As the Houston Astros prepare to take on the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday, they have a lot of issues that have led up to their 1-7 record in the last eight games. In the 7-2 loss to the Seattle Mariners on Sunday it was the issue with the bats again as the Astros were only able to muster up one hit which came on an error by left fielder Jose Marmolejos. It was also the lack of pitching being able to get out of jams in certain innings.

"We made some mistakes in the heart of the plate and they didn't miss them," Astros manager Dusty Baker said after the game about the Mariners hitters.

Outside of the performance put on by starting pitcher Zack Greinke on Saturday in a 1-0 win over Seattle where Greinke was dominate for eight innings and showed why he is a former Gold Glove winner with his great double play save in the bottom of the fifth inning, the Astros have nothing to hang their hats on.

Some of the Astros woes at the plate can be attributed to not having some of their best bats in Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman, and Yordan Alvarez who have all been placed on the Injured List due to health and safety protocols that are COVID-19 related. Yet in still, Houston still has some pop in the lineup that hasn’t been able to produce when needed.

Left fielder Kyle Tucker has shown some signs of his 2020 form where he finished the season with 56 hits and 42 RBI in just 58 games played and was an intricate part of the run the Astros made to come one game short of another World Series appearance. But he has struggled in the 14 games he has appeared in this season batting just .193 and seems to be pressing at the plate.

“I tried to bat him in the leadoff position so he could see more fastballs,” said manager Dusty Baker. “Pitchers have adjusted to him in year two so it’s time for Kyle to do some readjusting.”

Houston will wait to hear from MLB on Monday to see if they can get the aforementioned players back along with Martin Maldonado and Robel Garcia for the series in Colorado which is also in jeopardy due to a winter storm.