American League West teams saw some pretty significant improvements entering into the 2022 season, leaving many to wonder if the Houston Astros would continue to dominate the division. After maintaining at least a ten game lead from June to October and finishing the regular season with a 106-56 record, the Astros proved they are still the AL West’s best. Their success can be attributed to a historic bullpen and their reliable power hitters. The defending AL and AL West champions came into the season with something to prove after their 2021 season ended in a loss to the Atlanta Braves in the World Series. Safe to say they delivered.
Postseason grade - A+
The Astros continued to show that they were the team to beat in the postseason. They secured their sixth straight playoff spot after five hitless innings from Justin Verlander and a three run homerun from Yordan Alvarez against the Oakland A’s on September 16th. Three days later they clinched the AL West for the fifth time in 6 years — something that has not been done since the Anaheim Angels between 2004 and 2009.
They became the first team to win a postseason series in six consecutive seasons after sweeping their divisional rivals, the red-hot Seattle Mariners in the Division Series. After winning fifteen of the twenty-two games that the Astros played against the Mariners in the regular seasonthey won each of the three fairly close postseason games. In Game One, Houston was down by four runs in the eighth inning but came back with a two-run homerun from Alex Bregman and a three-run walk off from Alvarez. The Game Three win was an incredible show of the Astros’ pitching depth and a result of Jeremy Pena’s solo home run to finish the eighteen inning game.
The AL Championship Series, which had seemed like a promising battle between two giants in the Yankees and the Astros, disappointed similarly.All hope quickly died for the Bronx Bombers after Houston put up an absolutely dominant performance and again swept the series. Pena’s game tying three run homerun and Bregman’s clutch RBI in Game Four enabled the series win.
The Astros defeated the Philadelphia Phillies at home in Game Six to win the World Series. Giving up only five earned runs in the entire postseason, the Astros bullpen was absolutely unmatched. A historic combined no hitter from Cristian Javier, Bryan Abreu, Rafael Montero, and Ryan Pressly in Game Four was all Houston needed to bring themselves back from a blowout loss in Game Three and falling behind in the series. Additional significant contributions by Pena and Alvarez helped the Astros dominate this season and claim their second ever world title. Dusty Baker won his first ever World Series ring in twenty-five years as a manager after coming close quite a few times.
Regular + postseason MVP
Regular season: Yordan Alvarez
Yordan Alvarez was a force to be reckoned with as the Houston Astros designated hitter. In the AL this year, he was ranked 3rd for homeruns with 37, 4th for runs with 95, and 4th for batting average with a 0.306. Alvarez won AL Player of the Month in June and he was also selected to play in the All-Star Game as a reserve DH. He produced a 187 adjusted OPS+ which was the second highest in Houston’s history.
Postseason: Jeremy Pena
Jeremy Pena. ALCS MVP. World Series MVP. AL Golden Glove winner. Rookie of the Year.
Although he is only twenty five years old, Pena looked like a seasoned veteran through his stellar postseason performance. In the thirteen games of the Astros postseason, he had a 0.345 average and 1.005 OPS with 20 hits, 4 homeruns, 8 RBI, and 12 runs. His solo home run in the eighteenth inning of game three of the ALDS was all the Astros needed to clinch the division series win. In Game Four of the ALCS, Pena’s three run home run put the Astros in a position to knock out the Yankees from World Series contention.
Prominent free agents
Justin Verlander
Yulieski Gurriel
Trey Mancini
Michael Brantley