Houston Astros not yet reaching their ceiling
The Houston Astros are attempting to be the next team to make a significant jump to first in their division standings by years end following a poor finish the previous season since the Boston Red Sox accomplished as much in 2013. The year before, the Red Sox finished dead last in the American League East with a 2012 record of 69-83. Of course in 2013 they went onto win the AL East, and eventually, the World Series.
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While the Red Sox went from worst to first, the Astros finished second last in the AL West in 2014, but their record of 70-92 tied the Twins for the second worst record in the American League. Many figured the Red Sox would have a great shot of going from worst in 2014 to first in 2015, but terrible pitching in the seasons first five weeks has hindered that hope and they currently find themselves 5.5 games back of the division lead.
Down in the Lone Star State, the city of Houston and its Astros are bringing momentum and excitement back to the game of baseball with stout pitching and what chicks dig most — the long ball. At 20-12, the club should only get better as the season and future ones march on.
Houston is littered with raw talent, much of it young and somewhat inexperienced. But they are still winning. That success starts with General Manager Jeff Luhnow. After spending close to a decade in the scouting department of the St. Louis Cardinals — an organization that breeds excellence and has a keen eye for talent — Luhnow took everything he learned with him and packed for Houston, accepting his current post with the Astros prior to the 2012 season.
Luhnow’s first draft in 2012 produced what is perhaps the biggest chip this team has moving forward that is not yet with the club. The club is getting by with a carousel of Jed Lowrie, Marwin Gonzalez and Jonathan Villar at shortstop right now, but the future lies in Carlos Correa, the first overall pick from the June 2012 amateur draft.
Correa, 20, is currently playing well above the competition level in Double-A with the Corpus Christi Hooks. Slashing .385/.459/.726 with seven home runs, 32 RBI and 15 stolen bases in only 29 games, he’s due for a promotion in the very near future. A unanimous preseason top five prospect across all of Major League Baseball, Correa is a five-tool talent waiting to make his impact known in the big leagues.
Houston Astros
Following the selection of Correa in 2012, Luhnow and the Astros selected pitcher Mark Appel out of Stanford University. At 23, Appel’s turn in the Astros rotation is not too far down the road. His collegiate background bodes well for his development and he is 3-0 with a 3.71 ERA for the Hooks right now, but has only once had an outing where he threw over 75 pitches. He is being managed closely and should be ready for a move to Triple-A soon.
On the topic of Triple-A, the Astros have an outfielder who recently made the jump by joining George Springer and Co. in Houston. 24-year-old Preston Tucker, another product of Luhnow’s 2012 draft, was hitting .320/.378/.650 with 10 home runs and 32 RBI before debuting with the Astros on May 7. There’s real potential in Tucker, as he slashed .282/.352/.481 with 24 long balls and 94 RBI across two levels of 2014 Minor League ball in Double and Triple-A.
Astros brass was also smart to shore up the bullpen in 2015. With Luke Gregerson (7 SV, 2.52) and Pat Neshek (3-0, 3.65) efficiently working the back-end of a pitching staff that right now features arguably the AL’s best in Dallas Keuchel (4-0, 1.39), Houston is producing results both with their bats and arms.
The Astros rank first in the AL in team home runs (45), stolen bases (36) and are sixth in both runs scored (140) and runs batted in (134). While their high strikeout numbers need to improve from an AL worst 295 along with the batting average and on-base percentage, the Astros can afford a few unproductive outs here and there in the early go. Their teams overall ERA of 3.45 is fourth best in the AL and helps to keep the team in contention late in ball games, when that ERA shifts to 2.79 in the seventh inning or later of contests.
It doesn’t hurt to have baseball’s best second baseman, leadoff hitter and 2014 AL batting champ Jose Altuve on the roster, either. It also appears like Luhnow and the Astros are benefitting from a 2014 trade deadline piece in center fielder Jake Marisnick who is toying with a breakout season so far in 2015 having posted a .319-15-3-13-9 line in 29 games.
So while the club awaits the arrivals of Correa, Appel and the expected results that should come with someone like Tucker, right now Luhnow and the Houston Astros can hang their hat on an AL West division lead and the likes of Keuchel, Collin McHugh (4-0, 3.32 and selected of waivers by Luhnow in 2013), the bullpen and new acquisitions Evan Gattis and Colby Rasmus.
Present times are grand, but both the short and long-term outlook for the club is promising and a return to the postseason for the first time since 2005 should not be ruled out this season.