The Astros are one game away from the end of the postseason and will finish with the second best record in franchise history. After Wednesday’s final game against the Phillies, they will take a five day rest before facing the winner of the Wild Card matchup between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Seattle Mariners.
With just one game left, there are more questions than answers left as we head into the postseason, but let’s look at a few things worth noting as the regular season finally winds down.
AL West Wild Card matches are set.
Seattle clinched the five seed on Tuesday and will head to Toronto to face the Blue Jays while the Tampa Bay Rays will face Cleveland. The Astros will take on the winner of the Toronto-Seattle matchup and the other teams will battle it out for the right to play the Yankees. Seattle is entering the postseason for the first time in two decades and Toronto boasts one of baseball’s best offenses including former Astro George Springer. Neither will be a picnic, but the Astros should not be afraid of an ALDS matchup with anyone at this point.
Astros going full spring training in final series.
Manager Dusty Baker, rather than sitting his starters for the final series of the year with nothing left to play for, decided to opt for a spring training-style mixup of limited pitches and plate appearances for starters. Despite Baker saying he wanted to ride his horses down the stretch, he opted for a less aggressive approach which still keeps guys loosened up without compromising their healthy. It also allows a few players to reach year milestones — like Kyle Tucker with his 30th home run on Tuesday and Jeremy Peña with his 22nd, matching the guy he replaced with the second most homers in an Astros rookie season behind Yordan Alvarez.
Rust vs. Rest: How will the layoff impact the Astros?
The debate over which is better — taking days off to rest or keeping the routine going — will be the prevailing story for both Houston and New York before the ALDS series begin next week. For the Astros, it could be that some players need the rest while others could use the repetition. Make no mistake, the team will be staying loose by playing simulated games, but the rest will likely do a veteran team like the Astros good before their next matchup.
What is the best ALDS matchup?
Neither Seattle nor Toronto are ideal, but the pose different issues. Seattle has the emotional component and a pair of frontline starters arguably as good as anyone even if Robbie Ray has been absolutely smoked by the Astros. Toronto is one of the best hitting teams in the AL, but with not a ton of talent in their pitching rotation. If the Astros are playing their best, quite frankly, it won’t matter who they play, but the thought of George Springer hitting a walkoff dinger in a game against his former team makes us ill. We’ll pass.
Jeff Balke covers the Astros and Rockets weekly for the Houston Press and co-hosts the Bleav in Astros podcast with former third baseman and current Astros broadcaster Geoff Blum. Follow him on Twitter.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2022.
