Houston Astros have an easier finish to the season than the Oakland Athletics

There are only 25 games left in the season and the Houston Astros have a slight lead on the Oakland A’s. Fortunately, the Astros have an easier road to the end of the season.

At the beginning of the season, if you told me the Houston Astros would be locked in a battle for AL West pennant race with Oakland A’s to start September, I’d have called you crazy. But, here we are a few days into September and the A’s only sit three games back of first place in the division.

The Astros and A’s faced off for the last time this year, in the regular season, the last few days of August. The Astros won the series two games to one which helped extend their lead over the A’s. The Mariners helped out the Astros a little bit as they stole one from the A’s in this past series.

As the season winds down in the month of September, the Astros have a slightly easier schedule to finish the season, which, should hopefully help them seal the deal and win the AL West pennant. The Houston Astros strength of schedule over the final 25 games, 12 of which are at home, is .466. The A’s, on the other hand, also have 25 games, but only 11 at home. Their strength of schedule is .484. This SOS is according to Baseball Prospectus.

The Houston Astros have eight series left this season. Last night, they wrapped up a series with the Angels. Their final opponents will go as follows: hosting the Twins, at the Red Sox, at the Tigers, hosting the Diamondbacks, hosting the Mariners, hosting the Angels, at the Blue Jays and ending the year at the Orioles.

The A’s final eight series are slightly different than the Astros. They host the Yankees, then host the Rangers, then they’ll travel to the Orioles, then to the Rays, then back home to host the Angels, then the Twins will visit Oakland, they’ll then wrap up the season on the road against the Mariners, and their last series will be in Los Angeles against the Angels.

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So, excluding order, the Astros will face the Red Sox while the A’s face the Yankees and the Astros will face the Diamondbacks while the A’s face the Rays. The Red Sox and Yankees both have faltered every so slightly but they’re both still powerhouses. The Diamondbacks have been slipping as of late and are currently in third in the NL West. The Rays have been surging but are still out of the playoff picture.

So, the differences are minuscule and in all actuality, teams can get hot in an instant and slump just as quick. So, this point could be rendered moot in a very short amount of time. But, for now, the Astros appear to be in a slightly better position than the A’s to finish the year.

However, it’s going to take more than an easier schedule to lock down the AL West pennant and escape the Wild Card. The Houston Astros are going to need guys like Tyler White to stay hot and guys like Carlos Correa to find their rhythm at the plate. The Astros are going to need guys to step in a bullpen that has been faltering a little bit more to regain their prior dominance.

So, this, by no means, guarantees the Astros the pennant right now. The Astros still have to show up and handle their business but, it at least appears that this team will have an easier road to the pennant than the team their battling with.