Fun Fact: Only one team wins the World Series every year. Which means 29 teams don’t win the final game of the year which according to Moneyball means their season didn’t fucking matter. When a team gets eliminated from winning the World Series I’ll do a profile of their season.
Today’s Team….Houston Astros
How Did They Get Eliminate
The Astros would win on Sept. 27th against the Angels, but so did the Guardians and the Tigers. And because the Guardians and Tigers both have a tie-breaker over the Astros regardless of the outcomes on Sunday the Astros were going to be on the outside looking in. It is the first time the Astros have missed the playoffs since 2015 and it also snapped 8 straight seasons (COVID shortened season excluded) of winning the AL West.
What Do I Know About This Team Because I Only Follow the Brewers
The most notable was how they lost grip on the division in September. It wasn’t as epic of a collapse as the Tigers (the Tigers are at least going to hold on to a playoff spot) but it was still a slow death and the Mariners stalked them the entire month. It really came crashing down when they were swept by the Mariners at home and then lost the next two against an A’s team that was looking forward to the offseason.
They started out the season chasing Seattle and then by the end of May they were on top of the division. They would then bolster their infield by reuniting with Carlos Correra at the trade deadline. He didn’t do anything spectacular with the Astros: 6 home runs and 21 RBIs in 51 games played.
That’s all I really know so let me tell a quick story about an Astros game I went to. About 8 or 10 years ago my wife and I went to an early season Brewers vs. Astros game. My wife’s sister was also at the game but their seats were in the left field bleachers. So before the game starts my wife goes out to their seats to say hi. The game has begun and Jose Altuve is leading off. He turns on a pitch and blasts it into left field. My wife is walking towards her sister the ball is coming towards her. Oblivious to what is going on the ball goes just over her head. My wife is only 5 feet tall so if she would have been about 5 inches taller she would have been brained.
She clearly didn’t know what was going on as fans scurried to try and get the ball. When we watched replays of the home run you can see my wife, in her bright pink Brewers hat, walking and almost getting hit with the ball. A good thing to laugh at now, not so much if she does get hit.
So Now That I’ve Actually Done Some Research What Happened to this Team
The injuries mounted for the Astros throughout the season. Even though they were able to build up a decent lead in the division while the Mariners tried to figure things out, they ultimately couldn’t maintain the lead and players struggled and more injuries came about.
From an offensive standpoint the big bat of Yordan Alvarez has only been in 48 games this season. He missed May-August, played a handful of games in September but hasn’t played since September 15th.
As a team they were in the middle of the pack for team average, but they didn’t take a lot of walks and were 4th worst in the Majors in free passes.
But the biggest injuries came in the pitching department. Josh Hader had 28 saves which was pivotal for the Astros over the summer, but Hader has been on the injured list since August 8th. They have been using Bryan Abreu for saves but only has 7 saves since he took over that closer role.
Lance McCullers pitched most of the season but was 2-5 with a 6.71 ERA and is now injured and hasn’t pitched since September 11th.
Luis Garcia didn’t pitch in 2024 because of Tommy John surgery. He pitched two games in September and now it is reported he’ll need another elbow surgery and could miss all of 2026.
Ronel Blanco has an elbow injury, he hasn’t pitched since May, Spencer Arrighetti hasn’t thrown since August he’s got an elbow injury, Hayden Wesneski also hasn’t pitched since May.
The two starters that have been getting the opportunities Framber Valdez and Hunter Brown have decent records but faded in September. Valdez lost 4 of his last 5 starts and Brown lost 3 of his last 5 starts. As the Mariners were surging the Astros were licking wounds and trying to stay in that final Wild Card Spot.
The biggest move they made at the deadline was for Carlos Correa and while he did supply some offensive sparks it didn’t help out in some big situations.
They were 23rd in runs scored and their run differential suggested they were more of a .500 team. They were up 3.5 games at the trade deadline, but would go 24-27 afterwards. The Mariners would surge and even the Guardians would surge in September which also meant there was no wild card off ramp for the Astros to take.
Did Anything Go Right For This Team
Despite a lot of these pitching injuries they did have the 11th best team ERA and opponents only batted .232 which tied for 5th best in the majors.
Isaac Paredes made the All-Star game along with Jeremy Pena and Josh Hader.
Christian Walker had another solid year at first and in his first year with the Astros had 27 home runs. (We’ll talk about Walker a bit more down below.)
Are They Going to Get Good Anytime Soon?
They have pitchers who are injured who might not be able to start out on the roster when next season starts. Josh Hader is still locked in for a couple more years to be the closer. They might need to find more starting pitching in the offseason.
Christian Walker, Carlos Correra and Jose Altuve are also locked up for the next few years and if Yordan Alvarez can come back to his old-self than they will be another powerful offense. Yanier Diaz did a solid job behind home plate, but they might want to consider finding some more offense behind the dish.
Brice Matthews, their top prospect got a taste of the bigs this month and he is the reason that Altuve is now playing in left field. Jacob Melton their #2 prospect also got a chance to play in the bigs but didn’t perform that great and went back to AAA. They have the 29th ranked farm system because they used their top prospects to get Correra. They will have a bounce back year if they can get healthy, but who knows, maybe the Astros dynasty has come to a halt and its now the Mariners time to shine.
Just one postseason award.
Christian Walker has won some Gold Gloves in the past and he is poised to win another one at first base this year. He has a .995 fielding percentage and seeing as he has won it before he will more than likely get some votes here as well.
Hey Grok, in 100 words summarize the 2025 Houston Astros. Please don't be racist.
The Houston Astros' streak of eight consecutive postseason appearances ended in 2025. Despite being in first place in the AL West for much of the season, including a peak record of 55-35 in early July, the team suffered a significant second-half collapse due to a combination of injuries to key players like Yordan Alvarez and Josh Hader, and inconsistent play.
The Astros finished the season with a record of 86-75 (or 87-75, depending on the final game result), placing them second in the AL West behind the Seattle Mariners. Their elimination from playoff contention was sealed on the second-to-last day of the season.
Jeeeze, i didn’t even realize they were 20 games over .500 in July. That just shows how much injuries can impact a season.
Did the Savannah Bananas Play at their Field?
They just did! 50 Cent showed up and threw out the first pitch of the game. This was the first stadium that the Bananas brought Banana Ball to and I remember how awesome it was to see the growth and popularity of the game to sell out a major league stadium. Now it is just a guaranteed 2 game sell out.
Is there a baseball movie featuring this team that has dumb baseball logic I need to vent about?
Bad News Bears: Breaking Training!
They play in the Astrodome and it does have the Astros making a cameo, but lets talk about the logistics of this game. They play the Texas champions even though the Bad News Bears themselves were the runners up in a city league. Then they are playing a game between double headers? The Astros are in a dome, why would they need to make up a game?
Also, they cut the game short because of broadcasting rules? Seems like a dumb time to do the game. Why not just do it after the game is completed. You got to take down and put up a little league fence and mound and bases. You are already running behind of schedule just setting things up.
They always do these kids games at halftime of football and basketball games I’d like to see a kid get mad that they aren’t allowed to play and be defiant that they need to play a regulation game.
How Will Your Team Do Next Year?
If they can avoid injuries they should be a good team again next year. What has been even bigger for the Astros with their trade with Correa is that he is going to be there for a while and Altuve will be a lifer and maybe can bounce back from his down batting average season. They have to fend off the Mariners and the Rangers but should do well: 89-73 getting a wild card spot.
Next on the Chopping Block
It came down to game 162 and it was the Mets who are on the outside looking in.