When the postmortem is written about the 2025 Astros, regardless of the final result, injuries will be a central talking point. I mean, it wasn’t just the number of injuries; it was also the magnitude. Frankly, it was a minor miracle that this team held first place in the AL West for as long as it did, considering the long-term absences. Other than perhaps the Dodgers, can you think of a team built to survive this many injuries? I highly doubt it.
Injuries, although a major contributor, aren’t the
only issue that has plagued the Astros this year. Ineffectiveness among its healthy players has arrived at the wrong time. While the team rode a hot June into early July through that impressive sweep at Dodger Stadium, the cracks in the foundation would start showing soon enough. The trade deadline acquisitions of Carlos Correa, Jesús Sánchez, and Ramón Urías were made with the hope of bolstering the lineup, specifically its power output and the overall offensive floor in the season’s second half. With those additions and the return of Yordan Alvarez and Jeremy Peña, you could see the hope of what Dana Brown was aiming for.
Alas, that hasn’t exactly happened.
When you’re only outslugging the Pirates and Cardinals, two teams bringing up the rear in the NL Central, you know things probably aren’t going great. In terms of run scoring, only four teams have scored fewer than Houston (241 runs) in the season’s second half, or roughly 60 games. You can’t discount injuries or the sample size, but that lack of production is alarming for a team still competing for a postseason berth. It is also part of why this team probably won’t win the AL West for the first time since 2020, or 2016 if you’re counting only full seasons.
With the postseason still a possibility as a Wild Card entry, around 64.6% per FanGraphs entering Tuesday, the Astros’ offensive woes will probably be brought to attention again in the season’s final six games and possibly into October. Frankly, considering how the lineup has fared in recent months, my optimism isn’t high that we will see a sudden reversal, with or without Alvarez. I’d love to be wrong, though.
