At quarter mark of season, where do Astros need to improve?

HOUSTON -- The Astros reached the one-quarter mark of their schedule while they were in Cincinnati over the weekend, returning home with a 16-25 record. The good news for the Astros is there were 120 games remaining after Monday’s 3-1 loss to the Mariners at Daikin Park, so there’s plenty of time for the club to turn things around.

“I think our team knows the importance of this series and the next one,” said Astros manager Joe Espada, whose team plays four games against the Mariners and three against the Rangers this week.

The 2024 Astros were also 16-25 before posting a 72-48 record from there to finish 88-73 and win the American League West division title. Of course, that team had Kyle Tucker, Alex Bregman, Framber Valdez and a healthy Ronel Blanco, Hunter Brown, Josh Hader and Jeremy Peña.

Like the 2024 Astros, the 2005 team was also a star-filled club that was underachieving early in the season. They were 15-26 after 41 games en route to a 15-30 start. That team famously rallied to win the National League Wild Card spot on the final day of the season before advancing to the World Series.

Where this team winds up after 162 games remains to be seen, but here are four areas in which the Astros will have to improve to turn things around:

1. Health

It’s well documented the number of injuries the Astros have this season, with 15 players currently on the injured list. That includes their starting left fielder (Joey Loperfido), center fielder (Jake Meyers), third baseman (Carlos Correa), shortstop (Peña) and catcher (Yainer Diaz), as well as ace starter Brown, reliever Bennett Sousa and closer Hader.

Peña and Meyers should begin Minor League rehab assignments this week, which will be a big step forward. Next could be hard-throwing right-hander Nate Pearson, who’s on a Minor League rehab assignment being built up as a reliever. Hader’s third Minor League rehab outing will come Tuesday at Double-A Corpus Christi. He’s eligible to come off the IL as soon as May 24.

Beyond that, Loperfido is progressing and there’s hope Brown could return by the end of June. In the meantime, the Astros have to hope they can keep the rest of their players healthy.

2. Get Imai going

Tuesday will be a huge start for the Astros and Tatsuya Imai, who will come off the IL to start against the Mariners. Imai has been on the injured list since his disastrous April 10 start against the Mariners in which he recorded just one out and struggled to throw strikes. He complained of arm fatigue the following day and was placed on the shelf.

Imai, who signed a three-year, $54 million contract in January, struggled to throw strikes in both of his Minor League rehab outings, but the Astros have no choice at this point but to put him back in the rotation and see if he can give them competitive innings. If not, it will leave the Astros in a tough spot.

3. Throw strikes

Astros pitchers entered Monday leading the Major Leagues in walks (211) by a large margin, which has only put further strain on a pitching staff that’s been decimated by injuries. Houston has the highest ERA (5.50) in the Majors, though the pitching situation has been stabilized somewhat by Peter Lambert, Spencer Arrighetti and Kai-Wei Teng.

Still, the Astros are walking too many people and have been adversely affected by the ABS system. They had thrown the most pitches per game and per inning in the big leagues entering Monday, and had faced the second-most batters. Simply put, the team needs to find a way to get in the strike zone more.

4. Hope Altuve gets hot

Jose Altuve has always been a streaky hitter, so perhaps his three-hit game on Monday is a sign that he’s trending upward. He moved into the leadoff spot on May 5 following the injury to Correa, but it’s expected Peña will take over as the leadoff hitter once he returns next week. As is usually the case, however Altuve goes is how the Astros offense goes.

Altuve is slashing .255/.335/.383 with three homers. He had notched exactly one hit in eight of the previous nine games before pounding out three singles Monday. After walking 12 times and striking out only seven times in his first 44 plate appearances, Altuve is chasing more and has 25 strikeouts against five walks in his last 124 plate appearances.