9 SO

C J.R. Towles (.278/.316/.333), 2 R, 2 RBI, 1 2B, 0 BB/ 4 SO

INF Tommy Manzella (.333/.357/.333), 1 RBI, 0 BB/ 3 SO

OF Brian Bogusevic (.000/.000/.000), 1 RBI, 1 SB

The starters

Wandy Rodriguez (0-3), 6 GS, 45 IP, 3.20 ERA, 60 K/ 8 BB

J.A. Happ (0-3), 4 GS, 25.2 IP, 4.91 ERA, 22K/ 6 BB

Ryan Rowland-Smith (0-2), 3 GS, 16 IP, 4.50 ERA, 15 K/ 2 BB

Anuery Rodriguez (2-2), 3 GS (10 G), 16 IP (24 IP), 5.25 ERA, 21 K/ 13 BB

Sergio Perez (1-2), 5 GS, 26.2 IP, 5.74 ERA, 34 K/ 4 BB

The bullpen

Henry Villar (0-1), 3 G, 4.2 IP, 7.71 ERA, 4 K/ 0 BB

Jose Valdez, 7 G, 4.2 IP, 15.43 ERA, 7 K/ 1 BB

Mark Melancon (0-1), 11 G, 12.2 IP, 6.39 ERA, 20 K/ 15 BB

Jeff Fulchino (1-1), 13 G, 13.2 IP, 5.27 ERA, 16 K/ 3 BB

Fernando Abad (0-1), 14 G, 9.2 IP, 2.79 ERA, 15 K/ 5 BB

Enerio Del Rosario (1-0), 17 G, 14.2 IP, 1.84 ERA, 13 K/ 4 BB

Brandon Lyon (0-1), 8 G, 7.1 IP, 8.59 ERA, 15 K/ 3 BB

Game-by-game

Padres 2 @ Astros 9, W: Perez, L: Richard

Padres 6 @ Astros 2, W: Adams, L: Fulchino

Astros 2 @ Mets 4, W: Young, L: Happ, S: Rodriguez

Astros 0 @ Mets 6, W: Dickey, L: Rowland-Smith

Astros 6 @ Mets 11, W: Carrasco, L: An. Rodriguez

Astros 9 @ Brewers 11, W: Greinke, L: Villar (why the Brew Crew pitched Greinke in relief, I have no idea)

Astros 3 @ Brewers 7, W: Greinke, L: W. Rodriguez, S: Loe

Astros 1 @ Brewers 4, W: Gallardo, L: Happ, S: Axford

Cardinals 9 @ Astros 3, W: Garcia, L: Rowland-Smith

Cardinals 6 @ Astros 8, W: Fulchino, L: Franklin

Cardinals 6 @ Astros 4, W: Lohse, L: Perez, S: Motte

Brewers 5 @ Astros 3, W: Loe, L: W. Rodriguez, S: Axford (complete game win broken up by 2 HR in the 9th)

Brewers 4 @ Astros 1, W: Gallardo, L: Happ, S: Axford

NL Central

Brewers, 19-8, ---

Cubs, 15-11, 3.5 GB

Reds, 14-12, 4.5 GB

Cardinals, 13-14, 6 GB

Pirates, 11-16, 8 GB

Astros, 8-19, 11 GB

Division Leaders

NL East: Mets, 18-9

NL West: Dodgers, 14-13

AL Central: Twins, 14-13

AL East: Orioles, 17-9

AL West: Rangers, 19-8

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There you have it folks. In summary, the Astros are tied for the worst record in MLB with the White Sox. I hope I have better luck in May.