The Houston Astros are somehow still in the middle of a division race at 78-80, a record that would normally bury a team well before the final stretch. Instead, they’re two games under .500 and still in the mix to win the AL West and grab an automatic trip to the ALDS.
That kind of position only makes sense when the rest of the division has been just as uneven, and that includes the 78-80 Texas Rangers.
Still, Houston’s place in the race does not erase the bigger issue sitting right in front of them: the lineup around Yordan Alvarez has not held up. If the Astros had made a few more offensive moves at the trade deadline, they might already have the division under control with only a handful of games left.
Alvarez has done everything he can to keep them afloat. As Bleacher Report’s Joel Reuter wrote, "Yordan Alvarez is challenging for the AL Triple Crown, hitting .314 with 41 home runs and 102 RBI. He is the heavy favorite for AL MVP honors even as the Astros fight for their playoff lives," Bleacher Report's Joel Reuter wrote.
But after Alvarez, the production drops fast. His 191 OPS+ stands far above everyone else in the lineup, and the next-best mark belongs to third baseman Isaac Paredes at 126 OPS+.
Reuter pointed to the larger problem this way: "One of the biggest reasons they are still on the bubble, hovering around the .500 mark, is the complete lack of offensive consistency around Alvarez. A .687 OPS from the rest of the team tells the story," Reuter added.
Houston also can’t count on Jose Altuve to drag an offense for long stretches the way he once did. And Daulton Varsho’s struggles since arriving from the Toronto Blue Jays have only made matters worse, with a .535 OPS in 41 games after the trade.
The offseason task for Houston is obvious. This roster needs offense around Alvarez, and it needs a lot of it. Bats, more bats, and even more bats.
In Other News...
Justin Verlanders Farewell Gives Astros Fans One Last Emotional Reminder
Justin Verlanders final major-league start brought a familiar scene at Comerica Park, with the longtime right-hander back where it all began for him in 2005. He worked 5 innings and struck out six, giving Detroit fans one last glimpse of the arm that defined so many October nights, before the curtain started to fall on a career that stretched across two eras and left its mark on the sport.
For Astros fans, it was a reminder of just how much Verlander meant to baseball in Houston as well as in Detroit, even if this farewell belonged to his old home. He had already announced earlier in the season that injuries and the feeling he could no longer perform at the level he expected had pushed him toward retirement, and the standing ovation as he walked off only underscored the sense that a major chapter was ending with one final, emotional visit to the mound. [Read more 🡒]
Astros Waste A Huge AL West Opportunity In Another Brutal Collapse
A trip to Sacramento gave Houston a chance to gain ground in the AL West, and for a while it looked like the Astros were in position to do just that. Instead, a six-run rally from the Athletics in the sixth inning flipped the game and left Houston staring at another frustrating miss in a division race that keeps tightening.
Jos Altuve, Cam Smith and Christian Walker all factored into a messy stretch defensively, while the bullpen could not slow the inning once it started to unravel. For a team trying to turn September into something cleaner than the roller coaster it has been, this was the kind of collapse that lingers because it cost more than one game. [Read more 🡒]
Astros Now Face A Brutal Final Push To Keep Texas Behind
Friday nights losses left the Astros and Rangers tied at 79-81, a grim but strangely simple setup for the final stretch: Houston still controls its own fate in the AL West because it owns the season-series tiebreaker. Even with both clubs stumbling into the finish line, the Astros can still lock up the division with the right combination of results over the final two games, a reminder of how much value there is in having the head-to-head edge when the margin for error is gone.
What makes the finish so tense is the lack of any safety net. Injuries and pitching issues have helped drag both teams into this mess, and with no wild-card fallback waiting, every inning now carries the weight of a season. Houston can still keep Texas behind it, but the margin is razor-thin and the last weekend is setting up as a final test of whether the Astros can finish the job or let the division slip away. [Read more 🡒]