AL West leader: Houston Astros
The Astros are loaded. We don’t know how the remainder of the season will play out. But right now it would be fair to say that any team other than Houston winning the World Series would be an upset.
Your daily MLB standings update. #Astros now hold at least a 13.5 game lead in the AL West. Heading to Kansas City for a 4-game series. pic.twitter.com/aDIObWWY3i
— Climbing Tal's Hill (@astrosCTH) June 5, 2017
Finding flaws on this team is not easy. But let’s do it in another way. Let’s all pretend that we have crystal balls that look into October and can tell that some team will upend the Astros. What’s most likely to have gone wrong to make that happen?
Houston may rely too much on power.
The Astros have stolen only 29 bases, tied for 13th in baseball. As we’ve already gone over, hits and walks can be hard to come by in the playoffs. The depth of starting rotations and bullpens is just not tested as much in the regular season.
Every base runner is a potential rally. If the Astros are going up against a top pitcher having a strong day and manage to get someone on base, can they get that guy around? It’s at least something to wonder about. If nothing else, Houston’s hitters should spend some time through the season’s final four months trying to be more aggressive on the bases.
Now, if you see that and think we’re just nitpicking, know that you’re not entirely wrong. But the Astros are well on their way to the playoffs. We’re now trying to figure out how they can win a World Series. When that’s the goal, nitpicking is a necessity.