The Lastros are long gone, but the team has much bigger goals

After failing to play up to high expectations last season, due in large part to a poor start in the first few months, the Houston Astros learned from their mistakes and have come out on fire to start the 2017 season. They currently have the best record in Major League Baseball and hold an 11 game lead over the second-place Texas Rangers in their division.

What’s the main reason for the drastic turnaround? The lineup simply has no real weaknesses from top to bottom (which I predicted in my season preview).

They had too many hitters last season in the middle and bottom of the order who could not hit consistently enough to score runs. After having the American League’s highest, or second-highest, strikeout rate in each of the past two seasons, the Astros now have one of baseball’s five lowest.

New Catcher Brian McCann and Outfielder Josh Reddick have been major offensive upgrades for a team that badly needed hitting from anybody outside of their three core hitters: Jose Altuve, George Springer and Carlos Correa. Those three are having fantastic seasons, like usual, and should definitely receive the majority of the credit for the team’s torrid offensive numbers.

One player, however, who has quietly been just as important to the team’s success is Infielder/ Outfielder Marwin Gonzalez. Gonzalez has been only a part-time utility player during his previous five seasons, but has had the best year of his career by far this season; he is batting more than .300 for the first time and is a candidate to make his first All-Star team.

The biggest question mark for this team heading into the season was their starting pitching, specifically the man who has to shoulder the biggest load, Dallas Keuchel. He bounced back in a major way after a terrible 2016 and is sitting at an unbelievable 9-0 record with a 1.67 Earned Run Average (ERA).

Keuchel has somehow reached a level even higher than the 2015 version of himself, where he was voted Best Pitcher in the American League. The major reason of his turnaround is that his pitch location has improved tremendously since last year, when his accuracy was affected by a shoulder injury that he played through most of the season.

Keuchel, as great as he is, cannot shoulder an entire pitching staff on his own. 23-year-old Lance McCullers Jr. has formed arguably the best one-two pitching punch in baseball with Keuchel, and has been almost as impressive. McCullers Jr. boasts an .875 winning percentage, which is second-best in the league only to Keuchel, and he is sixth in the league in ERA at 2.58.

The Astros had an 11-game winning streak, the longest streak of any team this season through June 5. However, the team has slowed down some in June to a record of 10-8. Most of their June struggles have been due to injuries to four of their five opening day starters, including Keuchel and McCullers.

Looking Ahead

 The Astros are currently trying to weather the storm of injuries to their starting rotation by bringing up minor league prospects David Paulino and Francis Martes to fill in until the starters are healthy. I expect, as do others around the league, for the team to trade for at least one starting pitcher to bolster their injury-plagued rotation.

However, the one concern with that is that they will have to give up at least one, if not more, of their top prospects to acquire a quality starting pitcher. It is always a tough balance for general managers to decide if they want to give up players of the future to win now, or if they want to be conservative and hold onto their prospects for a better chance to win in the future.

I would make any of the Astros’ prospects, outside of their top two (Martes and Kyle Tucker), available if it meant bringing in a quality starting pitcher. The window of opportunity to win championships in baseball can often be shorter than expected, so I think the Astros should think about making a trade to go all in with the best team they have had since their 2005 World Series appearance.

CORRECTION: 08/29/19 – This image’s attribution has been corrected.

Also published on Medium.