5 things to know about the powerhouse Houston Astros
Carlos Beltran's last Astros playoff game happened when the Red Sox were still "cursed."
By winning the A.L. East, the Red Sox avoided having to play both the wild card play-in game as well as a Divisional Round series against the top-seeded Cleveland Indians. Unfortunately for Boston, this instead means a showdown with the Houston Astros.
Finishing only a game behind the Indians for best record in the American League, the Astros reached the 100-win threshold for only the second time in team history. Equipped with a heavy hitting offense that includes the 2017 American League batting champion (Jose Altuve), Houston also boasts a solid pitching staff that sports multiple Cy Young Award winners.
Here are a few things to know about the Astros before the series gets underway against the Red Sox in Houston on Thursday:
The 2017 Astros were a Sports Illustrated prophecy in 2014
Before the season began, many experts accurately predicted Houston’s A.L. West supremacy.
Yet it was Sports Illustrated that actually predicted Houston’s 2017 success all the way back in 2014. After three straight 100-loss seasons, the Astros brought in new management. And, as it was said in the article, the team would contend by 2017.
Here’s what the 2014 cover looked like:
6/25/2014: Sports Illustrated features rookie George Springer on its cover, predicts #Astros to be 2017 world champions. pic.twitter.com/frfM5wqnEi
— Astros Daily (@AstrosDaily) June 26, 2017
“No obvious weak spot”
Despite not being the top seed in the American League, the Astros have all of the attributes of a World Series favorite. Houston led the Majors in runs scored in 2017, with the 7-9 hitters in the lineup posting the third-highest combined OPS ever by a DH-era American League offense.
Describing the team’s position players as having “no obvious weak spot” in an article from earlier in 2017, ESPN senior writer David Schoenfield rattled off nine different measurements in which the Astros’ offense ranked first in the league.
The Astros’ starting rotation is headed by a pair of former Cy Young winners in Dallas Keuchel and Justin Verlander. As a pitching staff, only Cleveland registered more strikeouts (the Red Sox were third). While the bullpen has been inconsistent, Houston relievers posted a 1.19 ERA in 22 2/3 innings against Boston in 2017.
They’re statistical opposites of the Red Sox in 2017 trends
According to FanGraphs, the Astros are an offense that is on the upswing in 2017. The Red Sox are quite the opposite. Using the advanced metric, weighted runs created plus (wRC+), FanGraphs writer Jeff Sullivan assessed how much Houston’s offense has improved this season.
As it turns out, the Astros’ wRC+ improved by 21 points from 2016 to 2017, which is by far the largest margin in baseball. The Red Sox, on the other hand, got worse by 22 points. The changing dynamic has obvious implications for the playoff series. More than that, the Astros’ 2017 lineup is 2.82 standard deviations better than the MLB average, according to Sullivan’s calculations. Only one team (the World Series-winning 1976 Reds) were better in that measurement since 1900.
They’ve got familiar faces
While the Red Sox have never played the Astros in a playoff series, there are a few names that Boston fans will recognize either from past postseasons, or as former members of the hometown team.
Justin Verlander – who was traded to Houston shortly before the waiver trade deadline in August – faced the Red Sox in the 2013 American League Championship Series. He allowed only one run over eight innings in Game 3, striking out 10. Yet the Red Sox managed to win 1-0.
Brian McCann and Carlos Beltran are both former Yankees, though neither played Boston in the postseason with New York. Beltran hit .294 for the Cardinals in the 2013 World Series, but the Red Sox prevailed in six games. Boston fans will also find it interesting that Beltran’s last Astros playoff appearance came all the way back in a momentous year: 2004.
Josh Reddick, Houston’s starting right fielder, was drafted in the 17th round by the Red Sox in 2006. He made his Major League debut for Boston in 2009. Reddick hit a career high .314 for Houston this season. He’s also known for his personality on social media, and his 2014 usage of “Careless Whisper” as his walk-up music:
Charging down the stretch
In August, the Astros went 11-17, by far the worst month of the team’s season. September proved to be a much different story, with Houston going 20-8. In fact, from Sept. 14 onward, the Astros went 14-3.
Much of the stretch run was aided by the return to form of Keuchel, who went from a 5.05 ERA in August to a 2.87 ERA in starts afterward. Verlander has also thrived since arriving in the trade. As a member of the Astros, the 34-year-old is 5-0 with a 1.05 ERA. He will start for Houston in Game 1 against Chris Sale and the Red Sox, with first pitch getting underway at 4:08 p.m. on Thursday.
