The Houston Astros are playoff-bound, though they are doing so a shell of their previous playoff teams, and with a losing record.
With the Houston Astros making the playoffs in 2020, we’d like to say they did it the honest way, but that remains to be seen.
What we do know is the Astros are heading to the playoffs with an injured list as long as Justin Verlander‘s stride, they are riding a three-game losing streak, and they finished the regular season with a 29-31 record.
More from Call to the Pen
- Philadelphia Phillies, ready for a stretch run, bomb St. Louis Cardinals
- Philadelphia Phillies: The 4 players on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore
- Boston Red Sox fans should be upset over Mookie Betts’ comment
- Analyzing the Boston Red Sox trade for Dave Henderson and Spike Owen
- 2023 MLB postseason likely to have a strange look without Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals
They will also be facing the Minnesota Twins in the first round of the playoffs. Best of luck.
Coming off of three straight seasons of winning 100 or more games, being crowned American League West Champions, and making two World Series appearances, we were led to believe this year would follow a similar path.
Yes, the team was with a new manager and general manager, in the wake of the trash-can-beating-cheating scandal. However, the on the field talent mostly remained the same.
Unfortunately, injuries have ravaged the team this year, and not so stellar play between the white lines has hampered the Astros as well.
There will be no Justin Verlander. No Roberto Osuna. No Yordan Alvarez. Even Brad Peacock, one of the heroes from the 2017 World Series win, is a member of the MASH unit.
No worries, the team has a potent offensive attack to rely on. That is until you see they do not. Down years from several of the players have made this team a question mark entering the postseason.
Last year the Houston Astros had a team batting average of .274, best in the American League. This year they rank 10th, at .240. Yuli Gurriel saw his average drop 66 points. Jose Altuve is hitting 79 points lower than last year. Alex Bregman is down 54 points. Basically, across the board, every individual is hitting worse than last year.
A young pitching staff, with a cobbled-together bullpen, will try to tame the bats of the Minnesota Twins, who have four players with at least 13 home runs this season.
The Astros may be in the playoffs again, though this team looks nothing like the product they have put on the field in years past.