After the Stros were blown out by the Mets on Friday night and fell to a season-worst 46-51 record, it’s looking clearer by the day that the magic of the Stros’ past two second-half playoff runs has worn off completely.
Now through 60% of the season (7-9 in the last 10% of the season; prior periodic reviews here), the Stros have not won more games than they have lost in any of the five 10% segments of the season after the first one. The club’s hitting overall remains almost precisely National League average (team RCAA is -2 — 10th among the 16 NL teams) and the pitching staff continues to toil at well below National League-average level (RSAA of -20 — 13th in the NL). As noted in previous posts, the Stros’ trend of average or below National League-average hitting over the past half-dozen seasons means that the Stros need extraordinary pitching to contend for a playoff spot, and the club received just that in the past two seasons. Unfortunately, this season, the Stros pitching staff is a bit below National League average and, thus, the Stros are currently just that — a slightly-below National League-average club.

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