Introduction
The Houston Astros won the 2022 World Series by beating the Philadelphia Phillies 4-2. The World Champs return with most of their lineup intact with one very important addition in Jose Abreu. The rest of the roster remains unchanged except for the significant departure of Justin Verlander, who won the AL Cy Young. The Astros have proven the last six years or so with six straight ALCS appearances that they are a dynasty. There isn’t much weakness on this team which consistently finds a way to win games. It’s very impressive. The only question to ask is can the Astros repeat as World Series Champions? The MGM Power Ranking list puts them 4th with an odds of +650 to repeat a World Series victory.
Batting Lineup
The Astros lineup is easily one of the best. Even their catcher Maldonado hit 15 homeruns last year. They did switch up a few players but you can’t tell. Chas McComick slots into a starting role at 8th. Most importantly the new first basemen, Jose Abreu will bat 5th behind Yordan “YorDONG” Alvarez. I thought bringing in Abreu from the White Sox was brilliant on the part of the Astros front office. The starter at first base last season was Yuli Gurriel who had an slash line of .242/.288/.360/.647/ with a 84 OPS+. Meanwhile Abreu had an OPS+ of 133. This is a major upgrade for the Astros. My standout is Jeremy Pena, who showed out during the playoffs, winning ALCS and World Series MVP. I think Pena has done a brilliant job of replacing Carlos Correa. However you’d like to see some progression in the form of more consistent hitting. Overall, I think any opposing pitcher facing this lineup should be a little terrified of this lineup because it’s very good.
Starting Rotation
The Astro’s starting rotation is just as ridiculously good as their lineup. If you’ll notice all their pitchers are now homegrown talents. They may have lost Verlander to my Mets but they still have 5 really great pitchers. My standout is Lance McCullers Jr. who has the potential to win a Cy Young if he stays healthy. Otherwise I think Valdez and Javier bring one of the better one-two punches in the majors. At the back end you have Garcia and Urquidy who were solid. Overall I love this rotation and expect them to be in the top 10 of most categories.
Bullpen
The Astros bullpen was absolutely locked down last season and you can see why. There isn’t really a bad pitcher in this bullpen. The Astro’s pitching coaches have seriously figured out how to get the best of these guys. It’s really hard to pick a standout but Ryan Pressly and Rafael Montero have a case to be it. In fact, I don’t know if there is a better 7th, 8th and 9th combination than Abreu, Montero, Pressly. Possibly the Mets with Robertson, Ottavino and Diaz. But regardless, the Astro’s bullpen will be in the top 5 of all bullpens in the league.
My Prediction
The Astros have to be favorites to win the World Series again. I’ll be straight with you if you are fan of the Astros then you obviously know how great this team is. But if you are a fan of another team like I am, I am scared for my Mets to make it all the way to the World Series just to face these Astros. That being said, in their division I don’t see any team coming too close just yet. The Mariners could certainly start to challenge them. I almost certainly expect regardless of record, the Astros to be back in the ALCS. My prediction is a worst record of 98-64 and a best record of 107-55. The floor and ceiling is 1st place in the AL West. It’s hard to doubt the Astros now.
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Thanks to Baseball Reference and Fangraphs for the charts and statistics!
Technically Analytics 