%20%20--%3E%0A%3Csvg%20version%3D%221.1%22%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20xmlns%3Axlink%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F1999%2Fxlink%22%20x%3D%220px%22%20y%3D%220px%22%0A%09%20viewBox%3D%220%200%201055.1%20200%22%20style%3D%22enable-background%3Anew%200%200%201055.1%20200%3B%22%20xml%3Aspace%3D%22preserve%22%3E%0A%3Cstyle%20type%3D%22text%2Fcss%22%3E%0A%09.st0%7Bfill%3A%23231F20%3B%7D%0A%09.st1%7Bfill%3A%230E203C%3B%7D%0A%09.st2%7Bfill%3A%23EC4324%3B%7D%0A%09.st3%7Bfill%3A%23FFFFFF%3B%7D%0A%3C%2Fstyle%3E%0A%3Cg%20id%3D%22Template%22%3E%0A%3C%2Fg%3E%0A%3Cg%20id%3D%22Layer_2%22%3E%0A%09%3Cpath%20class%3D%22st3%22%20d%3D%22M58.3%2C200.3h82.4c12.4%2C0%2C21.7-1.5%2C28-4.5c20.2-9.6%2C30.2-26.1%2C30.2-49.3c0-3.2-0.2-9.3-0.6-18.3h-65.1v14.9%0A%09%09c-0.9%2C3.9-3.4%2C5.8-7.5%2C5.8H73.2c-5%2C0-7.5-2.5-7.5-7.5V59.2c0-5%2C2.5-7.5%2C7.5-7.5h52.5c5%2C0%2C7.5%2C2.1%2C7.5%2C6.4v10.8h65.7V55.7%0A%09%09c0-16.3-3.8-28.3-11.4-36.1c-8.8-12.9-24.7-19.3-47.4-19.3H58.9C47%2C0.3%2C38%2C1.7%2C32%2C4.3c-21.3%2C9-32%2C26.1-32%2C51.4v88%0A%09%09c0%2C16.5%2C3.6%2C28.7%2C10.9%2C36.6C20.1%2C193.7%2C35.9%2C200.3%2C58.3%2C200.3z%22%2F%3E%0A%09%3Cpolygon%20class%3D%22st3%22%20points%3D%22596.6%2C64%20596.6%2C0.8%20400.1%2C0.8%20400.1%2C64%20442.7%2C64%20442.7%2C51.3%20466.1%2C51.3%20466.1%2C148.1%20442.1%2C148.1%20%0A%09%09442.1%2C199.9%20554.8%2C199.9%20554.8%2C148.1%20531.5%2C148.1%20531.5%2C51.4%20554.8%2C51.4%20554.8%2C64%20%09%22%2F%3E%0A%09%3Cpolygon%20class%3D%22st3%22%20points%3D%22942.4%2C148.5%20942.4%2C200.2%201055.1%2C200.2%201055.1%2C148.5%201031.8%2C148.5%201031.8%2C51.2%201055.1%2C51.2%201055.1%2C0.8%20%0A%09%09943.1%2C0.8%20943.1%2C51.3%20966.3%2C51.3%20966.3%2C80%20888.9%2C80%20888.9%2C51.3%20912.6%2C51.3%20912.6%2C0.5%20800.1%2C0.8%20800.1%2C51.4%20823.5%2C51.4%20823.5%2C148.6%20%0A%09%09800.1%2C148.6%20800.1%2C200.1%20912.6%2C200.1%20912.6%2C148.6%20888.9%2C148.6%20888.9%2C116.4%20966.3%2C116.4%20966.3%2C148.5%20%09%22%2F%3E%0A%09%3Cpolygon%20class%3D%22st2%22%20points%3D%22315.5%2C83.9%20299.6%2C34.9%20283.7%2C83.9%20232.2%2C83.9%20273.9%2C114.1%20258%2C163.1%20299.6%2C132.8%20341.3%2C163.1%20%0A%09%09325.4%2C114.1%20367%2C83.9%20%09%22%2F%3E%0A%09%3Cpolygon%20class%3D%22st2%22%20points%3D%22715.6%2C83.9%20699.7%2C34.9%20683.8%2C83.9%20632.3%2C83.9%20674%2C114.1%20658%2C163.1%20699.7%2C132.8%20741.3%2C163.1%20%0A%09%09725.4%2C114.1%20767.1%2C83.9%20%09%22%2F%3E%0A%3C%2Fg%3E%0A%3C%2Fsvg%3E%0A)
What Major Astros Record is Likely to be Broken Next?
Single-Season ERA and WHIP: Justin Verlander
Current Record: Nolan Ryan (ERA) and Justin Verlander (WHIP)
Relative to baseball history, the season that Justin Verlander is having on the mound has easily been the most impressive thing about the 2022 Astros so far. Not only is he 39 years old, but he’s coming off Tommy John surgery. For most pitchers, that automatically means the end of a career, but Verlander isn’t just in contention for the Cy Young Award. He’s in the running for the greatest season an Astros starting pitcher has ever had.
Verlander’s latest dazzling performance came against the Twins a couple of nights ago, as he struck out 10 and didn’t allow a run, a walk, or a hit across 6 shutout innings, only getting taken out of the game due to his high pitch count (91). It’s nearly dumbfounding as to how he continues to pitch like that despite all the things he has been through that would take a conventional starter out of baseball entirely.
He continues to prove, though, that he’s nothing short of extraordinary. The legendary Nolan Ryan holds the Astros’ single-season ERA title at 1.69, set in 1981. Verlander currently sits at 1.87, down from 1.95 which is what it was before his outing against Minnesota. To fully grasp how absurd his season has been, it must be appreciated that his ERA was 1.73 just three weeks ago, but it ballooned up to 1.95 after his next two starts. Yet, both those outings were still quality starts. A couple more shutout efforts of between 5 and 7 innings should put Verlander in striking distance of the coveted ERA crown.
WHIP is another standard statistic often used in harmony with ERA; it essentially measures traffic on the base paths. Verlander himself holds Houston’s single-season WHIP record after his Cy-Young-winning 2019 in which he posted a 0.803 mark. He’s currently at 0.846 in 2022, so he could surpass himself and kill two birds with one stone by setting the single-season ERA and WHIP record in the same year. The excellence of Verlander’s 2022 cannot be overstated, and he’ll be remembered for his efforts this year for a very long time to come.
Single-Season Slugging Percentage: Yordan Alvarez
Current Record: Jeff Bagwell/Richard Hidalgo
In terms of hitting, Alvarez has the chance to put together the best power-hitting single season that has ever been seen in Houston. While he has understandably cooled off since his other-worldly first half, Alvarez should still at least be in the top-5 or top-10 in AL MVP voting, and his current 2022 slugging percentage of .608 isn’t that far off from the team’s single-season record.
Although, there are conflicting opinions as to what that record really is because it’s impacted by the shortened season as a result of the player’s strike in 1994. In that season, Jeff Bagwell slugged .750 in 110 games. Alvarez isn’t going to come close to matching that, but Richard Hidalgo’s full-season record of .636 is in reach. Hidalgo had a short and inconsistent but overall impressive tenure with the Astros, and he set that mark in 2000.
If Yordan Alvarez goes on a hot streak in September, specifically one that features plenty of extra-base hits, he would then hold the Astros’ full-season slugging percentage record. Aside from Bagwell and Hidalgo, Lance Berkman slugged over .620 a couple of times in the 2000s. Moises Alou is also someone that Alvarez would have to surpass, as he slugged .623 in 2000. Despite that 2000 team featuring Bagwell, Hidalgo, and Alou, the Astros somehow only won 72 games due to a weak pitching staff.
Even if Alvarez doesn’t break the record this year, he’s an easy candidate to do so in the future. He’s only 25 years old and he has been one of the best power hitters in the entire sport since he debuted in 2019. At this rate, he could someday break the career records that players such as Bagwell and Craig Biggio hold today.
Most Silver Slugger Awards: Jose Altuve
Current Record: Jose Altuve, Craig Biggio (5)
It’s 2022, and Jose Altuve just keeps on hitting. The second baseman has been an elite hitter for nearly a decade, and this season could be the year that he surpasses Craig Biggio for the most Silver Slugger Awards in franchise history.
Awarded to the best hitter at every position in both leagues, the Silver Slugger is a prestigious honor and even though it shouldn’t be used as the primary tool to determine a player’s merit since it’s voted on by plenty of coaches with conflicting opinions, Altuve’s track record is undeniable either way. He won the award for AL second basemen each year from 2014 through 2018 but hasn’t won it since, so he and Biggio have shared the club record with 5 for a while now.
This is going to be one of the better opportunities he’s ever going to get, though. He’s slashing .280/.369/.504 on the season and leads AL second basemen with 21 home runs. Cleveland’s young phenom Andres Gimenez is his only competition, as his OPS is higher than Altuve’s by 3 points and his wRC+ (152) is higher by just 1 point.
Both Gimenez and Altuve have clearly been the best second basemen in the American League this year, and if they continue to have near-identical seasons at the plate, the voting will be close. While Altuve may be at a disadvantage among the voters because of lingering reputational effects from the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal, he has been one of the best hitters in franchise history either way and has earned every right to cement that legacy with another Silver Slugger in 2022.
Next. Just Released! Astros' 2023 Schedule Full of Intriguing Matchups. dark