The Houston Astros head to Mexico City with one of the worst records in Major League Baseball and one of its worst starts in decades.
The Houston Astros lost to the Chicago Cubs on Thursday, 3-1, dropping them to a 7-19 record through their first 26 games this season.
That’s bad. In fact, the only team in the American League with a worse record than the Astros are the Chicago White Sox, who have won just three games.
In recent history this is uncharted territory for Houston.
The Astros have won two World Series, reached two other World Series and been in the American League Championship Series every season since 2017. That’s a seven-season run, which came after a 11-year stretch in which they reached the postseason just one time.
But this start, with a new manager in Joe Espada and unfinished business after losing to the Texas Rangers in last year’s ALCS, is something no Houston player has ever dealt with.
In fact, one must go back 55 years to find a start this bad, per USA Today.
Back in 1969, Houston was in the National League and the league divided into divisions for the first time, with the Astros landing in the West.
To that point, Houston had not had a winning season since it joined the Majors in 1962 as the Colt .45s. They would become the Astros in 1965.
Those 1969 Astros were a bit worse than these 2024 Astros, at least to start with. After 26 games that season Houston was 6-20.
There may be some good news, however. Yes, the 1969 Astros started poorly but they ended at .500 — 81-81. They ended up fifth in the West.
Back then, only the division champion made the playoffs. Now, there are six playoff spots in each league. A .500 record could, potentially, put a team like the Astros in line for a wild card berth.
Plus, these Astros have endured a litany of pitching injuries and an inability to bring runners home in scoring positions. Those are things that can even out over a season.