Has it already been a month of full, for-real baseball? According to the calendar, yes. A month full of games, and so many more months of baseball to go. Likely as the calendar heats up, so too will the action, and the subsequent hot takes, ‘case what is 21st century sports without hot takes and instant analysis. Since are 25 years into said century, on with some reactions for the Astros and the season.
Meet the start of the 2025 Astros season, same as the other seasons: At one point in the season, the Houston Astros’ record sat at 7-9. Not exactly the scintillating start that Houston fans were hoping for, even if the squad lost Bregman, Tucker, Verlander and Pressly this offseason. Yet, if you’ve followed Houston these past 5 seasons, or even a little longer, Houston starting at least 2 games under .500 (or worse) is hardly an alien occurrence. Consider since 2020, the team has started its first 16 games no better than 7-9.
- 2020: 7-9
- 2021: 7-9
- 2022: 7-9
- 2023: 7-9
- 2024: 5-11
- 2025: 7-9.
If you want to set the calendar a little further back, the 2019 Houston Astros started 2-5, meaning that for a squad seen as the standard of dominance in MLB, they’ve managed to be at least 2 to 3 games under .500 at some point in the year. Granted, the squad usually kicks it into gear shortly afterwards. Also, all of those 7-9 starts saw the team at least end the season in the ALCS. Past performance does not guarantee future success, but a slow start does little to diminish what a season may bring for the team. At least, Houston fans are conditioned to not panic if the squad stumbles out of the gate.
The West, the wildest division(s) in baseball: One of the reasons that sluggish starts didn’t exactly derail Houston in the past centers on the overall status of the AL West. Aside from Houston, no other team in the division has really been on a dominant run. Yes, Arlington/Texas won the World Series in 2023, but to this point, aside from that magical 2023 postseason run, the Rangers have lost way more than they’ve won. When the A’s called Oakland home, they proved pesky playoff-caliber foes until Fisher decided to sell off talent and move the squad to Vegas (eventually). The Mariners have talent, but they only have one playoff appearance in 2022. As for Angels, well, consider that this team had Ohtani and Trout as MVP-caliber players and they haven’t finished over .500 since 2014, and well, that tells you about them, and the overall status of the AL.
2025. Well, it is early, but the AL West is shaping up to be an intriguing dogfight. Right now, no team is more than 2 games under .500, and no team is more than 4 games up. All somehow (as of 4/19) have a negative run differential (with Arlington, which leads the division, possessing the worst run differential with -14). Granted, this is all early, and likely the teams will separate themselves, but if the AL West went from a Triple Threat between HOU, ARL/TE,X and SEA to a Fatal Four-way or even a Quintuple Quandry, that would really add some spice to the season.
Compare that with the AL West’s counterpart, the NL West. As of 4/19, 4 of the 5 teams are over .500 and all have a positive run differential of 10 or greater. Consider the Dodgers, the defending champion and preseason darling to repeat. They at 15-6 and a +10 differential. They sit a half-game back of the Padres, but only 1.5 games ahead of the Giants and 2.5 games ahead of the Diamondbacks. All of this after an 8-0 start and visions of breaking the single-season wins record. Perhaps there is some fluk-ishness in the division, but the NL West could envision itself sending multiple teams to the postseason. This run is somewhat tempered by the Rockies, who actually have the worst record in baseball right now, one game back of the White Sox. Would any be surprised if the NL West locked up all of the Wild Cards spots and had a team break the loss record in the same season?
Speaking of the NL vs. the AL…the NL has the upper hand. Coming into the season, most projected the best teams in the NL, between the Dodgers, Phillies, Mets, Braves, Diamondbacks, etc. To an extent, save for the Braves’ nightmare 0-7 start, that has held to form. The Dodgers, Phillies, Mets and Diamondbacks are playing .600 ball or better. They are joined by the Giants and Padres, and the Cubs are working their way up the standings. As aforementioned, 4 teams in the NL West have run differentials over 10. By comparison, the AL has only 4 teams TOTAL with a positive run differential. True, run differentials aren’t the end-all, be-all for a team, but the NL teams seem to have more dominant wins than the AL squad.
As for the AL vs. NL…right now, the NL has a substantial lead in the win-loss department, holding a 54-41 edge. Several teams have yet to play interleague games, and also aforementioned, it is early. However, recent results do little to dispel the notion that the NL is the stronger league.
Certainly, there will be more instant analysis and quick judgments that may or may not hold up in the weeks and months ahead. Still, it is interesting to see how things evolve after the first few weeks of the year.