Astros: Top 10 individual seasons of the past decade

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As the decade comes to an end, here’s a look at the 10 best individual seasons by Astros players.

We’re feeling nostalgic here at CTH, as we’ve already looked at the best and worst free agent signings and best and worst trades of the 2010s. Now we’re looking at the 10 best individual seasons by Astros players in the past decade.

This includes both pitchers and position players, and each player is only included on the list once. So in the case of a Jose Altuve or Justin Verlander, for instance, who might have multiple seasons worthy of being selected, we take only that player’s best season and include it.

It’s essentially a look at the stats to see what kind of numbers they put up and how much better than the competition the player was. Winning awards and breaking records also factor into the equation, and sometimes it’s like splitting hairs trying to rank one ahead of another.

Unsurprisingly, the 2017 and 2019 seasons account for eight of the 10 individual efforts on this list. Of course we looked at all of the seasons of the past decade, but the first half of the 2010s didn’t have a great deal of worthy candidates for this list.

So without further ado, here are the 10 best individual seasons by an Astros player in the past 10 years.

WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 26: Will Harris #36 of the Houston Astros celebrates after retiring the side in the sixth inning against the Washington Nationals in Game Four of the 2019 World Series at Nationals Park on October 26, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /

10: Collin McHugh, 2014

McHugh’s first year with the Astros was arguably his best. He made 25 starts and posted an 11-9 record and 2.73 ERA. He struck out more than a batter per inning and posted a low WHIP of 1.022, establishing himself as a solid starter for the soon-to-be-contending club.

9: Carlos Correa, 2017

Correa could be higher on this list if he could have stayed healthy over the last three years. But his abbreviated 2017 was still excellent as he made the All-Star team and hit .315/.391/.550 with a career-best 24 homers in 109 games. He was worth 4.5 WAR in that shortened season.

8: Marwin Gonzalez, 2017

He was indescribably useful for the Astros, but not more so than in his breakout 2017 in which he hit .303/.377/.530 with 23 homers and 90 RBIs. He garnered some MVP consideration and was worth 4.1 WAR and posted a 156 OPS+ playing as the team’s Swiss-Army knife.

7: George Springer, 2019

Springer played in only 122 games but set career-highs in home runs (39), RBIs (96), WAR (6.2), batting average (.292), OPS (.974) and OPS+ (150). He earned his third All-Star selection and finished seventh in the MVP voting.

6: Will Harris, 2019

Seasons by relievers are sometimes difficult to value against those of players who play every day or throw 200 innings. But Harris’ 2019 was outstanding as he was worth 2.1 WAR, posting a 1.50 ERA in 68 appearances with a ridiculous 309 ERA+, meaning he was 209 percent better than league average. Even in just 60 innings, that’s worth a lot.

HOUSTON, TEXAS – OCTOBER 29: Justin Verlander #35 of the Houston Astros delivers the pitch against the Washington Nationals during the first inning in Game Six of the 2019 World Series at Minute Maid Park on October 29, 2019 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images) /

5: Dallas Keuchel, 2015

Part of what vaulted the Astros into contention was having a legitimate ace, and Keuchel was that guy in 2015. He won the Cy Young Award after going 20-8 with a 2.48 ERA, leading the league in innings pitched, batters faced, WHIP and shutouts. He was also an All-Star and won his second of four Gold Glove Awards.

4: Jose Altuve, 2017

Altuve has had several superb seasons, but this is the one that got him the MVP Award. He led the majors in batting average at .346, which is still a career best, and led the league in hits for the fourth straight year. He added 24 homers, 39 doubles and 32 steals and a career-best OPS+ of 160.

3: Alex Bregman, 2019

Tough call between Altuve and Bregman for this spot, but Bregman had superior numbers even though he didn’t win the MVP. He put up a 162 OPS+ and 1.015 WHIP, leading the majors in walks and putting up a ridiculous .296/.423/.592 line with 41 homers and 119 RBIs. His performance was worth 8.4 WAR.

2: Gerrit Cole, 2019

In almost any other year, Cole could have won the Cy Young Award. He went 20-5 with a league-leading 2.50 ERA, leading the majors in strikeouts (326), ERA+ (185) and strikeouts per nine innings. He made it into the Top 10 of the MVP voting and was the planet’s most dominant pitcher in the second half of the season.

1: Justin Verlander, 2019

In an effort to not rehash the Cy Young debate, Verlander led the majors in wins (21), innings pitched (223), WHIP (0.803) and hits per nine (5.5). He also led the league in strikeout-to-walk ratio and put up a 179 ERA+ and 7.8 WAR. He was consistently excellent all season and had arguably his best season yet.

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