2023 Astros ALCS Bound: 15 Interesting Astros Facts You Might Not Know

As the Houston Astros continue to defy the odds in sustaining on-field excellence, take a look at some facts you might not know illustrating how elite this era of Astros baseball has proven itself to be in the history of Major League Baseball.

1) The second best it’s ever been done—championship series style

By advancing past the Twins with a solid start from José Urquidy who delivered the closing blow in the divisional round, the Houston Astros now build upon their AL-record of six straight appearances in the American League Championship Series. Now that the Astros will appear in seven in a row when they face the Rangers in short order, they only trail the Atlanta Braves in MLB history, who in the 1990’s appeared in eight straight National League Championship Series.

2) Things just got awkward with the Silver Boot

For the first time in franchise history, the Astros will face the Rangers in the playoffs. With the Silver Boot already awarded to Houston this season when the Astros bested the Rangers in nine of 13 regular-season matchups, the question presents itself—if the Astros lose the series, should the Silver Boot be transferred back to Arlington? The answer may be yes. If one team beats the other in a playoff series, that accomplishment should supersede whichever team featured the better regular season win-loss record.

3) A first time for everything

The 2023 ALCS between the Astros and Rangers will mark the first time in MLB history that two teams based in the same state will face each other in a league championship series. The championship series in both the American and National Leagues began in 1969, and has occurred every year except 1994, when a player strike ended the season prematurely.

Additionally, though the Astros and Rangers have appeared in a collective six World Series, this upcoming matchup between the franchises marks only the second time the two teams have made the playoffs in the same year since 2015.

8) Altuve second in postseason home runs

Jose Altuve’s home run against Minnesota brings him one step closer to knocking out Manny Ramírez as the leader in this category. If Altuve manages to hit five more long balls—or dare it be written, six—he will go down as the all-time postseason home run king.

9) Bregman top 10 in postseason walks

Did you know—while Alex Bregman’s one walk against Minnesota in the divisional round might not seem like much, it leaves him only three bases-on-balls away from catching Albert Pujols for ninth-place on the all-time list? Talk about decision at the plate in the toughest moments and on the biggest stages.

10) Cristian Javier leads in key hits per game stat

Entering the upcoming ALCS against the Rangers, Cristian Javier ranks in first place in MLB history by allowing on average less than four hits per game over a sample size of at least 30 postseason innings pitched. So, he’s a particularly tough customer to get a hit off of when he’s dealing. He is the only pitcher in MLB history to pitch at least 30 innings in the playoffs and to average less than four hits surrendered per nine innings.

11) Cristian Javier ranks second in strikeouts per nine innings

If that was not enough, the right-hander also comes to life in the playoffs as a strikeout artist. Among all pitchers who have toed the rubber for a minimum of 30 innings in the postseason, Javier ranks second all-time to Trevor Rosenthal in the category of strikeouts per nine innings. After 15 postseason appearances and 37 innings of action, Javier averages a whopping 13.6 strikeouts per nine innings pitched. And top of that, Javier recently became the only pitcher ever to strikeout nine batters while surrendering one hit or less in multiple playoff appearances.

12) Ryan Pressly now top 10 in playoff pitching appearances

By competing in two games in the Astros series against the Twins, Ryan Pressly broke into the top-10 in MLB history in the category of postseason appearances by a pitcher. Pressly has now pitched in 42 playoff games and should pass Andy Pettitte during the ALCS with Mike Timlin (46 appearances) and Mike Stanton (53) next up after that.

13) Justin Verlander ranks first in career postseason strikeouts

Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan holds the regular season strikeout record with 5,714. But—did you know—no one has struck out as many batters as Justin Verlander in the postseason? Verlander’s 236 strikeouts continue to speak to his dominance even at a later point in his illustrious career.

14) Verlander ranks third in playoff innings pitched

Justin Verlander ranks third all-time in postseason innings pitched with 213. With five more frames under his belt, he will pass Hall of Famer Tom Glavine. However, he has a long way to go if he wants to catch first place Andy Pettitte who is the runaway leader at a whopping 276.2 playoff innings pitched.

15) Verlander about to become second all-time in playoff game starts

When Dusty Baker gives the baseball to Verlander to start game one of the ’23 ALCS, upon his first pitch, Verlander will unseat Tom Glavine for second place on the all-time list for postseason games started. Pettitte yet again is the leader in the category at 44 playoff starts.

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