One of the best teams in all of baseball for almost a decade now has been the Houston Astros. But they haven't exactly resembled that in the first part of the 2024 season. That is until the calendar flipped to June.
Like the sunrise, everyone just expected the Astros to be contenders again in 2024. After all, they have been since 2017, making seven straight American League Championship Series appearances, four World Series appearances, and winning two titles. But getting back to the postseason, at the very least, looked like a streak that was going to come to an end just a month ago.
After the first week of the 2024 season, the Astros had already fallen to 2-5. Before the month was out, a sweep by the Chicago Cubs put them at 7-19 and off to their worst start in 55 years, according to USA Today's Bob Nightengale. That first month (March/April) put them at 10-19 and then they just barely reached a winning record in May, going 15-14.
To say Houston has had a problem would be an understatement, especially considering how talented the team still is. But baseball, being the streaky sport it is, has proven once again that a team can change its projections given a period of time, and what once was ice cold can turn scorching hot. That's exactly what the Astros have become: scorching hot.
Going back to the beginning of the month, the Astros have posted the second-best record in the MLB at 14-7 (.667). Only the New York Mets have a better winning percentage (.700) at 14-6. But that record is better than the Philadelphia Phillies (13-9), Los Angeles Dodgers (14-8), and New York Yankees (12-10), three of the best teams in baseball.
The Astros are currently on a lengthy hot streak after just sweeping the Baltimore Orioles, winning six straight and eight out of their last 10, which puts them in second place in the American League West at 39-40, five games back of the Seattle Mariners. That also puts them 3.5 games back of a Wild Card spot. But just how have the Astros managed to regain their footing in the American League and remind everyone that a World Series is still within reach? Let's take a look.
The competition has been favorable in June
Back in May, the Astros were facing some of the better competition in the MLB, most of which accounted for the four times they've been swept this season, according to MLB Sweeps. They faced four division leaders in the New York Yankees, Cleveland Guardians, Milwaukee Brewers, and their own division-leading rivals twice in the Mariners. Those teams accounted for nine of the Astros' 14 losses last month. It's been a more favorable month for Houston in June.
Out of the nine teams that the Astros will face in June, their combined records are 92-108. Four of those teams (Giants, Tigers, Rockies, White Sox) have yet to even reach double-digit wins for the month, one team is at .500 (Twins), while four have winning records (Cardinals, Angels, Orioles, Mets).
The Astros will meet the Mets in New York for a three-game series to end the month in a battle of the best teams in baseball in June.
The Astros have survived through pitching injuries
When you step back and look at the injuries just to the Astros' rotation, it's no wonder they've struggled this season. Jose Urquidy, Cristian Javier, Lance McCullers Jr., and Luis Garcia are all on the injured list right now. And joining them just recently was veteran Justin Verlander.
That's just what the starting rotation was supposed to look like. But even rookie Jake Bloss has gotten hurt with a shoulder injury and has yet to come off the Astros' long injury report. Meanwhile, JP France just suffered a setback in his recovery as well, leaving his return timetable unknown.
From the beginning of the season until the end of May, the Astros had one of the worst rotations in baseball with an ERA of 4.77 and a league-worst walks per nine (4.05). But since June 1, they have a league-best rotation ERA of 3.21 with 12 quality starts and have improved their walks per nine to 23rd (3.29).
Framber Valdez, Ronel Blanco, and even Hunter Brown have been phenomenal for Houston during this stretch. Brown in particular is 4-0 with a 1.16 ERA in 31 innings pitched and has a strikeouts per nine of 10.45. This unit has been stopping the bleeding, limiting run scoring that was becoming a problem for Houston early on. And when you consider what the rotation was supposed to be like, it's even more impressive.
Astros stars are lifting off
The Astros' big-name bats have begun to wake up this month, with guys like Alex Bregman, Jose Altuve, and Yordan Alvarez hitting their stride. All three are hitting well over .300 this month for a combined average of .341. Bregman is eighth during this stretch in batting average (.363), while Alvarez is fourth in slugging (.722) and sixth in OPS (1.117).
But they're not the only ones helping the Astros come alive offensively. Yainer Diaz and Trey Cabbage have been doing their fair share. Diaz sports a .311 average, while Cabbage a .310 in 30 plate appearances.
For the team as a whole, that ranks ninth in the league in runs scored (108), fourth in average (.275), sixth in slugging (.454), and ninth in OPS (.772).
We should have known it was way too early to count this team out. Watch out for the Astros to start making a run back for their division now, especially with last year's World Series champion Texas Rangers struggling the way they are. They look like buyers again before the MLB Trade Deadline.
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