As the Houston Astros hold a commanding 10.5-game lead in the American League West, they have their sights set on not only making the 2022 MLB playoffs, but winning the whole thing. With just around a month left in the regular season, what could be the biggest elements of their roster that will hold them back in their quest?
For Houston, they have enjoyed stellar seasons from their stars yet again, as Justin Verlander (16-3, 1.84 ERA), Jose Altuve (.292 / .377 / .524), and Alex Bregman (.265 / .369 / .471) have all had huge hands in their AL-leading 86 wins. But things have not all been positive for the Astros, something that they will look to improve before the playoffs begin.
1 Fatal Flaw The Astros Must Address
Even though they have had run through most of their division and the AL in general, they have only been an average team in certain offensive categories.
T-14th in team average (.245), T-17th in steals (66), and 16th in hits (1,087) could potentially be seen as cherry-picking offensive stats to downplay their offensive efficiencies, but Houston has some holes to plug on offense. The biggest area of need is in production at the bottom of their lineup, hitters seven through nine.
They typically have had their center field and catcher batting anywhere in these three spots, and these two positions have struggled to produce at the plate.
In center field, both Mauricio Doubón and Chas McCormick have seen the bulk of the time here – and neither has done enough to take over the full-time role. Doubón barely has a batting average above .200 (.213) and has a low on-base percentage (.259), while McCormick has fared somewhat better (.234) but still doesn’t have starting-level statistics.
At catcher, the combination of Martin Maldonado and Christian Vasquez has been pretty bad itself, especially for Maldonado.
A .176 average that is heavily reliant on hitting home runs typically is not going to be enough to keep you in the starting lineup, but Maldonado’s handling of the team’s pitching staff has been his ticket to earning near a 50/50 split with Vasquez.
Acquiring from the Red Sox earlier this year, Vasquez has brought his above-average bat over to the Astros in a position they have desperately needed. But even with his .286 average, his power has disappeared, and has only knocked in five runs in his 19 games with Houston.
If the Astros can somehow alter their batting order (shifting Trey Mancini down to help split up the bad parts, for instance), then this team will certainly become even more unstoppable for the rest of their AL opponents. While this type of fatal flaw may not be a big enough deterrent in stopping Houston’s journey back to the World Series, it certainly could be put on full display at times when they cannot afford for them to be.
Their offense will need to pick up the slack for another week or so before Verlander, Ryan Pressley, and Aledmys Diaz are all projected to return. Having those three options back in the lineup will be big-time boosts to a lineup that is already stacked with talent, helping improve their lineup before heading into the playoffs.
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