After rough road, a reward
For the first time in franchise history, the team has reached the playoffs four years in a row
ARLINGTON — It took longer than all anticipated in a season shorter than anyone’s ever seen, but the Astros are playoff-bound for a fourth straight year. They endured a pandemic, a plethora of injuries and a month of poor play that threatened to derail their World Series aspirations, but the club can now at least have a chance to chase a championship.
Nothing arrived easy for this team, one loaded on paper but listless for some of this truncated season. Injuries ravaged them and inconsistency became their most common trait. Few games ever felt safe and fewer players distinguished themselves as totally reliable. A 9-21 road record has sunk them during a travel-logged September.
They played 24 one-run games and lost 14 of them. The latest loss, a 5-4 setback against the moribund Texas Rangers on Friday, momentarily halted Houston’s playoff-clinch celebration.
The Angels’ 9-5 loss to the Dodgers an hour later ensured the Astros a second-place finish in the American League West and a playoff berth as the No. 6 seed in the American League bracket.
“I’m happy about it,” said first-year manager Dusty Baker. “This is why I came here. This is what I expected from the team and what I expected from myself. It wasn’t an easy road. We got a bunch of obstacles, including the coronavirus and injuries and all kind of things. It’s very gratifying and I’m very grateful and thankful to be here.”
Houston’s journey begins with a best-of-three series starting Tuesday at the home ballpark of a yet to be determined opponent. It is the first time in franchise history the Astros have reached the postseason in four straight years.
Should the Astros win their first-round series, they’ll move into the playoff “bubble” in California, playing the American League Division Series at Dodger Stadium. The World Series will be held at Globe Life Field in Arlington.
Baker did not learn of the Dodgers’ win until his son, Darren, called him around 12:30 a.m. Saturday morning. A call from bench coach Joe Espada soon followed. Center fielder George Springer was not watching the game, either, instead more focused on a phone call with his wife, Charlise.
She asked Springer if he wanted some good news. The outfielder said “yeah, sure.”
“She told me that the Dodgers had won,” Springer said Saturday. “So that’s how I found out.”
Baker sat Springer and shortstop Carlos Correa during Saturday’s game against the Rangers to prepare them for the postseason. He allowed first baseman Yuli Gurriel a day at designated hitter, too.
Baker became the first manager in major league history to lead five different franchises to the postseason. He’s won 1,892 games during a 23-year managerial career, a Hall of Fame tenure missing only one milestone — a World Series championship.
The Astros hired Baker in February to settle tumult around the franchise amid fallout from its electronic sign-stealing scandal. Baker braced for a season unlike any in major league history: one filled with fragile psyches and venomous fans in each road city.
Instead, the 71-year-old man managed in a mask amid a global pandemic. His established hitters did not produce. His lethal lineup has a meager .720 OPS — 20 points below the league average. All of his relievers either spent time hurt or ineffective. Most of them were not even on the major league radar when the season began.
“You got to appreciate every moment that you get to make the postseason. It’s very special every single year that we make it,” Correa said. “It’s been a roller coaster type of season for us. Ups and downs, a lot of injuries here and there. But we’ve been able to accomplish the first goal, which was to get to the playoffs. Now we have to go out there and get hot.”
The season started with World Series dreams, but devolved into a secondplace slog throughout September. Houston is only 1015 this month, undone most days by their tepid offense and others by a brutally inconsistent bullpen. Faint hope for Justin Verlander’s return ended earlier this month with the announcement he’ll undergo Tommy John surgery, delivering another emotional blow to a beaten-up team.
Verlander, closer Roberto Osuna and reigning American League Rookie of the Year Yordan Alvarez appeared in a total of seven games. Alex Bregman and Jose Altuve each spent at least two weeks on the injured list, too.
Pair that with underperformance from Altuve, Correa and Yuli Gurriel and the Astros seemed a shell of the team that reported to West Palm Beach, Fla., in February. They could not defend their American League West title, ceding it to the Oakland A’s last week. The A’s are among the teams Houston could face in its first-round series. The Astros lost seven of 10 games against them in the regular season.
An otherwise awful American League West allowed the Astros to be viable postseason contenders despite their doldrums. They feasted on the Rangers, one of baseball’s worst teams, and mauled the rebuilding and still raw Seattle Mariners in July. Two of their most vital wins this week in pursuit of the postseason came against those two clubs. Both are under .500.
The Astros, meanwhile, reside right at 29-29.
“When we get hot, we’re a scary team,” Correa said. “Hopefully, we can carry that into the playoffs.”