Were The Houston Astros Ever 'That' Bad?

The Houston Astros seemed to have turned things around, but were they ever that bad to begin with?

May 13, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Astros third baseman Alex Bregman (2) reacts after / Thomas Shea-USA TODAY Sports

The Houston Astros have gotten hot and fought back into the playoff picture. Their recent turnaround has had people questioning how bad they were in the first place.

Bleacher Report's Zachary D. Rymer believes that Houston was 'never that bad' and the early slump was mostly an illusion caused by a lot of injuries.

The pitching staff has gotten healthy and that is reflected in the stats.

In March/April of this season, the Houston pitching staff ranked 26th in the league with a 5.01 ERA. In May, they jumped up to 13th at 3.80.

As big of a part of that jump being healthy in the starting rotation, the bullpen has also looked completely different.

The historic signing of Josh Hader was off to a rocky start as the reliever had his ERA up to 6.39. He's allowed just one run since the start of May. Only two relievers have had an ERA above 4.00 in May, but neither of those pitchers are on the MLB roster.

Framber Valdez and Cristian Javier started out May by getting shelled early, but have both turned it around in their most recent starts. Justin Verlander is a bit more complex of a case as he's had equal great starts and poor starts in May.

The offense was already doing well overall, top-five in OPS to start the season, but they've also started to improve as their stars wake up.

The biggest change has been Alex Bregman. At one point this seaon, his numbers had gotten all the down to .189/.268/.252. His OPS is already up to .637. He might not be on the Astros through the trade deadline, but he's at least helping them win games right now.

While Houston may never have been a truly bad team from a talent standpoint, they were certainly playing at a poor level. As that talent turns things around, the team has begun to rise overall.