Competitive Out of Spite

 

So...I have a theory about the Astros this year. And it's gonna sound odd coming from me of all people, who hates the Astros. 

Okay. So. You know how the Astros famously always beat the Yankees? Like, no matter when it is during the season, postseason or July or whatever, they always beat the Yankees? Maybe I've talked about it a few times, who knows. But until this year, it just happened. Y'know, 'hey, the Yankees might beat 'em this time! What's that? The Astros have put up 10 points already?'. And then, literal first series of the year, the Yankees take 4 from the Astros in Houston. And then they go to New York and lose two more. For the first time, the Yankees match up better against Houston, and it's a damning moment.

But what's very important is what the Astros have done in response to those six losses to the Yankees. Because I am genuinely convinced that the Astros are a competitive team this year solely out of spite for losing to the Yankees. 

Let's go back to that 0-4 start. Who do they play next? The Toronto Blue Jays. Who do they hand the ball to? Ronel Blanco. How many hits does he allow? Not a single one. I've already made the argument that the Astros no-hit the Jays because they were mad at being swept by the Yankees. But then they go to New York and lose two more. The moment the Astros finally win their first, and only, game against the Yankees this year is the definitive turning point in their season. Before that win they are 12-24. Twelve games under .500. And then they take off. From May 9th onward, they go 51-31. Right now they're holding onto first by a thread, hoping that the Mariners fade a bit more, at 63-55. 

So much of this team consists of people who were terrible in the first few months and just clicked into place down the stretch. Alex Bregman, Yainer Diaz, Hunter Brown, arguably Altuve and Alvarez. Framber Valdez is honestly a big example of this, he struggled with injuries and 2023-consistency-fatigue for the first part, and now he's pitched more innings than any Astros starter despite missing two or three starts. He's 12-5 with a 3.38 ERA, which is pretty great for this rotation [yes, I know Ronel Blanco has a 3 ERA but he also used tack so that's kind of on a curve]. Valdez, and not Verlander or Cole or McCullers, has become the face of consistency with the Astros' rotation, and it's good to see he's still strong despite a lot of work over the last few years. Like, he went 9 innings last week trying to no-hit the Rangers, and I don't really worry about his response. He's fine, he's come back from worse.

The response to this is 'well not everything revolves around the Yankees', which is nice. But the Astros, on numerous occasions, punched tickets to the World Series solely because they match up well against the Yankees, once or twice using nefarious means to do so. So to suddenly lose what used to be gimme series...has to be an ego check for the Astros. So them now becoming a league superpower again very much seems like a 'SEE? YOU THOUGHT WE SUCKED' kind of response to the Yankees.

Anyway I hope the Astros faceplant in the postseason. It's about time.

Coming Tonight: Just when you think he's cooling off for good, he still finds ways to outhit you.