A closer look at Houston's winning manager
AJ Hinch continues to be the driving force of Astros success
Jun 3, 2019, 6:55 am
A closer look at Houston's winning manager
With the win on Tuesday night against the Chicago Cubs, AJ Hinch hit a milestone; 500 managerial wins. While that doesn't have him climbing to the top of the all-time manager win chart just yet, it does keep him moving up the list of best Astros managers.
The 2019 team is battered and beaten right now with injuries, yet still, they keep winning. Undeniably a lot of that has to do with the team playing well and executing on the field, but it also takes a captain who can overcome adversity to keep the team's confidence high.
Hinch took over the helm for the Astros in 2015, taking over a historically bad team that was just a year removed from three consecutive 100-plus loss seasons. AJ could have taken the first year with his new team to take things slow and learn more about the players and pile up small improvements to build on for future years. Instead, he had the Astros in the playoffs in that first year, a pleasant surprise for many despite the early exit.
2016 wasn't quite as successful, missing the playoffs but still posting a record above .500 on the season. Then, the year we all remember, 2017 was the magical year of Houston's first World Series win, the highlight of Hinch's career so far. 2018 was another impressive year, making it to the ALCS with nagging injuries before eventually being outed by the Red Sox. All of this makes it no surprise that Houston locked him up for several years, giving him an extension through the 2022 season.
Now in 2019, Hinch has Houston out to a hot 40-20 start, making the Astros one of the best teams in the league even with injuries, and definitely the best team when healthy.
Speaking of that hot 40-20 start; we haven't even made it to the halfway point of the season, but it's fair to be thinking about the potential Manager of the Year contenders. There are some other candidates like the Twins' Rocco Baldelli, who is making a huge splash in his first year as a manager, and Aaron Boone who has willed the Yankees to a division lead while also being decimated by injuries, but Hinch deserves to be very much in those conversations.
Not only has Hinch worked through significant injuries to keep his team on top of their division, but they also currently flirt with the best record in baseball. The team is riddled with great talent that Hinch would probably say make it an easier task than most, but taking some of these younger guys that are making the leap from AAA to the majors and getting them to contribute immediately is the testament of a great manager.
Let's address the elephant in the room; Hinch has a ring, and that should easily be grounds for him being the best manager in Houston's history since he's alone in that feat. Still, there are some other statistics that he can and likely will improve on that will solidify him as the undisputed best manager in an Astros uniform so far.
First, let's talk about regular season performance. Hinch is 414-294 all time so far, putting him third on the list in wins behind Larry Dierker (1997-2001) who sits with 435 and Bill Virdon (1975-1982) who had 544. Hinch not only boasts the best winning percentage of the three at .584, but he will also almost certainly pass up Dierker for second place this year and Virdon before his contract runs out in 2022. I would say that has him a lock as being the best in this category by the time all is said and done.
Then, there's postseason performance. Hinch currently sits at 18-14 in his postseason career with the Astros, while Virdon went 4-6 and Dierker went 2-12. There's a lot more behind those records that I won't get into now, but for the sake of simplicity, that puts Hinch ahead in this category.
That leaves awards. The Manager of the Year award started in 1983, so Virdon was not able to win one in his tenure with Houston. Two managers since the awards' inception have received it for Houston, Hal Lanier in 1986, and Larry Dierker 1998. While Hinch has come very close, coming in second in voting in 2015, third in 2017, then fourth in 2018, he has not yet taken home that award. As mentioned before, he's currently well in the running for that award again in 2019, but even if he never gets one, the number of wins and playoff success he's had for the Astros should cement him as one of the greatest managers ever.
So, while recent injuries to this 2019 team have created some mild panic and concern, AJ Hinch has shown that a great manager (along with a great team) can sustain a little adversity and still come out ahead over a long baseball season. Even more exciting, he's also shown what a manager of his caliber can do with a healthy, star-studded lineup, which we should get to see once again in a few weeks when the team is healthy again.
Yainer Díaz hit his first career grand slam in a six-run fifth inning and the Houston Astros had a season-high scoring total in a 14-3 rout of the Los Angeles Angels on Friday night.
YAINER DIAZ. GRAND SLAM. pic.twitter.com/ZtwN9BxESa
— Houston Astros (@astros) April 12, 2025
Díaz, who entered the game with just one RBI this year, had three hits and drove in a career-high five runs in the victory.
The Astros trailed by 1 with two outs and two on in the fifth when they tied it on an RBI single by Yordan Alvarez that rolled just out of reach of a diving Tim Anderson.
Christian Walker followed with an RBI single to put the Astros up 3-2. Jack Kochanowicz (1-1) walked Jeremy Peña to load the bases and was lifted for Garrett McDaniels.
Díaz sent his third pitch into the concourse in left center field for his first homer this season to make it 7-2. It was Houston’s first grand slam since Jose Abreu’s in a 12-3 win over Texas on Sept. 6, 2023.
Díaz added an RBI double as the Astros tacked on four more runs in the sixth inning.
Rookie Cam Smith doubled in the sixth and his first career home run made it 13-3 in the eighth.
THE AIRCRAFT CARRIER.
Cam Smith with his first Major League Home Run! pic.twitter.com/Hb91OjGUgk
— Houston Astros (@astros) April 12, 2025
Mike Trout hit a solo homer in the fourth inning for the Angels to give him six this year which is tied with last season for his most home runs through the first 13 games. It was the team’s 19th home run combined in the last six games, which is a franchise record for a six-game span — topping the 18 they hit in six games in the 2003 season
The Astros took a 1-0 lead in the second when Peña scored on a sacrifice fly by Jake Meyers.
Los Angeles tied it on Trout’s home run off the wall above the seats in left field to open the fourth inning.
Kyren Paris opened the fifth with a double and scored on a single by Jo Adell to put the Angels up 2-1 before Houston took the lead with its outburst in the bottom of the inning.
Houston starter Ronel Blanco (1-1) allowed four hits and two runs in five innings for the win.
The grand slam by Díaz that broke the game open.
Nine of Houston’s runs came with two outs.
Houston RHP Ryan Gusto (1-0, 1.13 ERA) opposes LHP Tyler Anderson (0-0, 4.50) when the series continues Saturday night.