In 2026, no one thought that the Houston Astros would win anything. The Astros didn't make the playoffs in 2025 for the first time since 2016 going 87-75 and missing the Wild Card spot by one game. People didn't think about them much this spring as Bleacher Report famously put them in the “In Need of a Reset: Eyes on 2027” group, saying they were just a club that was stuck between two dynasties and needed to start over.

Oddsmakers say they have a +1400 chance of winning the World Series, which is a long way behind the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees, and Philadelphia Phillies. People in the country are talking about other things now.

Good. Let it.

If you've been following this franchise closely for the past ten years, you know exactly what happens when the Houston Astros are written off and how bad it feels to miss out on a chance. They come back with a vengeance, and every piece of the puzzle for a shocking run to the World Series in 2026 is already in place.

A Hungry, Motivated Core That Has Been Here Before

Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve (27) hits a fly ball against the Athletics in the sixth inning at Sutter Health Park.
Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images

You won't find the biggest fuel source for the 2026 Astros on a stats sheet. It's in the locker room. Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa are on the same Opening Day roster for the first time since 2021. Also, a team that missed the playoffs came back to win it all the next year for the first time since 2017. This group knows a lot about history.

Correa is back in Houston after the front office got him back from the Twins at last year's trade deadline. He has a mission. He played 51 games after coming back to Houston last July and had an OPS of.785 and an OPS+ of 117. He also openly wants to make baseball history by becoming the first player to win a Gold Glove at both shortstop and third base. This means he has to be the best at a position he's never been recognized for.

That is the most personal motivation there is. Last season, the Astros had the second-most days lost to the injured list in all of baseball. Alvarez only played 48 games. Paredes only played 102 times. Correa only played in 51 games after he came back. Still, this team was in first place in the AL West for most of the season and missed the Wild Card by a tiebreaker. That's not a club that's rebuilding; that's a racehorse that was kept in the gate too long.

Hunter Brown Is an Ace, and the Rotation Is Deeper Than You Think

The loudest criticism of Houston during the offseason was that they lost Framber Valdez to the Detroit Tigers in free agency. Losing a top starter is a real worry, at least on the surface. But the story doesn't mention that Houston has a real ace at the top of its rotation in Hunter Brown.

Brown had a record of 12-9 last season with an incredible 2.43 ERA. He struck out 206 batters in 185 1/3 innings, had a career-low WHIP of 1.03, and came in third in the AL Cy Young Award voting. He started eight games and didn't give up a single earned run. He had a 1.19 ERA and a 0.82 WHIP in June, which earned him the title of AL Pitcher of the Month. In most other years, those numbers would have won the Cy Young. Brown was named the Opening Day starter for 2026 where he dominated the Angels giving up no runs on 4 hits while striking 9 in 4.2 innings pitched.

The Astros took a calculated risk on pitching depth by adding Tatsuya Imai from Japan and Mike Burrows, a 26-year-old with mid-rotation upside, to a five-man rotation that already included Lance McCullers Jr. and Cristian Javier. McCullers came to spring training healthy for the first time in three years, showing off his famous curveball and talking like a man who still has work to do. He said this could be his last season with the Astros. The Astros know that a healthy, fully focused Lance McCullers Jr. is one of the most dangerous pitchers in baseball history in October.

The backend of the bullpen, on the other hand, is one of the most dangerous in baseball when Josh Hader comes back from his early-season biceps injury. Hader, a six-time All-Star closer who signed through 2028, should be back by the middle of April. Bryan Abreu takes his place. He is a setup man who saved seven of eight games in that role last season. His fastball sits at 97.3 mph, and he had a 2.28 ERA with 105 strikeouts in 71 innings. This is not a weak bullpen. This is a depth chart that gets better when everyone is healthy.

The people who don't believe are loud. When it comes to Houston, they are always loud. But this team won the AL West in 2024 after coming back from a 10-game deficit. This is a team that won the whole thing the last time it didn't make the playoffs. Motivation is high. The ace is set. The best baseball player is fit and ready to play. If you don't think the Astros are good, you're in for a surprise. Houston usually has the last laugh in October.