2025 is the year that it has become abundantly clear how urgently the Astros need to leave their past behind them. The majority of their championship staffers have left, and while a lot of the 2022 team still remains, they're not as essential as they were [barring choice examples like Framber Valdez and Jeremy Pena]. This year alone, the Astros have seen their perennial hero, Jose Altuve, struggle to competently play left field, their 2017-era fireballer Lance McCullers get lit up in a long-awaited return and then have to fend off death threats from sports betters, and their longtime favorite Alex Bregman have an incredible season...for the Boston Red Sox.
The dream may, in fact, be over. They're over .500, and in 2nd, but they're more human than they've ever been. They need to act like what they are, not what they were. Because it's a different team. Not better exactly, but different. And they need to embrace that.
For instance, right now one of the Astros' best hitters is Isaac Paredes, who they traded Ryan Pressly, another remnant of the 2010s teams, for. Paredes is an excellent power bat with some defensive third base perks, and he can plug into just about any lineup and be a consistent producer. So far he's hitting .267 with 19 RBIs and 6 homers, plus 40 hits overall. It's exactly what you need, even if it's not full Bregman style dominance. Similarly impressive is Jeremy Pena, who's hitting .315 with 6 homers and 23 RBIs. He's not the full flashy Carlos Correa type, but he's efficient and does his job. Hunter Brown, who's 6-1 with a 1.48 ERA, is coming to prominence not through overwhelming numbers like Keuchel, Cole and Verlander had, but just keeping people down and staying sharp. They've outgrown the 'villains of the MLB' thing I think, and nobody left [barring Altuve] really seems like a villainous force in the game. Even Ronel Blanco, who no-hit the Blue Jays out of revenge, has mellowed into just another solid starter.
The Astros are capable of taking off the pressure and just playing baseball, and so far they've been doing this. They're 2 games over .500, a game back from Seattle, and they're not forcing anything. So I'm not really threatened by the potential of them taking first. I don't think it'll last, as they have so many pieces that just aren't working [Christian Walker, Brendan Rodgers, Yainer Diaz, a lot of overblown rotation arms], but you can tell this iteration of the team is just taking it kind of easy at this point. A Hinch/Baker team wouldn't have done that.
I hope they continue at this pace. It'll be easier for me to manage. Though if Altuve suddenly shoots up to a home run lead or something and we start pretending he's MVP caliber, I'm gonna lose it.
Coming Tonight (?): Ironically a starter the Astros wanted this past offseason. But ultimately the D-Backs got him.
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