RANKING THE CITY'S BEST
The top 20 athletes in Houston for 2017: No surprise, the Astros dominate again
Dec 12, 2017, 7:21 am
Where does Jose Altuve rank? Pretty darn high. Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images
As 2017 wraps up, it has been an incredible year in Houston. This ranking of the top 20 athletes in the city for 2017 takes into account overall impact on their team, where they rank vs. their peers in their respective sports and quality of performance. This takes into account on the field or court impact only. As you might suspect, the list is Astros heavy thanks to the run to the World Series. Obviously, the criteria and ranking is subjective, but that is the point of these things. Feel free to switch these around in your own rankings. The final breakdown: Astros (10), Rockets (4), Texans (3), Dynamo (2), UH (1).
No. 20: Charlie Morton, Astros
While his regular season was not overwhelming (14-7, 3.62 ERA, 163 Ks in 146.2 IP), it was still pretty solid and consistent. The big reason he is here, however, is he came up big in the postseason other than one rough outing in Boston, where he was mostly unlucky. He closed out the Astros first-ever World Series with a phenomenal outing and deserves to make the list on that alone.
No. 19: Yuli Gurriel, Astros
The first baseman was a solid player all year for the champs, hitting .299 with 18 HRs and 75 RBIs. He was better in the postseason run, hitting .304 with 2 HRs and 8 RBIs.
No. 18: Juan David Cabezas, Dynamo
One of the most consistent players for the Dynamo all season, Cabezas solidified the midfield and helped the team make a deep playoff run. The Columbia native led the team with 1,052 passes attempted and had an 86.4 pass completion percentage. He also played strong defense, with 4.11 tackles per 90 minutes, which led the league. He also had the team lead in tackles (102), tackles won (77) and interceptions (52).
No. 17: Josh Reddick, Astros
Reddick brought veteran leadership to the locker room and turned in a terrific regular season, hitting .314 with 13 HRs and 82 RBIs and adding quality defense. He was awful in the postseason, hitting just .169, which dropped him several spots. But still a nice acquisition who helped the Astros win it all.
No. 16: Eric Gordon, Rockets
The reigning sixth man of the year is off to another good start, averaging over 18 points per game. He was especially effective while Chris Paul was sitting out with a knee injury. A key component in the Rockets’ explosive offense.
No. 15: Clint Capela, Rockets
Capela’s development is a huge reason for the Rockets’ success. He is averaging over 13 points and 11 rebounds a game and has improved his free-throw shooting to over 60 percent. He makes almost 2/3rds of his shots and his unselfish play is a perfect mix with the 3-point bombers on the Rockets.
No. 14: Dallas Keuchel, Astros
He was on his way to another Cy Young-type season when an injury derailed him. He still finished a solid 14-5 with a 2.90 ERA and followed it up in the playoffs by going 2-2 with a 3.58 ERA. Could easily make an argument he belongs higher up.
No. 13: Chris Paul, Rockets
Late to the party due to a knee injury, he has stepped in and instantly made the players around him better. Not enough of a body of work yet to crack the top 10, but he is averaging over 14 points and just under 10 assists and has helped the team reach a new level. Another who will be much higher on this list with a full year.
No. 12: Justin Verlander, Astros
He was not here long, but boy, what an impact. Verlander was 5-0 with a 1.06 ERA after being acquired shortly before the Aug. 1 deadline. He then went 4-1 in the playoffs with a 2.21 ERA and 38 strikeouts in 36.2 innings. With a full season he would be top 5 and the Astros do not win the World Series without him.
No. 11: Alex Bregman, Astros
Don’t expect him to miss the top 10 too many more times in his career. He got better as the season went on and came up with some clutch HRs in the playoffs, even though he only hit .208. The arrow is definitely pointing up.
No. 10: Marwin Gonzalez, Astros
On a team loaded with stars, Gonzalez was the glue that kept them together all year, leading the Astros in RBIs. His production fell off during the playoffs, or he might have been higher on this list. He was versatile, playing multiple positions, hit .303 with 23 HRs and 90 RBI in the regular season, consistently coming up with clutch hits. He hit just .180 in the playoffs, but deserves to be here.
No. 9: Alberth Ellis, Dynamo
The “Panther” brought excitement, pace and goals to a team that made it to the Western Conference Finals. Ellis scored 10 goals with 4 assists and was second on the team with 28 shots on goal. He also tied Cubo Torres for the team lead in game-winning goals with 3. The Honduran has a bright future. (A tip of the cap to soccer expert Glenn Davis for his input on this one).
No. 8: Ed Oliver, University of Houston football
The highest regarded recruit to ever come to UH, Oliver has lived up to the billing, even in a year when he battled injuries and a disappointing effort as a team in general. He has a chance to be the best defensive player to ever suit up in the city at the college level with presumably one more year before he goes off to the NFL as a potential top 10 pick.
No. 7: George Springer, Astros
He started off the season on a ridiculous home run pace and emerged as a star in what became a career year. He faded in the second half, but still finished with a .283 average, 34 HRs and 85 RBIs. After a slow start to the postseason where some speculated he should be taken out of the leadoff spot, Springer exploded in the World Series, hitting .375 with five HRs, 7 RBIs and taking home the World Series MVP trophy.
No 6: Deshaun Watson, Texans
You might think this is too high for a guy who played six and one half games, but you could make a case he belongs as far up as No. 3. Consider this: Only Matt Schaub threw more TD passes in a season than Watson’s 19 that came in those six and a half games. (Brian Hoyer also had 19 in 11 games). Not just that, but after putting up just 13 points in his first start on a short week, the Texans scored 33, 57, 34, 33 and 38 points in his next five starts. Three of those came against the Patriots, Seahawks and Chiefs, who were playing better than anyone at that point of the season. He also rushed for 289 yards and two touchdowns. And talk about impact, the Texans were 3-3 in games he started. In games he did not? 1-6. They scored over 30 points just once in that span (31-21 win over Arizona). In no other game did they manage more than 16. Was playing at an MVP level when got hurt. If he stays healthy next year, expect him to be much higher.
No. 5: Carlos Correa, Astros
Injuries robbed him of a special year, but he was still dynamic, hitting .315 with 24 HRs and 84 RBIs and playing slick shortstop. He was well on his way to a 30 HR 100-RBI season at one of the most demanding positions in the sport. He followed that up with a solid .288, 5 HR, 14 RBI postseason in the run to the World Series. It was obvious the offense was not as good with him out of the lineup. Could easily be near the top of this list with a full season.
No. 4: Jadeveon Clowney, Texans
His numbers might not blow you away -- 34 tackles, 12 assists, (46 combined) 9 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 3 fumble recoveries including a touchdown -- but that is only over 12 games and he has a constant impact. He is often double or triple teamed, yet still makes plays in the backfield (his 20 tackles for loss are second in the league) and gets constant pressure on quarterbacks. He has little to no help on the defensive side of the ball, yet he continues to make plays. A truly special player.
No. 3: DeAndre Hopkins, Texans
It might seem odd that the Texans have three players in the top six considering they are having a lousy season. But it also tells you how top-heavy they are: No one else on the team even came close to making this list. Hopkins is a no-doubter. After a down year last year, Hopkins responded big time in 2017. He has over 1,200 yards receiving and barring an injury will have over 100 catches. His 11 TD receptions are the most in a single season in team history. And he has done much of it with Tom Savage playing quarterback. One of the few remaining reasons to tune in to Texans games, he is a joy to watch and a master at making dynamic sideline catches. He is a likely All-Pro at one of the toughest positions to make that list in all of football.
No. 2: James Harden, Rockets
Just missed the MVP last season and is off to another terrific start, leading the league in scoring and teaming with Paul to make the Rockets one of the most dynamic teams in the league. There are very few cities where Harden would not be No. 1 on a list like this. He is simply one of the best in basketball.
No. 1: Jose Altuve, Astros
The diminutive second baseman was incredible all year, adding a third batting title with his .346 average and chipped in 24 HRs, 81 RBIs and 32 steals. In the playoffs he hit .310 with 7 HRs and 14 RBIs and was one of the key cogs in winning the World Series. A future Hall of Famer at the top of his game, he was AL MVP, was voted by the players as the best in baseball and well deserves the No. 1 spot on this list.
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After finishing up with the Guardians the Astros have a rather important series for early May with the Seattle Mariners heading to town for the weekend. While it’s still too early to be an absolute must-win series for the Astros, losing the series to drop seven or nine games off the division lead would make successfully defending their American League West title that much more unlikely.
Since their own stumble out of the gate to a 6-10 record the Mariners have been racking up series wins, including one this week over the Atlanta Braves. The M’s offense is largely Mmm Mmm Bad, but their pitching is sensational. In 18 games after a 4-8 start, the Mariners gave up five runs in a game once. In the other 17 games they only gave up four runs once. Over the 18 games their starting pitchers gave up 18 earned runs total with a 1.44 earned run average. That’s absurd. Coming into the season Seattle’s starting rotation was clearly better on paper than those of the Astros and Texas Rangers, and it has crystal clearly played out as such into the second month of the schedule.
While it’s natural to focus on and fret over one’s own team's woes when they are plentiful as they have been for the Astros, a reminder that not all grass is greener elsewhere. Alex Bregman has been awful so far. So has young Mariners’ superstar Julio Rodriguez (though not Breggy Bad). A meager four extra base hits over his first 30 games were all Julio produced down at the ballyard. That the Mariners are well ahead of the Astros with J-Rod significantly underperforming is good news for Seattle.
Caratini comes through!
So it turns out the Astros are allowed to have a Puerto Rican-born catcher who can hit a little bit. Victor Caratini’s pedigree is not that of a quality offensive player, but he has swung the bat well thus far in his limited playing time and provided the most exciting moment of the Astros’ season with his two-out two-run 10th inning game winning home run Tuesday night. I grant that one could certainly say “Hey! Ronel Blanco finishing off his no-hitter has been the most exciting moment.” I opt for the suddenness of Caratini’s blow turning near defeat into instant victory for a team that has been lousy overall to this point. Frittering away a game the Astros had led 8-3 would have been another blow. Instead, to the Victor belong the spoils.
Pudge Rodriguez is the greatest native Puerto Rican catcher, but he was no longer a good hitter when with the Astros for the majority of the 2009 season. Then there’s Martin Maldonado.
Maldonado’s hitting stats with the Astros look Mike Piazza-ian compared to what Jose Abreu was doing this season. Finally, mercifully for all, Abreu is off the roster as he accepts a stint at rookie-level ball in Florida to see if he can perform baseball-CPR on his swing and career. Until or unless he proves otherwise, Abreu is washed up and at some point the Astros will have to accept it and swallow whatever is left on his contract that runs through next season. For now Abreu makes over $120,000 per game to not be on the roster. At his level of performance, that’s a better deal than paying him that money to be on the roster.
Abreu’s seven hits in 71 at bats for an .099 batting average with a .269 OPS is a humiliating stat line. In 2018 George Springer went to sleep the night of June 13 batting .293 after going hitless in his last four at bats in a 13-5 Astros’ win over Oakland. At the time no one could have ever envisioned that Springer had started a deep, deep funk which would have him endure a nightmarish six for 78 stretch at the plate (.077 batting average). Springer then hit .293 the rest of the season.
Abreu’s exile opened the door for Joey Loperfido to begin his Major League career. Very cool for Loperfido to smack a two-run single in his first game. He also struck out twice. Loperfido will amass whiffs by the bushel, he had 37 strikeouts in 101 at bats at AAA Sugar Land. Still, if he can hit .225 with some walks mixed in (he drew 16 with the Space Cowboys) and deliver some of his obvious power (13 homers in 25 games for the ex-Skeeters) that’s an upgrade over Abreu/Jon Singleton, as well as over Jake Meyers and the awful showing Chas McCormick has posted so far. Frankly, it seems unwise that the Astros only had Loperfido play seven games at first base in the minors this year. If McCormick doesn’t pick it up soon and with Meyers displaying limited offensive upside, the next guy worth a call-up is outfielder Pedro Leon. In January 2021 the Astros gave Leon four million dollars to sign out of Cuba and called him a “rapid mover to the Major Leagues.” Well…
Over his first three minor league seasons Leon flashed tools but definitely underwhelmed. He has been substantially better so far this year. He turns 26 May 28. Just maybe the Astros offense could be the cause of fewer Ls with Loperfido at first and Leon in center field.
Catch our weekly Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast. Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and I discuss varied Astros topics. The first post for the week generally goes up Monday afternoon (second part released Tuesday) via YouTube: stone cold stros - YouTube with the complete audio available via Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.