Houston Astros: Power Potential and Predictions

Breathe in, breathe out Astros fans.

This is my advice for “Astros Twitter” after this atrocious opening series from just about every pitcher not named Dallas Keuchel. It’s really easy to get frustrated because it is warranted. However, let’s remember we still have 98.15% of the season left to go.

Last season the Astros led the AL in ERA, so I know that we will be fine in that category. Ken Giles will end up very solid, Lance McCullers will be back soon, and Collin McHugh will not finish with a 135.00 ERA. Saying there is a lot of baseball left is an understatement, so relax you over reactors.

While it’s easy to find the negative in the first series, it’s just as easy to find the positives if you look at our lineup. This is arguably the deepest lineup in baseball and anyone 1-8 can send one in the seats very easily. The only “hole” I can find in the lineup is the catching position, but Jason Castro has shown he can go on hot streaks, they just never seem to come around as often as us Astros fans would like.

Back to the first eight, they have a chance to all hit twenty-plus long balls, yes even possibly Mr. Jose Altuve himself (although not likely). These are my home run predictions for the Astros lineup, assuming no injuries. Remember, predictions are always right.

Altuve – 14
Springer – 39
Correa – 36
Rasmus – 26
Gomez – 24
Valbuena – 28
White – 22
Tucker – 31
Castro – 15

Preston Tucker might seem like the outlier, but I am a big Tucker fan and believe a full season of at-bats would really pay it’s dividend in the power department. I understand Evan Gattis is coming back soon, but I believe Tucker finds a way to keep his bat in the lineup.

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Between just the starting 9, that is 235 home runs, which would have led baseball by 3 last season. Not to mention A.J. Reed‘s inevitable call up along with Marwin Gonzalez adding in his 12 or so. However, I believe that is what this lineup is capable of, and let’s not remember my name on twitter is “Astros Optimism” so I guess I am living up to it right now.

My point of this article is that this lineup, in my personal opinion, has more power than any other in baseball. While the best offense absolutely lies in Toronto, Houston will give them a run for their money with the long ball, eclipsing their mark of 232 from last season.

Next: Chris Devenski called up to replace Michael Feliz

Just a couple years ago I knew I could go shower after George Springer‘s at-bat and not miss a thing. From the looks of it, 2016 will be the year of the late night shower for me.

**Statistics provided by Baseball-Reference**