Astros have legit excuse for F-graded 2026 season unlike Mets, Phillies, or Red Sox

"The Red Sox, Phillies, and Mets have stolen all the 'big market, bad team' headlines, but the Astros should be included as well," Schoenfield writes. "... More so than those three teams, the Astros can at least use injuries as an excuse."

While the Phillies are missing Jhoan Duran, and the Mets have been without Juan Soto and Francisco Lindor for much of the year, and the Red Sox are down Garrett Crochet, the Astros rotation has been completely depleted.

Hunter Brown, a Cy-Young caliber starter, is out for a while. Tatsuya Imai, a big signing this offseason, is also on the injured list. Cristian Javier is the third starter who's out for a while, not including the known injuries coming into the year.

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Add in Josh Hader as the team's closer being out, and Jeremy Pena, and the Astros have multiple key players all out for extended amounts of time due to injuries.

Even if the offense is breaking out, the Astros' pitching staff has been the worst in the league with a brutal 5.75 ERA, which is much higher than the next-worst team in the Los Angeles Angels at 5.07.

The Astros have had a truly terrible season so far, and there is a good excuse for how bad things have gone. But that doesn't mean the Astros don't deserve an "F" grade for how bad things are going.

If they can't find a way to turn things around, it would not be a surprise if the Astros wound up as major sellers come the August third trade deadline this year.

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