# 1988 Houston Astros season

The Houston Astros' 1988 season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Houston Astros attempting to win the National League West. It was the final season with Nolan Ryan as an Astro, as he left for the Texas Rangers in the offseason.

## Offseason

* October 13, 1987: Ronn Reynolds was released by the Houston Astros.
* December 8, 1987: Ed Whited was traded by the Houston Astros with Mike Stoker (minors) to the Atlanta Braves for Rafael Ramirez and cash.
* January 8, 1988: Joaquín Andújar was signed as a free agent by the Astros.
* March 10, 1988: Ernie Camacho was signed as a free agent by the Astros.
* March 25, 1988: Robbie Wine was traded by the Astros to the Texas Rangers for Mike Loynd.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteNL West :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 94 | 67 | .584 | — | 45‍–‍36 | 49‍–‍31 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 87 | 74 | .540 | 7 | 45‍–‍35 | 42‍–‍39 |
| San Diego Padres | 83 | 78 | .516 | 11 | 47‍–‍34 | 36‍–‍44 |
| San Francisco Giants | 83 | 79 | .512 | 11½ | 45‍–‍36 | 38‍–‍43 |
| Houston Astros | 82 | 80 | .506 | 12½ | 44‍–‍37 | 38‍–‍43 |
| Atlanta Braves | 54 | 106 | .338 | 39½ | 28‍–‍51 | 26‍–‍55 |

### Record vs. opponents

1988 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MON | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL |
| Atlanta | — | 5–7 | 5–13 | 5–13 | 4–14 | 4–8 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 5–5 | 8–10 | 5–13 | 3–9 |
| Chicago | 7–5 | — | 6–6 | 7–5 | 4–8–1 | 9–9 | 9–9 | 8–10 | 7–11 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 7–11 |
| Cincinnati | 13–5 | 6–6 | — | 9–9 | 7–11 | 5–7 | 4–7 | 9–3 | 7–5 | 10–8 | 11–7 | 6–6 |
| Houston | 13–5 | 5–7 | 9–9 | — | 9–9 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 6–12 | 7–11 | 6–6 |
| Los Angeles | 14–4 | 8–4–1 | 11–7 | 9–9 | — | 8–4 | 1–10 | 11–1 | 6–6 | 7–11 | 12–6 | 7–5 |
| Montreal | 8–4 | 9–9 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 4–8 | — | 6–12 | 9–9–1 | 8–10 | 4–8 | 7–5 | 13–5 |
| New York | 8–4 | 9–9 | 7–4 | 7–5 | 10–1 | 12–6 | — | 10–8 | 12–6 | 7–5 | 4–8 | 14–4 |
| Philadelphia | 6-6 | 10–8 | 3–9 | 4–8 | 1–11 | 9–9–1 | 8–10 | — | 7–11 | 4–7 | 7–5 | 6–12 |
| Pittsburgh | 5–5 | 11–7 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 10–8 | 6–12 | 11–7 | — | 8–4 | 8–4 | 11–7 |
| San Diego | 10–8 | 4–8 | 8–10 | 12–6 | 11–7 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 7–4 | 4–8 | — | 8–10 | 6–6 |
| San Francisco | 13–5 | 7–5 | 7–11 | 11–7 | 6–12 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 10–8 | — | 7–5 |
| St. Louis | 9–3 | 11–7 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 5–13 | 4–14 | 12–6 | 7–11 | 6–6 | 5–7 | — |

### Detailed records

National League :
| Opponent | Total | Home | Away | RS | RA |
| National League West |||||||
| Opponent | Total | Home | Away | RS | RA |
| Atlanta Braves | 13–5 | 7–2 | 6–3 | 87 | 60 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 9–9 | 5–4 | 4–5 | 82 | 72 |
| Houston Astros | – | – | – | – | – |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 9–9 | 4–5 | 5–4 | 66 | 66 |
| San Diego Padres | 6–12 | 4–5 | 2–7 | 41 | 67 |
| San Francisco Giants | 7–11 | 2–7 | 5–4 | 59 | 61 |
| Total | 44–46 | 22–23 | 22–23 | 335 | 356 |
| National League East |||||||
| Chicago Cubs | 5–7 | 3–3 | 2–4 | 51 | 51 |
| Montreal Expos | 6–6 | 2–4 | 4–2 | 49 | 44 |
| New York Mets | 5–7 | 4–2 | 1–5 | 48 | 66 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 8–4 | 5–1 | 3–3 | 51 | 52 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 8–4 | 5–1 | 3–3 | 42 | 24 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 6–6 | 3–3 | 3–3 | 41 | 38 |
| Total | 38–34 | 22–14 | 16–20 | 282 | 275 |

### Notable transactions

* July 23, 1988: Mark Bailey was traded by the Astros to the Montreal Expos for Casey Candaele.
* August 31, 1988: Denny Walling was traded by the Astros to the St. Louis Cardinals for Bob Forsch.

#### Draft picks

* June 1, 1988: 1988 Major League Baseball Draft
** Dave Silvestri was drafted by the Astros in the 2nd round. Player signed October 18, 1988.
** Kenny Lofton was drafted by the Astros in the 17th round. Lofton signed on June 16, 1988.

### Miscellaneous

This roster of pitchers had 8 career no-hitters with 5 (at the time) by Nolan Ryan, 2 by Bob Forsch, and 1 by Mike Scott.

### Roster
## Game log

1988 Game Log: 82–80 (Home: 44–37; Away: 38–43) :
April: 14–7 (Home: 10–3; Away: 4–4)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveRecord
1April 5Padres6–31–0
2April 6Padres5–12–0
3April 8@ Reds8–3 (16)3–0
4April 9@ Reds4–53–1
5April 10@ Reds12–34–1
6April 12@ Braves8–35–1
7April 13@ Braves4–06–1
8April 14Reds9–37–1
9April 15Reds2–4 (10)7–2
10April 16Reds2–87–3
11April 17Reds5–38–3
12April 19Braves4–58–4
13April 20Braves1–09–4
14April 21Braves8–010–4
15April 22@ Padres1–310–5
16April 23@ Padres0–410–6
17April 24@ Padres0–310–7
18April 26Phillies3–111–7
19April 27Phillies3–2 (10)12–7
20April 29Expos6–413–7
21April 30Expos3–014–7 :
May: 13–14 (Home: 7–5; Away: 6–9)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveRecord
22May 1Expos3–7 (14)14–8
23May 2@ Phillies1–714–9
24May 3@ Phillies4–015–9
25May 4@ Mets0–815–10
—May 5@ MetsPostponed (rain); Makeup: July 1
26May 6@ Expos5–6 (11)15–11
27May 7@ Expos3–415–12
28May 8@ Expos7–216–12
29May 9Mets6–217–12
30May 10Mets2–517–13
31May 11Mets8–9 (10)17–14
32May 13Cubs8–218–14
33May 14Cubs3–119–14
34May 15Cubs1–219–15
35May 16Pirates9–220–15
36May 17Pirates3–221–15
37May 18Pirates4–222–15
38May 20@ Cardinals5–323–15
39May 21@ Cardinals4–7 (11)23–16
40May 22@ Cardinals2–124–16
41May 23@ Pirates3–025–16
42May 24@ Pirates4–525–17
43May 25@ Pirates3–425–18
44May 27@ Cubs2–325–19
45May 28@ Cubs7–1425–20
46May 29@ Cubs7–126–20
47May 30Cardinals5–427–20
48May 31Cardinals7–927–21 :
June: 13–16 (Home: 7–7; Away: 6–9)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveRecord
49June 1Cardinals2–3 (13)27–22
50June 3@ Giants8–428–22
51June 4@ Giants2–828–23
52June 5@ Giants3–928–24
53June 6@ Dodgers10–429–24
54June 7@ Dodgers5–230–24
55June 8@ Dodgers1–1130–25
56June 9@ Dodgers2–430–26
57June 10Braves3–10 (13)30–27
58June 11Braves5–4 (11)31–27
59June 12Braves5–032–27
60June 13Braves6–533–27
61June 14@ Reds1–733–28
62June 15@ Reds3–533–29
63June 16@ Reds7–434–29
64June 17@ Braves3–434–30
65June 17@ Braves5–634–31
66June 18@ Braves14–735–31
67June 19@ Braves6–436–31
68June 20Reds1–236–32
69June 21Reds3–137–32
70June 22Reds5–138–32
71June 24Giants0–1138–33
72June 25Giants1–438–34
73June 26Giants6–039–34
74June 27Dodgers0–439–35
75June 28Dodgers4–340–35
76June 29Dodgers0–240–36
77June 30@ Mets6–1240–37 :
July: 16–12 (Home: 6–5; Away: 10–7)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveRecord
78July 1@ Mets2–340–38
79July 1@ Mets6–5 (13)41–38
80July 2@ Mets2–741–39
81July 3@ Mets0–541–40
82July 4Expos4–741–41
83July 5Expos3–4 (11)41–42
84July 6Expos2–441–43
85July 8Mets4–242–43
86July 9Mets6–343–43
87July 10Mets6–544–43
88July 14@ Phillies7–545–43
89July 15@ Phillies5–246–43
90July 16@ Phillies6–1046–44
91July 17@ Phillies4–1046–45
92July 18@ Expos6–147–45
93July 19@ Expos4–348–45
94July 20@ Expos3–249–45
95July 21Phillies2–050–45
96July 22Phillies5–351–45
97July 23Phillies7–652–45
98July 24Phillies4–652–46
99July 26@ Padres1–552–47
100July 27@ Padres4–153–47
101July 28@ Padres3–254–47
102July 29@ Dodgers3–155–47
103July 30@ Dodgers14–656–47
104July 31@ Dodgers1–656–48 :
August: 15–14 (Home: 9–8; Away: 6–6)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveRecord
105August 1@ Giants1–456–49
106August 2@ Giants13–1057–49
107August 3@ Giants3–258–49
108August 5Dodgers6–459–49
109August 6Dodgers3–559–50
110August 7Dodgers4–260–50
111August 8Dodgers10–061–50
112August 9Giants3–262–50
113August 10Giants0–562–51
114August 11Giants0–662–52
115August 12Padres3–462–53
116August 13Padres1–063–53
117August 14Padres1–663–54
118August 15Padres7–364–54
119August 16@ Cardinals0–364–55
120August 17@ Cardinals1–065–55
121August 18@ Cardinals1–265–56
122August 19@ Pirates5–166–56
123August 20@ Pirates1–266–57
124August 21@ Pirates2–1 (11)67–57
125August 22@ Cubs9–7 (10)68–57
126August 23@ Cubs3–968–58
127August 24@ Cubs2–368–59
128August 26Pirates2–069–59
129August 27Pirates3–170–59
130August 28Pirates3–470–60
131August 29Cubs1–2 (11)70–61
132August 30Cubs7–471–61
133August 31Cubs1–371–62 :
September: 11–16 (Home: 5–8; Away: 6–8)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveRecord
134September 2Cardinals0–271–63
135September 3Cardinals10–172–63
136September 4Cardinals4–373–63
137September 5Reds3–074–63
138September 6Reds3–1074–64
139September 7@ Dodgers1–474–65
140September 8@ Dodgers2–175–65
141September 9@ Giants4–3 (12)76–65
142September 10@ Giants2–376–66
143September 11@ Giants4–177–66
144September 13@ Reds2–577–67
145September 14@ Reds7–178–67
146September 15@ Reds5–778–68
147September 16Giants4–578–69
148September 17Giants2–478–70
149September 18Giants3–1078–71
150September 19Dodgers0–178–72
151September 20Dodgers0–678–73
152September 21Braves1–079–73
153September 22Braves3–280–73
154September 23@ Padres3–4 (12)80–74
155September 24@ Padres0–380–75
156September 25@ Padres1–980–76
157September 27@ Braves3–2 (10)81–76
158September 28@ Braves3–4 (17)81–77
159September 29@ Braves5–482–77
160September 30Padres1–582–78 :
October: 0–2 (Home: 0–2; Away: 0–0)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveRecord
161October 1Padres3–682–79
162October 2Padres1–582–80 :
Legend:        = Win        = Loss        = Postponement Bold = Astros team member :

## Player stats
### Batting
#### Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| C | Alan Ashby | 73 | 227 | 54 | .238 | 7 | 33 |
| 1B | Glenn Davis | 152 | 561 | 152 | .271 | 30 | 99 |
| 2B | Bill Doran | 132 | 480 | 119 | .248 | 7 | 53 |
| 3B | Buddy Bell | 74 | 269 | 68 | .253 | 7 | 37 |
| SS | Rafael Ramírez | 155 | 566 | 156 | .276 | 6 | 59 |
| LF | Billy Hatcher | 145 | 530 | 142 | .268 | 7 | 52 |
| CF | Gerald Young | 149 | 576 | 148 | .257 | 0 | 37 |
| RF | Kevin Bass | 157 | 541 | 138 | .255 | 14 | 72 |

#### Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| Terry Puhl | 113 | 234 | 71 | .303 | 3 | 19 |
| Alex Treviño | 78 | 193 | 48 | .249 | 2 | 13 |
| Denny Walling | 65 | 176 | 43 | .244 | 1 | 20 |
| Craig Reynolds | 78 | 161 | 41 | .255 | 1 | 14 |
| Jim Pankovits | 68 | 140 | 31 | .221 | 2 | 12 |
| Craig Biggio | 50 | 123 | 26 | .211 | 3 | 5 |
| Chuck Jackson | 46 | 83 | 19 | .229 | 1 | 8 |
| Ken Caminiti | 30 | 83 | 15 | .181 | 1 | 7 |
| Steve Henderson | 42 | 46 | 10 | .217 | 0 | 5 |
| Louie Meadows | 35 | 42 | 8 | .190 | 2 | 3 |
| Casey Candaele | 21 | 31 | 5 | .161 | 0 | 1 |
| John Fishel | 19 | 26 | 6 | .231 | 1 | 2 |
| Mark Bailey | 8 | 23 | 3 | .130 | 0 | 0 |
| Cameron Drew | 7 | 16 | 3 | .188 | 0 | 1 |
| Harry Spilman | 7 | 5 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Craig Smajstrla | 8 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |

### Pitching
#### Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
| Nolan Ryan | 33 | 220.0 | 12 | 11 | 3.52 | 228 |
| Mike Scott | 32 | 218.2 | 14 | 8 | 2.92 | 190 |
| Jim Deshaies | 31 | 207.0 | 11 | 14 | 3.00 | 127 |
| Bob Knepper | 27 | 175.0 | 14 | 5 | 3.14 | 103 |
| Bob Forsch | 6 | 27.2 | 1 | 4 | 6.51 | 14 |

#### Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
| Danny Darwin | 44 | 192.0 | 8 | 13 | 3.84 | 129 |
| Joaquín Andújar | 23 | 78.2 | 2 | 5 | 4.00 | 35 |

#### Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
| Dave Smith | 51 | 4 | 5 | 27 | 2.67 | 38 |
| Juan Agosto | 75 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 2.26 | 33 |
| Larry Andersen | 53 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 2.94 | 66 |
| Dave Meads | 22 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3.18 | 27 |
| Jeff Heathcock | 17 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 5.81 | 12 |
| Ernie Camacho | 13 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 7.64 | 13 |
| Rocky Childress | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6.17 | 24 |
| Brian Meyer | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.46 | 10 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Tucson Toros | Pacific Coast League | Bob Didier |
| AA | Columbus Astros | Southern League | Tom Wiedenbauer |
| A | Osceola Astros | Florida State League | Keith Bodie |
| A | Asheville Tourists | South Atlantic League | Gary Tuck and Jim Coveney |
| A-Short Season | Auburn Astros | New York–Penn League | Frank Cacciatore |
| Rookie | GCL Astros | Gulf Coast League | Julio Linares |