The postseason has arrived and the Astros are a frontrunner to bring home their second championship in club history. The Astros had a record setting 107 victories in cruising to an AL West title, and are stacked with a talented roster poised for an October run. Let’s discuss 3 strengths and 3 concerns when it comes to the Astros winning a title.
Three Strengths
The starting rotation: Do you prefer Superman or Batman? If you are talking superheroes, what Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole have been doing all season 
long as the headlining duo in the Astros rotation is something rarely seen in history. The pair have been neck and neck in the Cy Young race, and became the first teammates with 300 plus strikeouts since Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling did it in 2002.
Justin Verlander finished with a 21-6 record, a 2.62 ERA, 138 hits allowed, 300 Ks, and a 0.81 WHIP, while Gerrit Cole compiled a 20-5 record, a 2.50 ERA, 142 hits allowed, 326 Ks, and a 0.89 WHIP. Heading into the postseason, with those 2 dominant starters, Zack Greinke is an afterthough & he was the big midseason acquisition. A former Cy Young winner himself, Greinke finished with an 8-1 record and 3.02 ERA as an Astro. Even with Wade Miley’s struggles, having these 3 pitchers plus an emerging rookie as the possible #4 starter in Jose Urquidy gives the Astros a starting rotation that is tough to match.
The lineup: The Astros championship lineup in 2017 finished with a wRC+ (weighted runs created plus) of 121, placing them in a tie for the eighth best offense of all-time. This year’s team finished with a 125 wRC+, the best offense since the
vaunted 1927 Yankees. Yes, that fabled Murderers Row lineup that included Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Earle Combs, Bob Meusel, Mark Koenig and Tony Lazzeri. The Astros lineup that manager A.J. Hinch trots out is deep, with a top 6 of George Springer, former MVP Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman, Michael Brantley, Carlos Correa, and Yuli Gurriel.
The straw that has stirred the drink this season, Alex Bregman, has catapulted himself to the top of the MVP race against Mike Trout carrying a .296 avg., 41 HRs, 1.015 OPS, and 8.4 WAR. He is only the fifth player in AL history to reach 40 HRs and 110 walks with less than 90 Ks in a season.
Yordan Alvarez also energized the lineup with his midseason callup, and is the favorite for Rookie of the Year with a .313 avg., 27 HRs and 1.067 OPS. With such a powerful lineup and the streakiness of the postseason, just having 2 or 3 of the big bats get hot can be enough to win in October, which is another product of a deep team.
The defense: An overlooked aspect of postseason success is team defense, since having a great fielding team can provide the edge in tight games. The Astros only need to look back to last season and recall Mookie Betts’ defensive gems in the 2018 ALCS that shifted the momentum of that series. The Astros were tied for second overall in Major League Baseball in fielding percentage at .988, and their 71 errors in the regular season were second only to the St. Louis Cardinals.
Alex Bregman not only has been an MVP on the offensive side of the ball, but has been able to shore up the defense playing 3B and subbing for Carlos Correa at SS. A runner-up in Gold Glove voting last year at 3B, Bregman ended the season with a .966 fielding percentage at 3B, while at SS it was .986. The Astros have a couple of former Gold Glove winners in 2B Jose Altuve and OF Josh Reddick, and a superb defensive player in Jake Marisnick to sub in the outfield late in games. Mistakes in the field and giving teams extra outs can make or break postseason hopes, so playing great defense could be the difference in whether the Astros win a title or not.
Three Concerns
Injuries: No getting around it, as we all know injuries can play a major role in whether a team moves forward or goes home in the playoffs. The Astros have had their share of injuries during the regular season, losing Jose Altuve, George Springer and Carlos Correa for extended periods of time.
The big wildcard is Carlos Correa, who ended the season with back problems that made him questionable for the start of the ALDS. If Carlos Correa cannot go, or he is hampered by a back problem that causes mechanical issues at the plate as it did in 2018, it could create a void in the Astros’ lineup.
Ryan Pressly is another the Astros have to watch, as he was the top bullpen arm for much of the season before a knee injury sidelined on the injured list. The positive news is Pressly came back the last week of the season to appear in 4 games against the Angels and Mariners, giving up 0 earned runs and striking out 7.
If the Astros can get Correa, Pressly and another reliever, Brad Peacock, playing at their full capability, that could bode well for the team. However, injuries still remain the biggest concern to even the most well-stacked rosters, because they can change the momentum of a series in a heartbeat.
The bullpen: You cannot say the Astros bullpen is a weakness with some of the better relievers in baseball anchoring the back end of the bullpen. However, it remains a concern heading into October, particularly with Roberto Osuna’s second half struggles and the aforementioned concern with Ryan Pressly’s health.
Osuna started off the season well and closed out September with an AL leading 38 saves, but he has been inconsistent. During a stretch in July and August, opposing hitters had an .830 OPS against him. Osuna has also been shaky at times in the postseason, including last season’s ALCS when he gave up 5 earned runs over 2 appearances for a 12.27 ERA. For the Astros to win, Osuna is going to need to be a lockdown closer or else hope that Pressly or someone else can step into the job to save games, much like what happened in 2017.
Will Harris has had a career year out of the bullpen with a 1.50 ERA, Josh James has the tantalizing near 100 MPH fastball, and Bryan Abreu may appear on the postseason roster with his dazzling stuff, so the Astros have other good options. Yet, if there is one area of the team that may be vulnerable, it’s the bullpen.
Randomness of October: When asked by the Wall Street Journal what are the odds of winning a five-
game series against any team, Astros GM Jeff Luhnow responded with “I don’t think it can be higher than 60-40 at any point in time.” That illustrates the pure chance that happens in baseball, where running into a hot pitcher or a hot lineup can help a David slay a Goliath.
The Astros need to look no further than 1998 when the Astros first 100 win team in club history featuring Randy Johnson was knocked out in the first round of the playoffs by a Padres club riding the dominant arm of Kevin Brown. Who knows how a ball will bounce that will determine whether a team goes on to win or lose a series? October baseball can often be a crapshoot with streaking teams getting hot at the right time.
For all of these concerns, the Astros still have a record-setting club and homefield advantage throughout the 
playoffs. They pitch well, hit a lot of homers, make a lot of contact without striking out, play good defense, and have the experience of a World Series title just two years ago. This does not mean they are going to dominate their opponent like a champion boxer against a tomato can, but they have all the essentials to win in October. Whether they will or not will come down to how they execute, but the team A.J. Hinch is bringing is better positioned to win a World Series than any other Astros team in history.
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