Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos by the use of Getty Images
AL Wild Card Series: Bye
AL Division Series: 3-0 over Seattle Mariners
AL Championship Series: vs. New York Yankees
Why They Are Championship Material
It’s easy, actually. The Houston Astros are the one one of this season’s 4 100-win golf equipment nonetheless status, to not point out the one undefeated group of those playoffs.
They did not have the very best time dispatching the Seattle Mariners, however all somebody’s going to keep in mind years from now are the grasp house runs that were given the process completed. Namely: Jeremy Peña’s go-ahead shot within the 18th inning of Game 3 and Yordan Álvarez’s historical blasts from Games 1 and 2.
Houston another way owes its ALDS sweep to its bullpen, which treated 20.1 innings and allowed only one run. This is certainly the similar pen that led the majors with a 2.80 ERA within the common season, handiest now it has hard-throwing Cristian Javier to paintings in a multi-inning tole.
In spite of Justin Verlander’s 10-hit, six-run dud in Game 1 of the ALDS, the Astros even have the most efficient beginning trio of the 4 groups nonetheless left within the playoffs. Verlander, Framber Valdez and Lance McCullers Jr. pitched to a 2.34 ERA over their ultimate 24 begins of the common season.
Why They Are Not Championship Material
The Astros could have swept the Mariners, but the other may have took place if the Mariners had gotten some fortunate breaks and possibly made some higher choices.
It wasn’t a dominant effort on Houston’s phase, and there are angles from which that appears like a kind of microcosm. Whether this yr’s membership is as just right because the 2017, 2018 or 2019 iterations is controversial, in particular the place offense is anxious.
Plus, there may be room for worry with Verlander. It’s a favorable that his pace was once effective in Game 1 of the ALDS, but one nonetheless wonders how a lot gasoline a 39-year-old coming off Tommy John surgical operation will have left after 179 innings.
DraftKings World Series Odds: +140
These odds are good. If somebody has an affordable argument for why the Astros don’t seem to be the favourite for the World Series, we might truthfully like to listen to it.
Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference, FanGraphs and Baseball Savant.
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