Astros: Three bold predictions for the regular season

As the regular season begins on April 1, the Houston Astros are still dealing with injuries to pitchers, relying on prospect for depth and looking at a shell of a Word Series team. Although this team won’t look fully complete until June, there is still a lot to be excited about.

While being the frontrunner for the American League West, there are always bold predictions to make about a team that has a high ceiling. With a fully healthy squad, this Astros team could make a deep run into the postseason, while the future of expiring contracts are still a question mark to be answered.

In 162 games, here are three bold predictions for the Houston Astros.

There are a few banged up players entering the 2021 season, and while not having an exact timetable on most of them, the Astros have been a team of progression. We have seen this in the past five seasons, especially with the postseason in 2020.

With the goal always being the last team standing, Houston might be looking at their final season with that in mind. As the contracts of Zack Greinke, Carlos Correa, Justin Verlander and Yuli Gurriel are coming to a close, next offseason might bring in a new wave of Astros’ players.

1. The Astros will have the best lineup by October

As Yordan Alvarez makes his return to the Astros’ lineup, after only playing in two games in 2020, my first bold prediction will be that the team finishes as the best lineup in baseball. With a healthy Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman and Carlos Correa entering 2021, you can’t expect these guys to be battling the same injuries and internal demons this season.

There have been countless reasons to why the the sign stealing scandal didn’t benefit these players, and to make it even better, only four players in the lineup were on the 2017 team. As the hate can be used as full, the team is sending out four All-Star players, while two others are due to receive votes in Alvarez and Kyle Tucker. While balancing a good set of right-handed and left-handed bats, MLB.com currently has the Astros listed as the sixth best lineup in baseball. If they hit to their potential, they are due for a big offensive season.