How baseball's brightest minds project dominant Astros surge following infield transformations
MLB THINK TANK
20 February
With the Astros upcoming season right around the corner, we're starting to see projections for how many games the club will win in 2024.
Baseball Prospectus released its PECOTA rankings, which have the team winning the division with 95 victories. The Rangers are predicted to finish in second place with 86 wins.
95 wins is a pretty aggressive number, but if the Astros' infield lives up to expectations, it's not hard to envision them knocking on the door of nearly 100 wins.
Alex Bregman is in great shape having gained 23 pounds this offseason. With it being a contract year for him, many are expecting big things from Breggy in 2024.
Yainer Diaz should be an immediate upgrade over Martin Maldonado, and Jeremy Pena was showing off his new swing on Monday against Ryan Pressly. Manger Joe Espada said Pena is hitting to all fields with more air under the ball and an increase in power.
That’s a … really different look from Jeremy Peña, who has quieted his batting stance down a ton. Makes good contact here in a live BP against Ryan Pressly. pic.twitter.com/pDCO3OlQtJ
— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) February 19, 2024
Be sure to watch the video above as we discuss the expectations for the season, examine the Astros 2024 infield, and much more!
Watch Stone Cold 'Stros (an Astros podcast) with Charlie Pallilo, Brandon Strange and Josh Jordan every week on SportsMapHouston's YouTube channel.
Green and VanVleet score 21 each as Houston Rockets rout San Antonio Spurs
Nov 7, 2024, 11:40 am
Jalen Green and Fred VanVleet had 21 points each and the Houston Rockets built a huge lead early and coasted to a 127-100 win over the San Antonio Spurs Wednesday night.
Houston never trailed and had built a 25-point lead by halftime. The Rockets were up by 27 points when coach Ime Udoka cleared the bench with about 6½ minutes remaining.
Alperen Sengun added 16 points for the Rockets, who won for the fourth time in five games. VanVleet had 10 assists and seven rebounds — both season-highs — to go with his top scoring effort of the season.
Victor Wembanyama had 15 points, six rebounds and three blocks for the Spurs, who lost a second straight game. They were playing a third consecutive game without coach Gregg Popovich, who is out indefinitely while recovering from an illness. Mitch Johnson is filling in as interim coach while the 75-year-old Popovich, who did not travel with the team on this road trip, is out.
Takeaways
Spurs: San Antonio’s defense suffered Wednesday in its first game without top on-ball defender Jeremy Sochan, who suffered a fractured left thumb that will require surgery in Monday’s game. Rookie Stephon Castle, who started in his place, will need to step up with Sochan likely out for an extended period.
Rockets: After failing to play consistently for four quarters in the last two games, Houston finally put together a complete game against the Spurs.
Key moment
The Rockets were up by 7 with about five minutes left in the first quarter before using a 7-0 run, with the first five points by VanVleet, to make it 22-8. The Spurs didn’t get closer than 10 points after that.
Key stat
The Rockets dominated inside, outscoring the Spurs 66-46 in the paint.
Up next
San Antonio hosts Portland on Thursday night and the Rockets visit Oklahoma City on Friday night.
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Fans of Houston sports and Houston food can now score tickets to The Tailgate, CultureMap's all-out party devoted to everyone’s favorite way to get in the gameday spirit. The event, presented by Verizon, goes down from 6-9 pm November 11 at 8th Wonder. Tickets are $75 for VIP and $50 for General Admission. For a limited time, we’re giving you $10 off; use code SPORTSMAP at checkout. Get your tickets now!
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