Houston Astros captain reveals reason for turnaround

The Houston Astros have had an impressive month after starting their season as the most disappointing team in baseball. As usual, they found a way to stay afloat and are now rewarded for it, sitting just 1.0 game out of first place in the American League West.

Injuries have plagued the pitching staff and lineup early in the season, and with a new manager in Joe Espada, it’s hard to blame Houston for what happened. Still, they figured it out and are heading into the All-Star break with confidence.

Espada spoke about what changed, giving his team recognition for how they fought.

“The roller coaster is a good analogy for this,” Espada said, according to Greg Rajan of Houston Chronicle“There have been a lot of ups and downs, but I really like how we’ve bounced back.”

The Astros have generally been successful at every step of their journey over the past decade. They struggled for the first time in a very long time, and teams often fall apart when that happens.

Even if a team has this kind of success, dynasties have to end at some point. This seemed like the perfect time, but Houston doesn’t seem ready to give up just yet.

As the trade deadline approaches, there’s a good chance they’ll be even better than they have been over the past five weeks, giving them another chance to win a World Series.

Espada pointed to a few different moments where they came together and worked things out, pointing to the series against the Chicago White Sox in June as the turning point.

“I think our Mexico series was a series where we got a lot of stuff out of the way and we said it’s time to do it now,” Espada said. “We had some conversations as a team there and in the series against the White Sox (June 18-20 in Chicago) that I think were a turning point in our relationship. We set goals as a club and we achieved them.”

Since their series loss to the White Sox, the Astros have been the healthiest team in baseball, going 17-6 and winning six of the eight series they have played.

It was also without Kyle Tucker, as the All-Star left-handed hitter has been out since June 3 with a shin injury.

It will be interesting to see how the rest of the campaign plays out, as Houston appears to be in a great position with plenty of confidence.