Bold predictions for MLB’s second half

Houston Astros win 110 games

We haven’t forgotten about Houston. As good as the Dodgers and Diamondbacks have been, the Astros have been a shade better. Houston has baseball’s best record, and with five All-Stars it’s not hard to see why.

You want to try to beat them in a slugfest? Good luck with that.

Maybe a hot pitcher can thwart them, but don’t expect that to happen often. No team has struck out fewer times than the Astros. Even if that strategy works, the Astros have MLB’s fifth-best team ERA. They’re well equipped for pitcher’s duels.

We’re not expecting any kind of drop from this team. Houston is on pace to win 109 games and if anything, look for that pace to get even hotter.

Now, we know that the Astros are good. But they’re also not being pushed. They’re 14.5 games clear of the second-place team in the AL West (the Los Angeles Angels) and are 8.5 ahead of the Boston Red Sox for the AL’s best record. If they’re not being pushed, why can’t we expect just a tiny drop?

First of all, Houston is so much better than most of its opponents that a drop just may not matter. Secondly, for the first time in MLB history, a team’s record will matter all the way through the postseason. Records have mattered when determining home field advantage in the league playoffs for a long time. But in terms of the World Series, home field advantage has always been predetermined by either the alternate year system, or the All-Star Game. That’s not the case any more. Home field will go to the league champion with the best record.

Do the Astros really want a Game 7 of the World Series where they’d have to bench two of Brian McCann, Evan Gattis and Carlos Beltran? With no DH, that’s a realistic scenario. Look for Houston to push hard through the second half to become only the seventh team in MLB history to win 110 or more games.