There was suddenly a different feel around the Houston Astros on the last day of the regular season when they won the American League West division. It was their eighth division title in the last nine full seasons, and it felt like the postseason could turn the page and set up the Astros to make some noise in October.
Well, the season didn't even get to October as the Astros got swept 2-0 in the Wild Card round at the hands of the Chicago White Sox. The opponent didn't age particularly well as well either, as the White Sox lost the ALDS 3-2 and blew a 2-0 series lead over the Cleveland Guardians.
The Astros won the division with an 81-81 record, which is the worst team record ever to make the playoffs. With the regular season records wiped clean, all the celebrations in Sacramento, California and a series win over the Athletics, could that have translated into momentum in the postseason?
The answer was a resounding no. That did not happen at all. Ultimately, the 81-81 regular season record was a true testament to what the Astros were in 2026. Any other belief just wasn't real with this team. A .500 mark is never good enough to make the postseason, but it was for the 2026 AL West champion.
At the end of the day, the Astros benefited from being in their poor division and were the last team standing. The golden era has been over for a few years now, and the postseason powerhouse that the Astros were is not the same anymore.
Never a Real Postseason Threat in 2026
It'll be a completely new era managing-wise as manager Joe Espada's contract was not renewed and the Astros are also searching for a new general manager after Dana Brown was let go on Aug. 24.
There was a belief that a short three-game series at Daikin Park could be favorable given the struggles in pitching depth, and the Astros were also 5-2 against the White Sox in the regular season. This was a matchup that Houston was familiar with.
Even with no playoff experience, it was the White Sox showed more quality than the Astros. All the issues that made the Astros a .500 team showed up dramatically in the two games.
Chicago drove runners in scoring position home, while also throwing strikes when pitching and avoiding walks. The Astros had issues at times during the year with RISP. Houston had 318 hits in that situation, which was 21st in baseball. It was also 19th in runs scored.
That isn't a formula for winning in the postseason. Houston led the majors in home runs and that was shown in Game 2 with three solo shots. The Astros also hit one home run in Game 1.
However, when the big moment came, the Astros didn't come through. Solo homers weren't enough. The pitching disaster also showed up in each game. Hunter Brown didn't really look like a strong ace this season, and he completely collapsed in the biggest start of the season.
Starting pitching struggled to go deep into games all year, and that was one of the biggest problems. It reared its ugly head big-time. Brown pitched 0.2 innings and gave up three runs along with five hits and one walk. The defense also failed to support Brown enough in the regular season and that's what happened in the first inning in Game 2 as well.
The bullpen was overworked and also cracked. There was never enough starting depth; that's why the Astros had to start AJ Blubaugh in Game 1. The injury to Cristian Javier didn't help. Blubaugh only went 0.2 innings and gave up three walks along with one hit. Houston had eight walks total in the two-game sweep.
The Astros bullpen had its highs and lows, and that was also evident in the short series. Bryan Abreu gave up the three-run homer by Chase Meidroth that put the game away in the seventh. Houston needed three pitchers to get through two innings. Pitching needs a massive upgrade for 2027
The offense's reliance on MVP candidate Yordan Alvarez was also demonstrated when he couldn't come through in the postseason this time around with a one-for-eight mark.
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