The Houston Astros' current stretch can best be described by looking to one of America's most celebrated reality television competition shows, “The Amazing Race.” One of the seasons, which I will not name here, ended in an epic foot race. What was most dramatic about the classic finale is that you can see the inevitable happening. The team in front lost its once sizable lead, as the trailing racers gained more and more ground. Much of Space City is experiencing a similar feeling right now.
The Seattle Mariners had been gradually shrinking the gap in the American League West, and in a Thursday night thriller, they finally caught the Astros (79-68). Fans can certainly point to injuries, as Houston has been without impactful contributors for large stretches of the season, but the lineup is also underachieving.
The expectation was that Yordan Alvarez's return could launch this team toward the top of the American League. Instead, the Astros are clinging to life, only two games above the Texas Rangers for the final Wild Card slot. This race is not over yet, though. Experienced, championship-winning competitors are running this final leg, and they can apply pressure on a Mariners club that could still have some late-season demons to exorcise.
Astros general manager Dana Brown knows this group has to wake up immediately, but he believes it has the talent and intangibles to seize the division for the eighth time in the last nine years.
“We’re at that point in the season where we’re just battling for the division and we feel confident that we can win this thing,” Brown said, per MLB.com's Brian McTaggart. “All of the guys know what’s at stake and it's time for the boys to turn the corner.”
The Astros are running out of time to flip the switch back on
Houston carving a path to the playoffs has become a foregone conclusion. Predicting this squad's downfall just seems futile after seeing the organization push through the sign-stealing scandal and survive the loss of multiple star players. While the Mariners and the rest of the division undergo rough setbacks, the Astros endure.
They are the standard of this division. While there are definitely worthy challengers on occasion — the Rangers beat them en route to winning the 2023 World Series — the AL West crown always seems to find its way back to Daikin Park. This threat feels far more legitimate than most others, though.
Houston has not won a series since defeating the Colorado Rockies on Aug. 28 and has dropped five of its last seven games. Josh Hader, Isaac Paredes, Ronel Blanco, Luis Garcia, Spencer Arrighetti and now Lance McCullers Jr. are all on the injured list. Franchise legend Jose Altuve is 4-for-37 in September, Christian Walker has a .701 OPS in the first season of a three-year, $60 million contract and Framber Valdez is making headlines for the wrong reasons.
Alvarez, Hunter Brown, Carlos Correa, Jeremy Pena and Jason Alexander are doing their best to keep the Astros afloat, but a complete effort might be needed to withstand Seattle and Texas over the final 15 regular season games. They must heed Dana Brown's words during their road series against the Atlanta Braves (65-81), because the two biggest dangers to their continued reign are coming into town next week.
