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4 specific ways the Astros are proving the haters wrong in 2021

Astros Yordan Alvarez, Dusty Baker, Chas McCormick
The Astros have a surplus of young talent. Composite image by Jack Brame.

The 2021 Astros season has been a bit of a ride so far. The start of the season saw this team being seen as a possible threat to make the ALCS, but were they seriously considered a World Series contender? There were holes on this roster that many thought would prevent them from reaching such lofty heights. To be more specific, it was the outfield depth, bullpen, and starting rotation. Those positions were the ones in which most people looked at with some trepidation going into this season. Fast-forward to 19 games left before the regular season ends, and the Astros are running away with the AL West, and are about four to five games behind the Rays for the overall lead in the AL. This turnaround can be attributed to those three key positions that were called into question when the season started, and what was believed to be a shaky minor league system.

Starting rotation

When you lose a guy like Justin Verlander for the season before it starts, it's a major blow to your starting staff. Zack Greinke and Lance McCullers Jr were expected to be the leaders of the starting rotation. They have been pretty consistent and held things down, but there are other guys who've made positive impacts as well. Framber Valdez, Luis Garcia, Jose Urquidy, and Cristian Javier have all contributed to the success of this staff. Javier has been more of an arm out of the pen lately, but that doesn't diminish what he means to this staff. Valdez, Garcia, and Urquidy have all proven themselves worthy of holding down starting positions in this rotation.

Bullpen

One other area that was a red flag when the season stated was the bullpen. Javier has bounced between the bullpen and rotation, but settled as a long relief guy lately. When they added Phil Maton and Kendall Graveman to the bullpen through trades, it changed the way we see the bullpen altogether. No longer do fans fear a small lead. Instead, they patiently wait for what's to come. Usually, it's another Astros win. Occasionally, there have been some letdowns, but not nearly as often as it was earlier in the season.

Outfield

Once upon a time, Myles Straw was a thing in the outfield. Since then, Jose Siri and Jake Meyers have made names for themselves. Straw was seen as a sacrificial lamb of sorts in the Maton trade. Since Meyers has lived up to the hype, and Siri has played well in limited action, Straw has been a forgotten man. While Michael Brantley, Kyle Tucker, and Chas McCormick have held it down, the new guys are giving the outfield an infusion of youth.

Farm system

Another thing that has stuck out to me is how some of these guys have been promoted from what was once considered a dwindling cesspool of a minor league system. Hailed as one of MLB's most promising a short time ago, the Astros' minor leagues have been raided to keep their run as a dynasty alive. With a ring in hand and another World Series appearance to show, I consider it worth it. With this team on the verge of prolonging said dynasty, I'm also for whatever keeps it going. Whether it's trading the future for a chance to win now, or getting young guys playing time now who'll be a part of something long term, I'm here for that as well. The minors weren't as devoid of talent as once was thought. General manager James Click isn't a hapless bum scrambling to fill Jeff Luhnow's shoes. This team has what it takes to win it all and still compete for years to come!

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Houston defeats TCU, 60-45. Photo by Chris Gardner/Getty Images.

Kelvin Sampson knows how to win a Big 12 Tournament, leading Oklahoma to three straight titles in the early 2000s.

He has Houston two wins away from its own.

The Cougars ramped up their suffocating defense on TCU, Emanuel Sharp had 14 points and Big 12 player of the year Jamal Shead scored 12, and the No. 1 team in the nation rolled to a 60-45 victory on Thursday in the quarterfinal round of its first tournament in its new league.

“They're all good. All the teams are really good,” said Sampson, whose team was beaten soundly on the boards by the bigger Horned Frogs yet still won with ease. “You win by 15, you move on to the next one, man.”

In this case No. 25 Texas Tech, which romped to a victory over No. 20 BYU earlier in the day.

“Texas Tech is good enough to beat us,” Sampson said. “We're going to have to play a lot better than we did today.”

Hard to imagine it on the defensive end, where the No. 1 seed Cougars (29-3) held eighth-seeded TCU without a point for nearly 10 minutes to start the game and was never threatened the rest of the way in winning its 10th consecutive game.

Micah Peavy had 13 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Horned Frogs (21-12). Leading scorer Emanuel Miller followed up his 26-point performance in a second-round win over Oklahoma by scoring just three points on 1-for-10 shooting.

TCU wound up going 17 of 73 from the field (23.3%) and 2 of 20 from beyond the 3-point arc.

“It wasn't our day to make shots,” Horned Frogs coach Jamie Dixon said. “I don't know how many were tough shots. I thought there were layups, we had a couple of kickout 3s off rebounds. It's probably something to do with them, because you can't take away from what they've done game after game. Their numbers are off the charts.”

Longtime rivals in the old Southwest Conference, the Cougars and Horned Frogs were meeting for the first time in the Big 12 Tournament — otherwise known as a neutral floor, where Houston had never lost in eight other games with TCU.

The Cougars never left a doubt that it would be nine.

Fresh off a 30-point blowout of Kansas, the regular-season Big 12 champs scored the first 16 points of the game, shutting down Dixon's team with the kind of in-your-shorts defense that has become the Cougars' hallmark over the years.

TCU missed its first 16 field-goal attempts and did not score until Peavy's bucket with 10:25 left in the first half.

“That's a whole other level of not making shots,” Dixon said.

Even when Houston went through its own offensive dry spell in the first half, it continually hounded the Horned Frogs. They were 3 for 23 with six turnovers at one point, and during one possession, they missed four consecutive shots at the rim.

TCU trailed 31-15 at halftime, missed its first eight shots of the second half and never threatened the rest of the way.

“The past four years I've been here,” Shead said, “we've approached every game the same. We said at the beginning of the year the Big 12 was a lot harder competition at a consistent level, but our preparation is usually the same. It's just about going out there and executing what we work on.”

UP NEXT

TCU should be safely in the NCAA Tournament field for the third consecutive year.

Houston routed the Red Raiders 77-54 in January, when Shead poured in 29 points in the win.

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