HINCH DOING WHAT HE CAN.
That Hinch has gotten as much mileage as he has out of a patchwork lineup and rotation is grounds for applause
The Astros are almost dead. It’s about time. Dallas Keuchel, Lance McCullers, Alex Bregman and Luis Valbuena out of sight during the heat of late September.
The Rangers proving for the second consecutive season that they really are the best baseball team in Texas, with Arlington’s premier athletic product unafraid to spend major cash and make big moves like a true October contender.
A.J. Hinch’s rickety club somehow still hanging on at the end of a chaotic six-month marathon, which could finally end next Sunday near Disneyland.
After a third consecutive home letdown to the lowly Angels — 10-4 Los Angeles on Saturday via another late-inning bullpen breakdown — just seven guaranteed contests and a minuscule 2.4 percent playoff probability remain for an increasingly shaky team that’s now three games out of the final AL wild-card spot.
No matter what happens in the season’s final week, it’s amazing Hinch’s Astros even made it this far.
They entered Saturday ranked fourth out of 30 teams in hitting strikeouts, 14th in runs scored, 16th in OPS and 25th in batting average. The combined ERA of a starting staff shredded by injuries and attrition was 15th, while closer Ken Giles had reverted back to his shellshocked April form.
The state of the 81-74 Astros: average on a good day; grasping at life and hoping for a last-minute miracle the final month.
81-74 yet again
But there was still a dream shot, and 2016 was somehow still alive. And this marks the second consecutive September that baseball has mattered in this city while the all-consuming Texans have messed with our emotions.
More realism: Guess what the Astros’ record was at this point last year.
An identical 81-74 for an inspiring team that ended up six outs from cutting down the eventual World Series champions and had Minute Maid feeling like the hottest club in town.
So if it all suddenly ends again Tuesday, Thursday or next Sunday, how can this season be a letdown? Why would no playoffs in 2016 be such a huge disappointment?
All that silly World Series talk in spring training didn’t help.
Maybe the Astros still have it in them. Win out, make the run of all runs and honor the October glory of last year’s Royals.
But if the end really is nigh, all the amateurish chest-puffing in Kissimmee, Fla., will look weakly premature for a team that has spent the last two seasons clinging to the hope of the cheapest postseason spot available.
Should you freak out about the Astros’ immediate future, though? No way. The Tigers and Orioles are better teams than these Astros, but both were almost within reach before Saturday’s schedule became Ws and Ls. The Mets, Cardinals, Giants and Pirates are stronger on paper, yet all four clubs were about the same or worse than a team that started this season in a 17-28 nosedive.
For the second straight year, Hinch has done more with less. And whichever way the Astros go in the final week, the overall direction of this rebuilt franchise remains on course.
It could use an offseason turbo boost, though.
In need of some help
The rotation hasn’t been this thin since the Bo Porter days. Keuchel and McCullers already are set to enter the spring of 2017 with spotlights on their backs.
Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa have been forced to carry too much weight for too long, while first base and every outfield position except Springer’s have been season-long question marks.
The best-in-the-West Rangers aren’t going anywhere. The Mariners took the field Saturday as the second-strongest team in the division and have continually outspent the Astros
Hinch’s club? Massaged, propped up and glued together since the trade deadline. But rarely dangerous and even more unpredictable than it was last year — in a bad way.
There’s a reason the Astros are falling apart at the worst possible time: They’re a shell of their peak 2015 selves and Hinch has received little help when he has needed it most.
But whether there’s a miracle or, at last, a 2016 tombstone in the final week, you shouldn’t have any drastic thoughts.
These Astros are still finding their way. It’s hard to believe Hinch has been able to guide them this far.