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Astros remind Houston “there's still a good window available” for more championships
Oct 24, 2023, 11:20 am
Astros look ahead after losing ALCS to Rangers. Composite Getty Image.
Another award-filled offseason could await the Houston Astros
Few people on the planet could have more reason to be devastated after the Houston Astros 11-4 ALCS Game 7 loss to the Texas Rangers than second baseman José Altuve.
This is a man, after all, who single-handedly snatched a victory from the Rangers in Game 5 when he demolished a three-run homer in the 9th inning, taking the Astros from a 4-2 deficit to a 5-4 win and thus helping cement a return to Houston and another title win.
But as he stood in a sedate Astros clubhouse in Minute Maid Park after the 11-4 stunner, Altuve displayed the calm, balanced demeanor that has made him a team superhero during the Astros recent reign.
“That’s baseball,” he told the media gathered around him late Monday, October 23. “Sometimes you’re winning, sometimes you're losing. You have good games…and not good games. I think, you know, we [have had] some ups and downs through everybody’s career…sometimes, like I said, winning, sometimes, you lose. That’s baseball — and you have to move on.”
Just how can he move on? He remembers — and wants everyone to know — that he and his teammates “never give up,” and, “that we play a hundred percent.”
Alex Bregman, who like Altuve, helped the Astros claim two World Series wins in five years, seemed to reflect the daze of so many fans swarming out of the stadium. “I respect these guys so much,” the third baseman and proverbial slugger told the press. “It’s gonna be a different team … knowing that it could be the last time playing with some of these guys is tough.”
Like Altuve, Bregman rallied in Game 7, blasting a signature Breggy Bomb against Rangers pitcher Max Scherzer in the third inning, bringing the Astros within two runs. But, Bregman added, “it comes down to execution, and we didn't do a good enough job of that. And they did, and you tip your hat to them.”
Questions rightfully turned to Bregman’s contract extension with the team; he, like Altuve, is a free agent after 2024. He hadn’t even thought of that, he revealed, choosing to focus on a Game 7 win. But the third baseman who has battled back time and time against injury and setback to ultimately hoist a World Series trophy reminded fans that isn’t closed to done.
“When you set out in spring training, you set out to win a championship,” he said. “But, you know, we failed plenty of times in this game and … it kind of keeps you hungry and keeps you coming back for more, and lights a fire in you to continue to try and get better.”
And that was the beauty of Altuve’s and Bregman’s comments that night. The duo and team have, with their success, spoiled us to the point we now just expect a World Series trophy each year — not a bad thing for Houston fans.
Hours later, as national pundits fired off articles marking the “end of a dynasty,” the two superstars responsible for the Astros two gleaming World Series trophies showed the steely resolve that the traits needed to get through a triple-digit game season, divisional and conference playoffs, and a championship: calm, grit, and resilience.
So, as the talking heads pen their “Rangers are the next dynasty” pieces (yes, those Rangers — the oldest MLB team to never win the World Series), fans can look to future Hall of Famers Altuve, Bregman, and the other pivotal player (and future Hall member) who guided a team to two titles: towering ace pitcher Justin Verlander.
“That’s one of the reasons I wanted to come back here,” Verlander told the media of his excitement returning to Houston via a trade with the New York Mets this season for another run. “It’s a little early to say I’m excited about next year — I’m still dealing with this — but that was on my mind before.”
And then, the line that should give grieving fans hope, and those hysterically hyperbolic sports writers pause as they anoint the next kings:
“I think moving forward,” Verlander added, “there’s still a good window available.”
Not matter who returns, our Astros will be ready to reign next year, Houston. And so should we.
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How Astros advanced metrics tell puzzling story about Houston's start
Apr 17, 2025, 5:21 pm
Major League Baseball’s regular season is 162 games long. You can think of 18 games as the first inning of the season, 18 times nine equaling 162. While the Astros 8-10 record is not good, it’s far from disastrous. Think of it as them being behind 1-0 after the first inning. It is pretty remarkable that they have yet to win consecutive games. Even during last year’s 7-19 stink bomb of a start the Astros twice managed to win two in a row.
The Astros’ offensive woes are plentiful. Oddly enough as impotent as they’ve been, the Astros have yet to be shutout. But in half their games they have scored exactly one or two runs. Basically, most of them stink thus far. Exemptions go to Jose Altuve and Isaac Paredes, but it’s not like either of them has been outstanding. It’s still early enough that one big series can dramatically alter the numbers, but the Astros badly need Yordan Alvarez to pick up his production. Yordan enters the weekend batting just .224 with a .695 OPS and just four extra base hits. Yainer rhymes with minor. As in minor leagues, where Diaz belongs at his current level of performance. That is not saying Diaz should be sent down, just that any random AAA catcher called up couldn’t have done much worse to this point. Diaz isn’t hitting Altuve’s weight, a woeful .130 with seven hits in 57 at bats. Diaz simply remains too undisciplined at the plate swinging at too many balls. He’s drawn three walks. And now to Christian Walker, who thus far has delivered return on investment for his three year 60 million dollar contract about as strong as the stock market’s performance in Tariff Time. Walker’s .154 batting average and .482 OPS are very Astro Jose Abreu-like. Walker’s23 strikeouts in 65 at bats jump off the page. In the batter’s box he has often looked befuddled. Walker is definitely pressing and frustrated, wanting to perform better for his new team. Jeremy Pena goes into the weekend batting .215 and has one hit in 13 at bats with runners in scoring position. Brendan Rodgers, Jake Meyers, and Chas McCormick all have weak stat lines, with little reason to expect quality offensive output from any of them. Cam Smith is at .200 with a yucky .591 OPS but he’s obviously a young stud work in progress thrown into the deep end of the pool.
All batting orders are top-heavy, the Astros’ on paper more so than many. As I set forth on one of our Stone Cold ‘Stros podcasts this week, the first inning should be a team’s best offensive inning. It’s the only frame in which a team gets to dictate who comes up from the start with the batters lined up just as the manager slots them. Add to that, the first inning is a good time to get to a starting pitcher before he settles in. The Astros have scored a pitiful three first inning runs in 18 games, and in two of the games they pushed one across in the first, it turned out to be the only Astro run of the game. Improvement needs to come internally from the big league roster. It’s not as if the Astros have a meaningful prospect at AAA Sugar Land who looks ready to help. Entering play Thursday the Space Cowboys’ team average was .186. Second base hopeful Brice Matthews is nowhere close, batting .180 and striking out left and right. Outfielder Jacob Melton opened three for 17 following the back injury-delayed start to his season.
As exasperating and boring as the offense has been for so many, grading needs to occur on a curve. So, while the Astros’ team batting average is a joke at .216, know that at close of business Wednesday the entire American League was batting just .232. The American League West-leading Texas Rangers scored eight fewer runs over their first 18 games than did the Astros, though that is skewed by the Astros’ one 14-run outburst against the Angels.
Familiar faces return
This weekend the Astros play host to the San Diego Padres at Daikin Park. The Friars are off to a fabulous start at 15-4. The Padres being here creates a mini reunion as both Martin Maldonado and Yuli Gurriel are on their roster. In a telling fact, Maldonado would have the third-highest batting average on the Astros if on the team with his current numbers. Maldonado is hitting .250 with seven hits in 28 at bats. The last season he finished above .200 was 2020. The only season in his career Maldonado topped .234 was his rookie season with a .266 mark in 2012.
Gurriel was last good in 2021 when he won the American League batting title at .319. He fell off a cliff from there, though perked up to have a fine postseason in the Astros’ 2022 run to World Series title number two. “La Pina” is batting .115 with just three hits in 26 at bats. Gurriel may be released soon, and approaching his 41st birthday June 9, that would probably be the end of the line. Short-timer Astro Jason Heyward is also on the Padres, and batting .190.
For Astro-centric conversation, join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and me for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday. Click here to catch!
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