# 1989 Houston Astros season

The 1989 Houston Astros season was the 38th season for the Houston Astros, a Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located in Houston, Texas, their 25th as the Astros, 21st in the National League West, and 25th at The Astrodome. It involved the Houston Astros attempting to win the National League West. The season was best remembered for the Astros winning 16 of 17 games in late May through mid June.

## Offseason

* December 4, 1988: The Astros traded a player to be named later to the Minnesota Twins for Mark Portugal. The Astros completed the deal by sending Todd McClure (minors) to the Twins on December 7.
* December 21, 1988: Bob Forsch was signed as a free agent by the Astros.
* January 10, 1989: John Fishel, Mike Hook (minors), and Pedro DeLeon (minors) were traded by the Astros to the New York Yankees for Rick Rhoden.
* January 30, 1989: Dan Schatzeder was signed as a free agent by the Astros.
* February 16, 1989: Roger Mason was signed as a free agent with the Houston Astros.
* March 31, 1989: Dave Johnson and Victor Hithe (minors) were traded by the Astros to the Baltimore Orioles for Carl Nichols.

## Regular season
### Standings

vteNL West :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| San Francisco Giants | 92 | 70 | .568 | — | 53‍–‍28 | 39‍–‍42 |
| San Diego Padres | 89 | 73 | .549 | 3 | 46‍–‍35 | 43‍–‍38 |
| Houston Astros | 86 | 76 | .531 | 6 | 47‍–‍35 | 39‍–‍41 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 77 | 83 | .481 | 14 | 44‍–‍37 | 33‍–‍46 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 75 | 87 | .463 | 17 | 38‍–‍43 | 37‍–‍44 |
| Atlanta Braves | 63 | 97 | .394 | 28 | 33‍–‍46 | 30‍–‍51 |

### Record vs. opponents

1989 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MON | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL |
| Atlanta | — | 5–7 | 8–10 | 8–10 | 6–10 | 6–6 | 2–10 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 7–11 | 6–12 | 3–9 |
| Chicago | 7–5 | — | 7–5 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 10–8 | 10–8 | 10–8 | 12–6 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 11–7 |
| Cincinnati | 10–8 | 5–7 | — | 8–10 | 8–10 | 4–8 | 4–8 | 4–8 | 7–5 | 9–9 | 8–10 | 8–4 |
| Houston | 10–8 | 7–5 | 10–8 | — | 10–8 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 9–3 | 7–5 | 8–10 | 8–10 | 7–5 |
| Los Angeles | 10–6 | 5–7 | 10–8 | 8–10 | — | 7–5 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 6–12 | 10–8 | 3–9 |
| Montreal | 6–6 | 8–10 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 5–7 | — | 9–9 | 9–9 | 11–7 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 5–13 |
| New York | 10–2 | 8–10 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 9–9 | — | 12–6 | 9–9 | 5–7 | 3–9 | 10–8 |
| Philadelphia | 4–8 | 8–10 | 8–4 | 3–9 | 6–6 | 9–9 | 6–12 | — | 10–8 | 2–10 | 4–8 | 7–11 |
| Pittsburgh | 8–4 | 6–12 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 7–11 | 9–9 | 8–10 | — | 3–9 | 5–7 | 13–5 |
| San Diego | 11–7 | 4–8 | 9–9 | 10–8 | 12–6 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 10–2 | 9–3 | — | 8–10 | 2–10 |
| San Francisco | 12–6 | 6–6 | 10–8 | 10–8 | 8–10 | 5–7 | 9–3 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 10–8 | — | 7–5 |
| St. Louis | 9–3 | 7–11 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 9–3 | 13–5 | 8–10 | 11–7 | 5–13 | 10–2 | 5–7 | — |

### Notable transactions

* April 5, 1989: Greg Gross was signed as a free agent with the Houston Astros.
* April 6, 1989: Troy Afenir was traded by the Astros to the Oakland Athletics for Matt Sinatro.
* June 5, 1989: Jeff Juden was drafted by the Astros in the 1st round (12th pick) of the 1989 Major League Baseball draft. Player signed June 30, 1989.

### 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 | Craig Biggio | 134 | 443 | 114 | .257 | 13 | 60 |
| 1B | Glenn Davis | 158 | 581 | 156 | .269 | 34 | 89 |
| 2B | Bill Doran | 142 | 507 | 111 | .219 | 8 | 58 |
| 3B | Ken Caminiti | 161 | 585 | 149 | .255 | 10 | 72 |
| SS | Rafael Ramírez | 151 | 537 | 132 | .246 | 6 | 54 |
| LF | Billy Hatcher | 108 | 395 | 90 | .228 | 3 | 44 |
| CF | Gerald Young | 146 | 533 | 124 | .233 | 0 | 38 |
| RF | Terry Puhl | 121 | 354 | 96 | .271 | 0 | 27 |

#### 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 |
| Kevin Bass | 87 | 313 | 94 | .300 | 5 | 44 |
| Craig Reynolds | 101 | 189 | 38 | .201 | 2 | 14 |
| Alex Treviño | 59 | 131 | 38 | .290 | 2 | 16 |
| Glenn Wilson | 28 | 102 | 22 | .216 | 2 | 15 |
| Eric Yelding | 70 | 90 | 21 | .233 | 0 | 9 |
| Greg Gross | 60 | 75 | 15 | .200 | 0 | 4 |
| Mark Davidson | 33 | 65 | 13 | .200 | 1 | 5 |
| Alan Ashby | 22 | 61 | 10 | .164 | 0 | 3 |
| Eric Anthony | 25 | 61 | 11 | .180 | 4 | 7 |
| Louie Meadows | 31 | 51 | 9 | .176 | 3 | 10 |
| Steve Lombardozzi | 21 | 37 | 8 | .216 | 1 | 3 |
| Harry Spilman | 32 | 36 | 10 | .278 | 0 | 3 |
| Carl Nichols | 8 | 13 | 1 | .077 | 0 | 2 |
| Ron Washington | 7 | 7 | 1 | .143 | 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 |
| Mike Scott | 33 | 229.0 | 20 | 10 | 3.10 | 172 |
| Jim Deshaies | 34 | 225.2 | 15 | 10 | 2.91 | 153 |
| Jim Clancy | 33 | 147.0 | 7 | 14 | 5.08 | 91 |
| Bob Knepper | 22 | 113.0 | 4 | 10 | 5.89 | 45 |
| Mark Portugal | 20 | 108.0 | 7 | 1 | 2.75 | 86 |
| Rick Rhoden | 20 | 96.2 | 2 | 6 | 4.28 | 41 |

#### 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 |
| Bob Forsch | 37 | 108.1 | 4 | 5 | 5.32 | 40 |
| José Canó | 6 | 23.0 | 1 | 1 | 5.09 | 8 |

#### 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 | 52 | 3 | 4 | 25 | 2.64 | 31 |
| Juan Agosto | 71 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 2.93 | 46 |
| Danny Darwin | 68 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 2.36 | 104 |
| Larry Andersen | 60 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 1.54 | 85 |
| Dan Schatzeder | 36 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 4.45 | 46 |
| Brian Meyer | 12 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4.50 | 13 |
| Roger Mason | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20.25 | 3 |
| Greg Gross | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18.00 | 1 |
| Craig Reynolds | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27.00 | 0 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Tucson Toros | Pacific Coast League | Bob Skinner |
| AA | Columbus Mudcats | Southern League | Tom Wiedenbauer |
| A | Osceola Astros | Florida State League | Rick Sweet |
| A | Asheville Tourists | South Atlantic League | Jim Coveney |
| A-Short Season | Auburn Astros | New York–Penn League | Reggie Waller |
| Rookie | GCL Astros | Gulf Coast League | Julio Linares |