The Houston Astros, who finished the 2016 season third in their division with an 84-78 record, seem poised to make a run in 2017. With the Rangers seemingly taking a step back, and the Angels and A’s not making any big additions, this could be Houston’s year to finally win the AL West. The Mariners, and Rangers as well, both might have something to say about that, but the Astros clearly made the most impactful additions in the entire division to add to their already strong roster. The Astros made talents both in regards to talent, but also veteran leadership, something that this team truly lacked the last few seasons in this writers opinion.
POSITION PLAYERS:
Altuve is one of the best hitters in baseball, and will likely benefit from the additions Jeff Lunhow made in the offseason and will see many more pitches to hit. Jose hit .338 with 24 HR and 96 RBI last season and added 30 steals. Hopefully he will not need to have that kind of output power wise for the Astros to win, because being around 5 feet 5 inches tall, I don’t see him being able to emulate his 2016 season in the power department.
Bregman
Alex Bregman started 1-34 for his career in 2016, but really turned his season around gradually. He finished the season hitting .264 in 49 games played, to go along with 8 HR and 34 RBI. Bregman seems poised for a huge season in 2017, which will be his first full season at the major league level. A solid season from Bregman would go a long ways towards determing the teams final positioning in the standings.
Correa
Carlos Correa was disappointing in 2016, a year in which he hit .274 with 20 HR and 96 RBI. Like Altuve, Correa should benefit from increased lineup protection. Look for Correa to have a bounce back year, and potentially be in the 30 HR 100+ RBI.
The Astros lineup should be as dynamic as ever in 2017 thanks to the work of GM Jeff Lunhow. If the Astros had decided to close their check books and come back with the same team as 2016, they may have still bounced back, but they ended up signing multiple impact players. Luis Valbuena, who did have a solid 2016 season but was still very inconsistent and struck out way too much, and Colby Rasmus, who is now on the Tampa Bay Rays, are both gone. Their bats have been replaced by Josh Redick, Carlos Beltran, and Brian McCann(who replaces Jason Castro), not to mention full seasons from Cuban player Yulieski Gurriel and Alex Bregman. Evan Gattis returns as well after leading the team with 32 HR in 2016.
When looking at lineup depth around the MLB, this has to be up there as one of the most impressive, both in terms of power, contact, speed, and so on. Look for the Astros to start off hot, as they begin the season with 7 straight home games, and to continue to stay hot potentially threatening the 90+ win mark.