BALTIMORE -- If this week in the Charm City was indeed an ALCS preview, the defending World Series champion Astros might have left not having made as impactful a statement as they’d hoped. But they nonetheless spent the week reminding everyone they’re still here.
Even after dropping Thursday’s matinee finale, 5-4, to the Orioles at Camden Yards, Houston remains one of baseball’s hottest teams, winning eight of its last 11 games and 15 of its last 22.
“We’re playing well,” manager Dusty Baker said. “We still have a couple key guys that are just getting their strokes, so our future is very, very bright.”
Here are three things going right at the moment for the Astros, who appear to be hitting their stride as they head home for Justin Verlander’s return to Minute Maid Park on Friday.
1. Jose, Jose Jose, Jose
The Astros have been remarkable in their ability to not only survive Jose Altuve’s absences this season, but play well, going 37-25 across the two extended stretches Altuve has missed due to injury in 2023. But they are undoubtedly a more complete club with their All-Star second baseman and spark plug leading off and playing every day.
So maybe it’s no coincidence they’ve played some of their best baseball of the year behind a surging offense since Altuve (and Yordan Alvarez) returned from the injured list on July 26. Altuve, as usual, has been the catalyst: hitting .420 with an AL-best 15 runs scored during his season-high 12-game hit streak. On Thursday he followed up Wednesday’s three-hit game with a four-hit effort that included a game-tying home run in the seventh.
All told, Altuve went 8-for-14 with six runs and four RBIs over the three-game set.
“He’s looking better,” Baker said. “It was just a matter of time.”
Despite being limited to 45 games due to a broken thumb and, more recently, a minor oblique issue, it’s shaping into another excellent year for the eight-time All-Star. He’s hitting .305 with 11 steals and a .930 OPS this season.
“I feel really good,” Altuve said. “I feel healthy, thank God, and happy to play every day now and feeling better at home plate, on defense and running bases. Every day, better and better.”
2. Two-headed monster
Houston’s high-flying lineup is excelling in part because of Altuve, and because the guys behind him are red hot, too. Kyle Tucker is putting up MVP-like numbers, and with Alvarez swinging well since returning with Altuve, the heart of Houston’s order is looking really scary again. The Astros are averaging 5.6 runs per game since that date, with 23 homers in those 14 contests.
“I think [Alex] Bregman, Tucker and Alvarez hit every inning,” O’s manager Brandon Hyde said. “I’m going to check to see if they were hitting out of order, because I feel like they hit eight times a game.”
Tucker, meanwhile, is right in the thick of everything. He homered twice and drove in seven runs over this week’s three-game series and has 28 RBIs in 25 games since the All-Star break. That’s the most among AL hitters in that span.
3. Stable loaded
Houston’s veteran starters aren’t the only ones who should benefit from the club’s temporary move to a six-man rotation. The arrangement should also be good for rookie right-hander Hunter Brown, who after six-plus innings Thursday is rapidly approaching his career high of 126 1/3 set last year between Houston and Triple-A Sugar Land.
“I feel good physically,” Brown said. “Just got to keep making adjustments, getting better and try to make some quality starts and chew up some innings for our team.”
It’s been an up-and-down rookie year for Brown, but he’s been excellent lately and was again Thursday before running out of gas late on a steamy Baltimore afternoon. He struck out seven and didn’t walk a batter but was done in by Adley Rutschman’s leadoff homer and Ryan Mountcastle’s game-breaking two-run shot in the seventh.
Even in defeat, Brown quietly continues to put together an intriguing case in the AL Rookie of the Year race, which appears wide open again after Rangers third baseman Josh Jung’s serious thumb injury. Brown leads AL rookie starters in wins above replacement (2.1 entering play Thursday, per FanGraphs), strikeouts (137), innings and is tied for first in wins.
“They have a special one in Brown,” Hyde said. “That is a big-time arm that’s impressive on video and incredibly impressive in person. They developed another top-of-the-rotation arm, so good for them.”