ASTROS OUTLOOK
Breaking down what the top seed in the AL will mean for the Astros
Sep 2, 2022, 12:01 pm
The playoffs are just around the corner.Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images.
Sports Illustrated's Ben Reiter who predicted 2017 championship says Astros will win World Series
With 31 games remaining in the regular season for the Houston Astros, it appears that they are marching towards finishing as the top team in the AL, which will secure them home-field advantage in the American League side of the postseason. They sit five games ahead of the Yankees, who have inexplicably boarded a struggle train over the last month, which paired with Houston's light schedule may have put them too far back to come back from to grab the top seed.
This year, the playoffs have been expanded, and the top two teams from each league will sit out a Wild Card round before entering the fray for a traditional ALDS against whoever is left standing. A bye is monumentally advantageous, but how has home-field advantage helped the Astros in recent years?
Getting comfortable at home
Jose Altuve now has 10 leadoff homers this year! 💪
(MLB x @citrix) pic.twitter.com/0kaGgiyER4
— MLB (@MLB) August 25, 2022
Of the remaining 31 games, the Astros will play 18 at home. This season so far, they are better at home by the numbers, though they have been successful on the road as well:
Home: 43-20 record, .253 average, .765 OPS, 2.78 ERA
Away: 41-27 record, .240 average, .721 OPS, 3.27 ERA
If the Astros hold on to that best record in the AL come October 5th, when the regular season ends, the American League will run through Minute Maid Park. It's what teams strive for all year long and why the 162-game grind unfolds to make each game meaningful.
It would be and should be a good development for any team, but interestingly, the Astros have not been as dominant at home in the postseason in recent years as you'd expect. Here are their splits for the last three "regular" postseasons (2020 excluded):
2018: 2-3 home, 2-1 away
2019: 5-5 home, 5-3 away
2021: 5-3 home, 4-4 away
That's one losing record, one winning record, one even record at home across the last three years, and a total record of 12-11 over that span. Digging even deeper into this trend, they are 7-0 at home in ALDS rounds, 4-5 in ALCS rounds, and they went a combined 1-6 at home in the 2019 and 2021 World Series. Each year is certainly different, but this shows that while they typically dominate the first round at home, the home-field advantage appears to dissipate when the competition stiffens, and the playoffs lengthen.
Dissecting this even further, here are the home vs. away splits for these same postseasons:
2021
Home: .272 average, .744 OPS, 4.00 ERA
Away: .249 average, .703 OPS, 4.90 ERA
2019
Home: .229 average, .691 OPS, 4.30 ERA
Away: .239 average, .722 OPS, 3.13 ERA
2018
Home: .274 average, .821 OPS, 4.60 ERA
Away: .238 average, .870 OPS, 3.46 ERA
These numbers, for the most part, align with the resulting records of each year, with Houston doing better all-around at home in 2021 but in the other two seeing better performance on the road. Specifically, it's interesting to look at the ERA disparity in 2018 (1.14 runs worse at home) and 2019 (1.17 runs worse at home) and how it transitioned in 2021 (0.90 runs better at home).
Will pitching be the difference in 2022?
The Astros have built and maintained a very potent offensive core for their team during this dynastic stretch of success in recent years. While injuries and cold periods have caused some concern this season, there should be little doubt that Houston can go toe-to-toe with any team when they are at full strength and playing their best, which they tend to do in the playoffs.
So then, what about the pitching staff? Well, the biggest ace up the sleeve for the Astros this year is they actually have two bona fide aces: Justin Verlander and Framber Valdez. Verlander's current injury aside, he is in line to take down another Cy Young Award unless the situation worsens or he completely falls off when he returns.
While it would take a few different scenarios to play out a certain way, even if Verlander didn't win it, the Astros could still see the award come home to Houston with Valdez, who has put together a tremendous stretch of 22 quality starts, the most by a lefty in MLB history. He has blossomed into one of the league's best arms, and having him at that level in the postseason behind Verlander should be as good of a 1-2 punch you could hope for when going to a four-man rotation in the playoffs.
The Framchise. pic.twitter.com/5OzHWn6QhC
— Houston Astros (@astros) August 31, 2022
Valdez has, though, done slightly worse at home this season than on the road (3.27 ERA vs. 2.24). However, he currently lines up to have most of his remaining starts at Minute Maid Park to help improve those numbers and get him even more comfortable with the confines of the home ballpark, where he will likely take the ball for Game 2 of the ALDS and hopefully for Houston, in the ALCS and World Series as well.
All told, despite aggregating data that is comprised of an extended cast of players over recent years, it's about this team and this time. With their current performance helping cruise them to another 100-win season, having to overcome some historical struggles at home in big games should be easily attainable and is why the Astros are currently one of the highest favored teams to win it all.
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With the Astros now officially ten games under .500 for the season, manager Joe Espada is taking a lot of heat from the fanbase for the team's struggles.
While we don't agree with the sentiment, we even hear fans clamoring for the return of Dusty Baker and Martin Maldonado, thinking the Astros wouldn't be in this mess if they were still here.
Which is ridiculous. First of all, Maldonado has been awful for the White Sox, hitting .048 (even worse than Jose Abreu's .065). And for those of you that think his work with the pitching staff justifies his pathetic offense. Let me say this: Where was Maldy's game calling genius for Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, and Framber Valdez last year? All of them regressed significantly.
And as far as Baker is concerned, we have no idea how much a difference he would make, we can only speculate. Baker would also be dealing with a pitching staff ravaged with injuries. And let's not forget, Baker was the guy that refused to move Jose Abreu down in the batting order, even though he would finish the regular season with the ninth-worst OPS in baseball.
The reality of the situation is managers can only do so much in baseball. Which leads us to something else that needs to be considered. Is Espada being handcuffed by the front office? Espada and GM Dana Brown both said recently that Jon Singleton was going to get more at-bats while they give Abreu time off to try to figure things out. Yet, there Abreu was in the lineup again in the opening game of the Cubs series.
It makes us wonder how much power does Espada truly have? The Astros have some other options at first base. Yainer Diaz may only have eight games played at the position, but how much worse could he be than Abreu defensively? Abreu already has four errors, and Diaz is obviously a way better hitter. Victor Caratini isn't considered a plus offensive player, but his .276 batting average makes him look like Babe Ruth compared to Abreu. Let him catch more often and play Diaz at first. Starting Diaz at first more often could also lengthen his career long-term.
Maybe that's too wild of a move. Okay, fine. How about playing Mauricio Dubon at first base? I understand he doesn't have much experience at that position, but what's the downside of trying him there? If he can play shortstop, he can play first base. He's driving in runs at a higher rate (11 RBIs) than everyone on the team outside of Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez. And he's producing like that as part-time player right now.
The other criticism we see of Espada is his use of Jon Singleton to pinch hit late in games. Let's be real, though, who else does Espada have on the roster to go to? Batting Abreu late in games in which you're trailing should be considered malpractice. Espada can only use who he has to work with. This all really stems from the Astros poor farm system.
They don't have anyone else to turn to. The draft picks the club lost from the sign-stealing scandal are really hurting them right now. First and second rounders from 2020 and 2021 should be helping you in 2024 at the big league level.
Maybe they go to Astros prospect Joey Loperfido soon, but after a hot start he has only two hits in his last six games.
Finally, we have to talk about what seems like a committee making baseball decisions. Lost in a committee is accountability. Who gets the blame for making poor decisions?
As time continues to pass it looks like moving on from former GM James Click was a massive mistake. He's the guy that didn't sign Abreu, but did trade Myles Straw (recently DFA'd) for Yainer Diaz and Phil Maton. He also built an elite bullpen without breaking the bank, and helped the club win a World Series in 2022.
The reality of the situation is Dusty Baker and James Click are not walking back through that door. And all good runs come to an end at some point. Is this what we're witnessing?
Don't miss the video above as we hit on all the points discussed and much more!
Catch Stone Cold 'Stros (an Astros podcast) with Charlie Pallilo, Brandon Strange, and Josh Jordan. We drop two episodes every week on SportsMapHouston's YouTube channel. You can also listen on Apple Podcast, Spotifyor wherever you get your podcasts.