Astros’ 7-16 Record Might Get More Embarrassing by The Weekend
Astros vs Cubs Preview: Houston Could Be In Line to Lose Another Series
The Houston Astros will have a hectic week starting on Tuesday.
The Astros will begin the week on the road against Chicago and then head to Mexico City to take on the Colorado Rockies over the weekend.
We’ll cover that two-game series later in the week. For now, we’ll focus on the three-game series against the Cubs on the MLB schedule today.
The Astros won the World Series last year but have begun this season 7-16. Nobody really saw this coming. On the other hand, they’ll take on the Chicago Cubs, who have gone 13-9 heading into this series.
This is a fun interleague matchup. But if the Astros lose another series, they’ll fall below .500 by ten games. It would be a tall task to come back from that, even this early on in the season.
Let’s see if the Astros match up well against the Cubs in this series from Tuesday-Thursday.
Take a look at the three-game Astros vs Cubs preview for the midweek series.
Astros vs Cubs 
Records: Houston Astros (7-16), Chicago Cubs (13-9)
Location: Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL
Day/Time:
Is The Houston Dynasty In Danger?
Every dynasty eventually comes to an end.
We might be looking at the end of the Astros’ dynasty. In the MLB standings, Houston is just 7-16 on the season. Plus, the Astros just lost starting pitcher Christian Javier to the MLB Injured List after he was scratched from his start on Sunday due to neck discomfort.
After all, the Astros aren’t built well analytically. Against a right-handed pitcher, the Astros will still typically have at least six righties in the lineup, along with lefties Yordan Alvarez and Kyle Tucker.
Ultimately, the Astros didn’t make many moves after last year’s success. They added Josh Hader to be the closer as their major signing but rarely did anything else. They’re paying the price now.
The Cubs Still Need Help In The Bullpen
While Chicago’s early success has been fun, the bullpen could really use some reinforcements. The Cubs are using Adbert Alzolay as the closer. But he’s just not getting the job done.
He’s already blown four saves this season, yet Craig Counsell, the Cubs manager, hasn’t removed Alzolay from the closer role. The only other pitcher on the Cubs with experience closing would be Hector Neris. Ultimately, the bullpen is walking a lot of batters and not getting a high strikeout rate.
Astros vs Cubs Preview of Odds For Game 1:
RL: Astros -1.5 (+140) ML: Astros -120, O/U 10 -110/-110.
Game 1
Tuesday, 7:40 pm ET
J.P. France vs. Jordan Wicks
The Astros will begin the series with J.P. France. He’s a righty with a 7.08 ERA after facing 98 batters. France has low strikeouts, allowing a .182 ISO and wOBA of .364 to those 98 batters. He’s also given up 37% of fly balls while inducing only 30.1% of ground balls.
France’s start has been ugly, but he’s not even the worst pitcher in the Houston rotation right now.
Meanwhile, the Cubs’ projected lineup against righties has hit a .217 ISO and wOBA of .345 since last season. Michael Busch has been red hot to begin the season and is ultimately a massive power hitter against righties as a left-handed bat. The Cubs also have other lefties like Cody Bellinger to go up against France.
On the other hand, we’ll get Jordan Wicks for the Cubs. He’s limited power but has still allowed a .351 wOBA to begin the season, resulting in a 5.29 ERA.
Earlier, we acknowledged that the Houston lineup isn’t built for righties. But it’s certainly built for lefties. The projected lineup has hit a .190 ISO and wOBA of .368, with only 17.4% of strikeouts against lefties since last season. Only Chas McCormick has a high strikeout rate dating back to last season, and only Alex Bregman and Victor Caratini have struggled to put together a high wOBA against righties in that span.
Therefore, we’d back the Over 10 (-110) in Game 1 of this matchup.
Game 2
Wednesday, 7:40 pm ET
Spencer Arrighetti vs. Jameson Taillon
One of Houston’s top prospects, Spencer Arrighetti, has thrown to 38 batters this season. The rookie has added 21.1% of strikeouts but has also walked 13.2% of batters and has allowed a .397 wOBA because of it.
For what it’s worth, Arrighetti hasn’t given up a high rate of extra-base hits yet. But he’s still allowed 33.3% of line drives and has induced just 33.3% of ground balls. That’s hurt him, as he has an 11.57 ERA to begin his career.
Again, the Cubs’ projected lineup has plenty of potential against righties. They’ll also have veteran righty Jameson Taillon on the mound. He finished with a 1-0 record and, in his first start, a 1.80 ERA. He walked no one and held his first 18 batters to a .237 wOBA.
Using Houston’s last season’s stats and this year’s stats, the top of the order is dominant against righties. Jose Altuve, Yordan Alvarez, Kyle Tucker, and Alex Bregman have all hit righties well. However, the bottom five of the order haven’t had nearly as much success. That’s more than half the lineup and one of the reasons the Astros have struggled this season.
That said, we’ll back the Cubs in Game 2 of the series in this Astros vs Cubs preview.
Game 3
Thursday, 2:20 pm ET
Justin Verlander vs. Javier Assad
In the series finale, Justin Verlander will get the call. The veteran righty has thrown to 21 batters since coming off the Injured List. Against those 21 batters, he’s earned four strikeouts and has allowed a .444 ISO and wOBA of .473 to nine righties.
Verlander is probably the guy you can trust the most in the Houston lineup. That said, he’s coming off an injury and is only aging day by day.
Verlander will face off against Javier Asaad, who has struggled badly against lefties, giving up a .205 ISO and wOBA of .345 to them this season. If the Astros want to salvage the series (or potentially win it), they’ll need Yordan Alvarez and Kyle Tucker to break out and mash Asaad. We’d trust that the most. Back the Astros in Game 3 of the series. That’ll be one of our top MLB picks of the day on Thursday.
Astros vs Cubs Runline
For the best MLB bets today, odds analysis, and more, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.
