Houston Astros: Offense and A.J. Hinch has kept team afloat

The Houston Astros have won 60 of their first 89 games heading into the all-star break. They are firing on all cylinders and closed out the first half with a 19-1 drubbing of the Toronto Blue Jays.

The Houston Astros are on pace to win 109 games, which is incredible. But what’s more incredible is how the Astros have been able to survive and maintain their record pace despite all the injuries to their starting rotation.

Here is what their starting rotation was supposed to be heading into 2017:

Now everyone knows that Colin McHugh hasn’t thrown a single pitch this season. So already that’s the team’s number three starter that has been gone the whole year. That’s already trouble for most rotations.

Now let’s consider the number of starts the rest of the rotation has missed:

Dallas Keuchel- Six starts
Lance McCullers Jr.- Two starts
Charlie Morton- Six starts

That’s not even including Colin McHugh’s replacement Joe Musgrove missing four starts due to injury as well. So to clarify, the Houston Astros have had 80% of their rotation suffer injuries that have kept them out for significant time. The only fully healthy pitcher has been their number five starter, Mike Fiers.

Yet here we are at 60-29. Now obviously the Astros offense is doing incredible things. It is balanced, deep, and talented as all get up. But even the best offense can’t overcome the deficiencies of a rotation that has been injured as much as the Astros rotation has this year by itself.

What has happened to the Astros rotation would doom most other teams to fourth place or the cellar in their division. But the Astros have not succumb to what would stop most teams from being a competitor.

That credit goes to A.J. Hinch. He has managed the team through these injuries with aplomb. All the moving parts of prospects coming up and down to fill vacant roster spots, having a locker room with more turnover than a poorly managed restaurant, and still the team is in first place in the American League by 10 games.

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Let’s not forget that Hinch also has had to deal with an inconsistent and overworked bullpen. The bullpen is sixth in the major leagues in innings pitched, yet 14th in ERA with a 4.10. The injuries in the rotation and the blow-up starts some of these newbies to the big leagues have had has led to a tired bullpen. But Hinch has done his darnedest to make it work.

The combination of A.J. Hinch and the ridiculous league leading Astros offense that leads the majors in runs scored by an absurd 32 runs has been nothing short of astounding.

Now all that is to say that the regular season only matters in terms of making it to the post season. Once you’re in the postseason anything can happen. In fact, since the beginning of the wild card era in 1995, only 32 percent of teams with the best record in their respective league have gone on to win the World Series.

Those are not great odds, especially compared to the NBA where the teams with the best record in their respective conference have won 63 percent of NBA titles in that same time frame.

Next: Team signs first round pick J.B. Bukauskas

The playoffs are still far in the distance though, so let’s just enjoy the first half of dominance. One that has not been seen in Astros franchise history. Congrats to the Astros and enjoy the ride Astros fans as we’re lucky enough to be witnessing a historic season.

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