Houston Astros — Balanced and Closing the Gap

Houston’s 2025 was defined by balance — a solid rotation, good bullpen numbers, and enough offense to stay in the race late. The missed the playoffs for the first time since 2016, after losing a tiebreaker to the Detroit Tigers for the final Wild Card spot in the American League. It was the end of an era in Houston. Bregman gone, Springer gone, Correa‘s back, but he’s not the same player, Altuve appears to be on his last legs, and Yordan Alvarez missed 114 games last season with injury.

The Astros aren’t dead in the water by any means, though. Jeremy Pena hit .304. Christian Walker and Jose Altuve led the offense, both putting up 26+ homers and 75+ RBIs.

Hunter Brown emerged as a Bonafide ace with a Cy Young-caliber season. The timing could not have been better considering that Framber Valdez will be taking the mound in Detroit next season. Pitching led the way for the ‘Stros, as they were 11th in team ERA, 3rd in quality starts, 6th in WHIP and 8th in opponents’ batting average. They struck out opposing batters at a blistering clip, trailing the Los Angeles Dodgers by just one for the league lead. But the bullpen was a point of concern. They had one of the worst units in the league in terms of ERA. All-Star closer Josh Hader is working his way back from injury, which should help, but time will tell if they struggle again.

The offense, however, was average at best. 12th in batting average, 15th in on-base and 15th in slugging. They were in the bottom third of the league in scoring, averaging just 4.2 runs/game (21st).

Biggest Needs
A marquee bat capable of tilting tight games and moments. Houston seems content to run it back with Walker, Correa, Altuve, and a returning Yordan Alvarez, but if last year is any indication, they need more. They are not far off, which is why it was surprising to see them stay quiet this offseason when it came to adding offense. All the noise came on the pitching side – the departure of Valdez and the addition of Japanese import Tatsuya Imai.

Our Take
Health could propel the lineup back to the top, but more likely, it looks like the run of success in the Space City is coming to an end. The core is aging, the offseason was quiet, the minor league pipeline is bare. Reinforcements aren’t coming and the AL West is getting tougher.

At this point, Houston’s best move is to start the rebuild. However, that may be difficult, as most of their best players are still under contract for a couple more years. They’d have to find someone that was willing to take on Correa’s or Alvarez’s contracts. Between them, Josh Hader and Hunter Brown, several contending teams could be clamoring for their services in October. Houston could replenish their farm system and re-stabilize their future.

As I said, I think the Astros could play themselves into the postseason in 2026, but right now, they seem like they’ll be riding the fence. One way or another, I expect that the Astros will have one of the busiest trade deadlines in baseball.