Houston Astros: Week 24 Round Up: The Immaculate Contention

After winning five of their last six games, Week 24 for the Houston Astros had a party going on right here. A celebration to last throughout the year!

The Houston Astros accomplished something no other team in the league ever has. With the clinching victory over the Seattle Mariners yesterday, the spacemen have now won division titles in 3 different league divisions. Those include the current AL West title, the NL West and the NL Central.

Additionally, this is the first time that the Astros have won a division title since 2001. The only other times they have entered the playoffs since were in 2004, 2005 and 2015. In all of those years, they were able to sneak in as Wild Card entries.

That all ended just yesterday afternoon to close out Week 24!

With a record that now stands at 91-58, the Astros cannot, and will not, take anything else lightly. They are still in another type of race altogether. One that will have them battling it out with the reigning AL champions, the Cleveland Indians, for best overall AL record.

As of right now in Week 24, the Astros only sit 1.5 games behind that feat. However, it will not be an easy one to come by. The spacemen have the Chicago White Sox, the Halos, the Rangers and the Red Sox to get through to round out the season.

But if Sunday’s game is any indication of things to come, the spacemen are clicking on all cylinders at just the right time. Here are some of the other news and highlights from Week 24:

Jake Day Soon?

A report put out by Brian McTaggart of MLB.com says that Jake Marisnick MAY come back should the Astros get into the World Series. The outfielder had successful surgery on his thumb after sustaining the injury while sliding along the base paths.

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That injury broke Jake’s right thumb. While he says he feels good, an injury of this caliber is one that Skipper A.J. Hinch will take lightly.

Call on the Colins!

Along with the news on Marisnick in Week 24, McTaggart also tweeted out that Colin Moran was activated from the DL shortly after the division clinching victory. According to Taggs, Moran will rejoin the team on Tuesday to be utilized as another infielder option.

The other Colin with an additional L, Collin McHugh, will take the Tuesday spot originally held by Lance McCullers. Hinch wants to take it easy on Lance’s arm, which has been battling fatigue in recent days.

Another quote from the skip suggests that McCullers may have to, for a short while, even be moved to the bullpen:

"“At this juncture of the season, we don’t have a lot of time for mistakes. We want to make sure he gets off the mound with some energy, with some effort and looks the part to be able to compete at this level. He’s feeling OK, but OK right now is not good enough to pitch in a game.”"

We’ll keep a close eye on what happens in the days and weeks to come!

Home Sweet New Home!

Justin Verlander made his home debut with the Astros yesterday to close out Week 24. In that gem, he pitched through 7 innings and 99 total pitches. Only one earned run was given off a solo shot to Ben Gamel.

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However, JV definitely had more than enough answers to that. The 6 time All Star only walked one and struck out 10. The veteran righty is proving exactly why he was such a precious commodity at waiver wire deadline time.

Verlander will make his next scheduled start this coming Saturday against the Halos. Here’s hoping that the spacemen will be celebrating another clinch by that time as well!

GO HOUSTON ASTROS!!!! AL WEST DIVISION CHAMPS!!!! #HOUSTONSTRONG!

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