For fans who get easily frustrated with poor play or under performing players, it can be easy in a season filled with injuries to lash out. This has been another injury-plagued season for the home team…and yet.
To get 10 games over .500 this year, the Astros needed to play 70 games. In 2024, they needed 120. This is a team that is at the bottom of the league in runs scored, but has managed to reach middle of the pack in OPS and has one of the best team ERAs in baseball despite losing three of their five starters in what was already a thin rotation.
There are a lot of games to go, but this season, in many ways, has been both a mirror of 2024 and its polar opposite. Let’s talk about this past week.
Last Week Record: 5-1
This Week Opponents: at Oakland…uh Sacramento (29-44), at the Angels (33-37)
Current Record: 41-30 (1st in AL West)
Updating ALL the injuries.
We thought injuries to the pitching staff were bad last year, welcome to 2025 where the team has lost Ronel Blanco and Hayden Wesneski to season-ending injuries, Spencer Arrighetti until perhaps the All-Star break with a broken thumb, and now McCullers to a “freak accident” ankle injury, naturally. McCullers and Arrighetti will be back (and both J.P. France and Cristian Javier have been throwing), but, wow, brutal.
If pitchers weren’t enough, throw in Yordan Alvarez, Zach Dezenzo and Jacob Melton. Fortunately, Isaac Paredes avoided a serious hamstring injury and was back in the lineup Monday night, but it’s worth asking how much longer the Astros can keep this winning up with all the injuries.
Who are these pitchers?
When injuries hit, count on the 29th-ranked farm system in baseball to handle it. Yes, the Astros with one of the worst minor league rosters (allegedly) in all of baseball just keeps bringing up pitchers like Colton Gordon and Ryan Gusto and Brandon Walter. Who? Exactly. It helps that this team also has one of the best bullpens in all of baseball, something they didn’t have last year, but the fact that GM Dana Brown keeps pulling rabbits out of his hat is nothing short of amazing.
How long this will last is to be determined, but if they are this good now, getting back some of these really good players will be a huge bonus as the year continues.
Is this the best defensive outfield in baseball?
And since we are praising the other aspects of the game, let’s take a moment to talk about the defense in the outfield. When Melton was playing with Jake Meyers and Cam Smith, it is a pretty easy argument to make that they comprised if not the best outfield in the majors, certainly one of the best. Smith, as a rookie, is behind only Fernando Tatis in outs above replacement in right field and Meyers is known for his glove. Melton has already flashed some impressive leather in his limited time.
Jose Altuve is still the left field starter, but having options like Melton makes them incredibly athletic and dangerous on defense.
Jeremy Peña is the early-season MVP.
The Astros shortstop is slashing .325/.379/.485 with an .864 OPS including 9 homers, 25 doubles and 15 steals (in 16 tries). He also has a .982 fielding percentage, the best of his career. For all the hand wringing over his swing in the two seasons after his phenomenal rookie campaign, Peña has become one of the best shortstops in the AL. He is, by far, the Astros’ best hitter currently and could wind up being the best period this season.
