# 1978 Houston Astros season

The 1978 Houston Astros season was the 17th season for the Houston Astros, a Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located in Houston, Texas, their 14th as the Astros, 10th in the National League West, and 14th at The Astrodome. The team finished fifth in the National League West with a record of 74–88, 21 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers.

## Offseason

* October 13, 1977: Al Javier was traded by the Astros to the Chicago Cubs for Keith Drumright.
* November 18, 1977: Oscar Zamora was signed as a free agent by the Astros.
* December 19, 1977: Jesús Alou was signed as a free agent by the Houston Astros.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteNL West :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 95 | 67 | .586 | — | 54‍–‍27 | 41‍–‍40 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 92 | 69 | .571 | 2½ | 49‍–‍31 | 43‍–‍38 |
| San Francisco Giants | 89 | 73 | .549 | 6 | 50‍–‍31 | 39‍–‍42 |
| San Diego Padres | 84 | 78 | .519 | 11 | 50‍–‍31 | 34‍–‍47 |
| Houston Astros | 74 | 88 | .457 | 21 | 50‍–‍31 | 24‍–‍57 |
| Atlanta Braves | 69 | 93 | .426 | 26 | 39‍–‍42 | 30‍–‍51 |

### Record vs. opponents

1978 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MON | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL |
| Atlanta | — | 5–7 | 6–12 | 8–10 | 5–13 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 2–10 | 8–10 | 11–7 | 5–7 |
| Chicago | 7–5 | — | 7–5 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 7–11 | 11–7 | 4–14 | 7–11 | 7–5 | 4–8 | 15–3 |
| Cincinnati | 12–6 | 5–7 | — | 11–7 | 9–9 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 4–7 | 9–9 | 12–6 | 8–4 |
| Houston | 10–8 | 6–6 | 7–11 | — | 7–11 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 8–10 | 6–12 | 7–5 |
| Los Angeles | 13–5 | 8–4 | 9–9 | 11–7 | — | 8–4 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 9–9 | 11–7 | 5–7 |
| Montreal | 7–5 | 11–7 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 4–8 | — | 8–10 | 9–9 | 7–11 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 9–9 |
| New York | 6–6 | 7–11 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 10–8 | — | 6–12 | 7–11 | 5–7 | 3–9 | 7–11 |
| Philadelphia | 4-8 | 14–4 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 9–9 | 12–6 | — | 11–7 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 10–8 |
| Pittsburgh | 10–2 | 11–7 | 7–4 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 11–7 | 11–7 | 7–11 | — | 5–7 | 4–8 | 9–9 |
| San Diego | 10–8 | 5–7 | 9–9 | 10–8 | 9–9 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 4–8 | 7–5 | — | 8–10 | 9–3 |
| San Francisco | 7–11 | 8–4 | 6–12 | 12–6 | 7–11 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 10–8 | — | 9–3 |
| St. Louis | 7–5 | 3–15 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 9–9 | 11–7 | 8–10 | 9–9 | 3–9 | 3–9 | — |

### Notable transactions

* April 6, 1978: Bob Coluccio was signed as a free agent by the Astros.
* June 6, 1978: Danny Heep was drafted by the Astros in the 2nd round of the 1978 Major League Baseball draft.
* June 8, 1978: Bob Coluccio was traded by the Astros to the St. Louis Cardinals for Frank Riccelli.
* September 2, 1978: Dan Larson was traded by the Astros to the Philadelphia Phillies for Dan Warthen.
* September 5, 1978: Gene Pentz was released by the Astros.

### Roster
## 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 | Joe Ferguson | 51 | 150 | 31 | .207 | 7 | 22 |
| 1B | Bob Watson | 139 | 461 | 133 | .289 | 14 | 79 |
| 2B | Art Howe | 119 | 420 | 123 | .293 | 7 | 55 |
| SS | Rafael Landestoy | 59 | 218 | 58 | .266 | 0 | 9 |
| 3B | Enos Cabell | 162 | 660 | 195 | .295 | 7 | 71 |
| LF | Denny Walling | 120 | 247 | 62 | .251 | 3 | 36 |
| CF | Terry Puhl | 149 | 585 | 169 | .289 | 3 | 35 |
| RF | José Cruz | 153 | 565 | 178 | .315 | 10 | 83 |

#### 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 |
| Julio González | 78 | 223 | 52 | .233 | 1 | 16 |
| César Cedeño | 50 | 192 | 54 | .281 | 7 | 23 |
| Dave Bergman | 104 | 186 | 43 | .231 | 0 | 12 |
| Bruce Bochy | 54 | 154 | 41 | .266 | 3 | 15 |
| Luis Pujols | 56 | 153 | 20 | .131 | 1 | 11 |
| Wilbur Howard | 84 | 148 | 34 | .230 | 1 | 13 |
| Jimmy Sexton | 88 | 141 | 29 | .206 | 2 | 6 |
| Jesús Alou | 77 | 139 | 45 | .312 | 2 | 19 |
| Roger Metzger | 45 | 123 | 27 | .220 | 0 | 6 |
| Mike Fischlin | 44 | 86 | 10 | .116 | 0 | 0 |
| Reggie Baldwin | 38 | 67 | 17 | .254 | 1 | 11 |
| Keith Drumright | 17 | 55 | 9 | .164 | 0 | 2 |
| Ed Herrmann | 16 | 36 | 4 | .111 | 0 | 0 |
| Jeffrey Leonard | 8 | 26 | 10 | .385 | 0 | 4 |
| Joe Cannon | 8 | 18 | 4 | .222 | 0 | 1 |
| Jim Obradovich | 10 | 17 | 3 | .176 | 0 | 2 |

### 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 |
| J. R. Richard | 36 | 275.0 | 18 | 11 | 3.11 | 303 |
| Mark Lemongello | 33 | 210.1 | 9 | 14 | 3.94 | 77 |
| Joe Niekro | 35 | 202.2 | 14 | 14 | 3.86 | 97 |
| Vern Ruhle | 13 | 68.0 | 3 | 3 | 2.12 | 27 |

#### 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 |
| Tom Dixon | 30 | 140.0 | 7 | 11 | 3.99 | 66 |
| Joaquín Andújar | 35 | 110.2 | 5 | 7 | 3.42 | 55 |
| Floyd Bannister | 28 | 110.1 | 3 | 9 | 4.81 | 94 |
| Dan Warthen | 5 | 10.2 | 0 | 1 | 4.22 | 2 |

#### 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 |
| Joe Sambito | 62 | 4 | 9 | 11 | 3.07 | 96 |
| Ken Forsch | 52 | 10 | 6 | 7 | 2.70 | 71 |
| Rick Williams | 17 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4.67 | 17 |
| Bo McLaughlin | 12 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5.01 | 10 |
| Gene Pentz | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.00 | 8 |
| Oscar Zamora | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.20 | 6 |
| Frank Riccelli | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 2 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Charleston Charlies | International League | Jim Beauchamp |
| AA | Columbus Astros | Southern League | Jimmy Johnson |
| A | Daytona Beach Astros | Florida State League | Leo Posada and Chuck Sprinkle |
| Rookie | GCL Astros | Gulf Coast League | Julio Linares |