4 things that went horribly wrong for the Astros that cost them the ALCS

Kyle Tucker was a complete no-show in the ALCS for the Astros

In the postseason, teams need their best players to show up. Period. Sure, their will be unlikely heroes sometimes and those stories are fun to tell, but teams like the Astros need their stars to step up in the big moments to be able to win playoff games the vast majority of the time. Houston did get some big time production from guys like Yordan Alvarez, Jose Altuve, and Jose Abreu. However, one guy that didn't do much at all is Kyle Tucker.

After posting an .886 OPS during the regular season and nearly getting a 30/30 season, Tucker was almost nowhere to be found in the ALCS. In seven games, Kyle had just just four hits including two doubles, failed to drive in a single run, and was a complete non-factor for the most part although the five walks he drew were nice at least.

This was actually indicative of Tucker's performance overall this postseason as Tucker slashed just .150/.292/.225 during the 2023 postseason and that was after struggling last year during Houston's World Series run as well. Comparing his last couple of playoff runs to the strong work he did in 2020 and 2021 is like night and day.

While the Astros are still likely to try and extend Tucker before he hits free agency after the 2025 season, his struggles in the postseason of late should at least give the Astros pause before they hand him the megadeal he is clearly trying to get.