By the numbers, the Astros' offense is absolutely elite

The Houston Astros are rising everywhere you look. In the National League West Standings. In power rankings put together by national outlets. And, perhaps most surprisingly, in the rankings for top team wRC+. 

MLB Standings by wRC+: Astros continue to climb the rankings

The Astros entered play on Saturday with a team wRC+ of 106, which was tied with the Toronto Blue Jays for the ninth-best mark in MLB. And on its face, that shouldn’t be a huge surprise considering they finished in the top-five of wRC+ in every season from 2021 to ‘24 and led all of MLB with a 115 wRC+ in 2021. 

But this year’s iteration of the Astros isn’t the same as those squads. 

Yordan Alvarez has been a negative player based on bWAR and is out for the foreseeable future due to a hand injury. Christian Walker was their big offseason acquisition and he has an OPS+ under 100. Jose Altuve entered June hitting .260. Yet. here they are.

Perhaps the biggest reason for that has been a career year from Jeremy Peña. Prior to getting placed on the injured list, Peña was slashing .322/.378/.489 with 11 home runs, 40 RBI, 11 steals and 18 doubles. He leads the Astros with a wRC+of 144, which is the 12th-best mark in all of baseball. 

The next biggest part of their jump has been the improved play of Jake Meyers. Though he’s also on the injured list (sensing a trend?) He was hitting .308 prior to getting hurt and put together a variety of huge games at the bottom of Houston’s order. 

Peña will be joined on the American League All-Star team by Isaac Paredes, who came over to the team from the Chicago Cubs as part of the team’s return for Kyle Tucker.  Paredes, who still has three years of team control left, has already equaled his home run total from last year (19) and is on-pace to set a new career-high in walk rate. 

While Alex Bregman has been a tick better than Paredes (Bregman has a 155 wRC+ compared to Paredes’ 133), Paredes has stayed healthy and isn’t getting floated in trade rumors. He’s not a complete player, but he’s a productive one who isn’t going anywhere any time soon. 

And lastly there’s Cam Smith. A rookie sensation, Smith learned the outfield on the fly in spring training and has hit .284 with seven home runs and 39 RBI while exclusively playing the position. 

But the road hasn’t always been smooth. The Astros put together one of their patented slow starts at the beginning of the season, but it felt a little different at the time because there was no Bregman or Tucker. 

Instead, they went from posting a team wRC+ of 88 in March/April to having a wRC+ of 116 in May thanks to strong months from Smith, Meyers and Mauricio Dubón. The offense hasn’t looked back since. 

We’re far enough into the season where it’s clear that Houston’s strong start isn’t a mirage. While there may be some bumps in the road in the second half, players like Smith and Paredes have done enough to earn some faith — and the stats back it up.

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