MLB Power Rankings: Astros In The Middle Of The Pack

The Houston Astros certainly have room for improvement, but with the first month of the season in the books, the team has been far from the embarrassment that some may have been expecting.

The latest MLB Power Rankings from Sports Illustrated have been released. The Astros come in at No. 17 out of the 30 MLB teams. Here's what SI has to say:

Houston Astros
WAR Winning Percentage: .466; Current Winning Percentage: .364; WAR Wins: 10; Current Wins: 8

The Astros have been almost exactly league-average offensively according to wRC+, and roughly 12 percent below average according to xFIP. Combined with slightly above average defense, the Astros should be closer to a .500 team than the current sub-.500 team they are. If their WAR is going tos tay this high relative to the rest of the league they will need to hit for more power, as they have just 13 home runs so far.

There is certainly a lot of room -- and a lot of season -- left for the Astros to shoot up or down in the rankings, but this should be considered a solid start to the year.

For all news and information regarding the Houston Astros, please visit The Crawfish Boxes.