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Even for the most optimistic Houston Astros fans, it is becoming very hard to see a situation where the Astros can find a way to make a deep postseason run this year or even make it to the playoffs at all. Houston is 10 games below .500 with a really tough schedule coming up and now they are down yet another pitcher with JP France set to be out for a while with a shoulder injury.
Is a turnaround possible? Of course it is, and this Astros team has some of the best players at multiple positions on their roster on paper at least (and if you ignore how some of them are playing in 2024). Still, at least one media outlet thinks that the Astros are going to still make the playoffs this year against all odds.
Bleacher Report's coping about 2024 Astros is a real reach
B/R's rationale is pretty straightforward. The betting markets seem to still have the Astros alive in the hunt for a playoff spot and given the team's and it's players' track records, a significant turnaround should be coming. They did recognize that usually when a team has a record as bad as the Astros' is, a comeback usually never comes.
Still, B/R is wagering that guys like Alex Bregman and Josh Hader will each figure things out and that will be enough for the Astros to make a run. However, their surface-level guess here ignores some fundamental realities about the 2024 Astros and the position they find themselves in.
It is no longer enough for the Astros to just return to form given the hole they have dug. Not only would Hader have to earn his hefty payday and get back to being a dominant closer, the rest of the Astros bullpen needs to get its act together, and Alex Bregman needs to start hitting. The entire Astros lineup is going to have to start playing like the 2019 offense that went absolutely wild, if we're being honest.
If there were actual signs that this was starting to happen, this is a different conversation. However, the Astros have been mediocre at best lately and once again got dominated by the Yankees. Astros fans may be getting a healthy dose of copium from Bleacher Report's take here, but the reality looks a whole lot messier.