Astros: Finding the good in a disappointing 2020 season

There are some silver linings in what has been a tough season for the Houston Astros.

We don’t need to sugarcoat it. This has been a rough year for the Houston Astros — painful, even. With nine games left in the season, the team hovers around .500 and faces the slight (but real) possibility of not making the playoffs a year after playing in the World Series.

We can cry foul with injuries and unlucky extra inning losses, but the fact of the matter is the team has not played to a championship level. And the rest of the baseball world is reveling in it from their own dugout, couch or phone.

Personally, I was looking forward to this season as an opportunity for the Astros to shut up the haters. I envisioned them winning around 40 games, mowing down the AL West and putting themselves in pole position to make it back to the October classic. Alas, with the plethora of injuries, a shaky bullpen and key players having down years, here we are.

Despite the team not meeting expectations, this season has not been a total loss. No, this is not me being a glass half-full person. This is me looking at the Astros in a big picture kind of way and seeing some great developments for this franchise for years to come.