After the loss against the Detroit Tigers in the American League Wildcard round, the Houston Astros were hoping for a bounce-back season. Their year has been plagued with a multitude of injuries like losing Yordan Alvarez, one of their best hitters. However, injuries seem as if they are a small speed bump in the road of the Astros success because they have maintained their number one position in the American League West for 17 weeks.
General manager, Dana Allen Brown, is making a number of transactions to overcome the vast number of injuries. Brown is continuously signing players and moving others to the minor leagues. Brown’s most notable move was facilitating the return of shortstop Carlos Correa, a decision that left many Houstonians shocked.
“I feel good, I am excited. I feel like he [Correa] used to be the team leader, and he encourages the team, so I feel like we gained back a lot of that encouragement,” said Jaylene Rodriguez, dedicated Astros fan at the University of Houston-Downtown.
This sentiment reflects a broader consensus among Houstonians that a leader in Correa has returned to the Astros locker room.
A vital part of this success is their ability to recruit and retain players from their pipeline minor league teams such as the Sugar Land Space Cowboys and the Corpus Christi Hooks. While dealing with the loss of Jeremy Peña, John Rooney, and Lance McCullers, Jr., the minor league teams have been a great resource by allowing them to rehabilitate and come back to the team.
One of the strengths of the Astros is the revolving door of pitchers such as Hunter Brown, Framber Valdez, Steven Okert, and Enyel De Los Santos.
Hunter Brown leads the team by having the lowest earned run average or ERA at 2.25. Brown is ranked third among all pitchers in Major League Baseball. Along with Valdez, who is 21st on that list.
In terms of batting, the Astros sit in the middle of the American League, but the hitters that they rely on maintain to get on the base. Peña is the best at getting on base among the Astro batters with a batting average of .300. Jose Altuve remains one of the more reliable hitters in the league with a batting average of .263. Additionally, he has 25 home runs, leading the Astros batters.
The overall excitement for the Astros is flourishing within the community. Astro fans come just short of the top 10 in attendance by ranking 11th in Major League Baseball. Astros fans seem to be in high spirits for the postseason.
With Alvarez’s expected return and the team maintaining its division lead, the Astros appear positioned for another playoff run despite the season’s challenges.
