3 reasons why the Astros could win 100 games

The Houston Astros are off to a pretty good start to the season 24-13, atop the American League West. Justin Verlander is back and dominant as ever. Yordan Alvarez is scaring the daylights out of every pitcher he faces, and it’s been a surprisingly pleasant first part of the season.

Many of us at Climbing Tal’s Hill were vocal of the early season goals for this team looking to get back to the World Series. Which was pretty simple:

A. Stay around a .500 win percentage

B. Don’t get blasted with crippling injuries.

Houston mostly passed those tests. The Astros finished April 11-10 and then proceeded to pull off an 11-game winning streak. And until the recent injury to Jake Odorizzi, the Astros remained fairly healthy while their ace Lance McCullers Jr. inches back to the mound. Everything is going well for this Astros squad thus far.

But when will it go bad? When will the Astros have another tough stretch? When will the dog days of summer wear down this squad?

I got some news for you, pessimistic fans — I don’t think it’s happening.

For the record, I’m mostly optimistic about team performance. Some people might call me Pollyanna (it’s a book reference, look it up), some might think I’m being a homer. Heck, some might think I’m crazy and will go tell me to fly a kite — I might have one in the garage.

But here is why the Astros might be primed for a 100-win season.