How Much Do Houston Astros Miss Dusty Baker Now?

First-year Houston Astros manager Joe Espada is only a month into his tenure but the Astros are doing something they never did under former manager Dusty Baker.

Oct 23, 2023; Houston, Texas, USA; Former Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker. / Erik Williams-USA TODAY Sports

The Houston Astros wrap up a two-game series with the Colorado Rockies in Mexico City on Sunday. That will wrap up the first month of manager Joe Espada’s first year as manager.

Espada had to succeed Dusty Baker, a future Baseball Hall of Fame manager who led Houston to the 2022 World Series title, along with another World Series berth in 2021.

The Astros knew things would be different under Espada. But how different, at least for the first month of the season, has been a surprise.

After they were swept by the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field, the Astros were off to their worst start since divisional play started in 1969. That was 55 years ago.

Houston lost 19 of its first 27 games going into Sunday’s game and was last in the American League West. How different is that from life with Baker?

Well, USA Today crunched the numbers. With Baker the Astros had a winning record when they lost their 20th game in each of his four seasons.

In the COVID-shortened 2020 season, they were 21-20. In the three ensuing full seasons, the Astros needed 46 games (26-20 in 2021), 55 games (35-20 in 2022) and 48 games (28-20 in 2023) to reach 20 losses.

It underscores just how much of a slump the Astros are off to this season. This franchise has reached no worse than the American League Championship Series every year since 2017, when it won its first World Series.

The season hasn’t even creeped into May yet, so it’s way too early to say the streak is in jeopardy.

But it does make one wonder if having an experienced manager like Baker, who won more than 2,000 games for his career, would have made a difference this first month?