The Houston Astros are moving on after knocking off the New York Yankees 3-0 on Tuesday night in the AL Wild Card game. Houston looked impressive in victory, silencing the Yankees’ lineup while doing just enough on offense to succeed.
But even though the Astros won, that doesn’t mean there aren’t questions still circulating around the team heading into their ALDS matchup with the Kansas City Royals.
Can the offense create runs?
The Astros won 3-0 on Tuesday, but the final score should’ve been even more lopsided. The Astros left the bases loaded in the second inning after Colby Rasmus put them on the board with a solo homer to lead off the inning. George Springer led off the third with a double, and didn’t move from second base all inning. Double plays in the fourth and sixth inning erased baserunners. In the seventh, Houston finally put a sustained rally together when Jose Altuve singled in Jonathan Villar, who came in to pinch run for Chris Carter and stole second.
The team went 1/6 with runners in scoring position, stranded five men, and tallied just one extra base hit outside of the homers by Rasmus and Carlos Gomez. Five Astros hitters were walked by Yankees pitching, and just one of them scored. If the team relies too much on the home run against the Royals, they could be in for a bad time – Kansas City allowed the second-fewest homers of any AL team this season (and a good chunk of those were allowed by players who won’t be factors in the ALDS). The Yankees allowed the second-most.
NEW YORK, NY – OCTOBER 06: Dallas Keuchel #60 of the Houston Astros celebrates after striking out the New York Yankees in the first inning during the American League Wild Card Game at Yankee Stadium on October 6, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
Is a starter other than Dallas Keuchel ready to step up?
Keuchel was fantastic on three days rest in the Wild Card game, allowing just three hits over six shutout innings. He’s had the Yankees’ number all year, and they couldn’t do a damn thing against him.
Keuchel will only get one start in the ALDS, and it’ll come in Game 3 on normal rest. Collin McHugh will get the nod in Game 1 for the Astros, while some (yet to be announced) combination of Lance McCullers, Scott Kazmir, and Mike Fiers will make up the rest of the team’s ALDS rotation. Kazmir has struggled in September, while McCullers is already at a career-high in innings.
Slotting Fiers into the rotation to start Game 2 might be the safe bet for the Astros. McHugh would be lined up to start Game 5 on five days rest, while Fiers (or whoever starts Game 2) would be on normal rest for Game 5. If one assumes that the Astros can win Keuchel’s Game 3 start at home, they’ll need to win at least one game in Kansas City – and McHugh, Fiers, McCullers, or Kazmir will need to come up huge for them.
NEW YORK, NY – OCTOBER 06: Carlos Gomez #30 of the Houston Astros celebrates after hitting a solo home run in the fourth inning against Masahiro Tanaka #19 of the New York Yankees during the American League Wild Card Game at Yankee Stadium on October 6, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
Is Carlos Gomez healthy and ready to make an impact?
Gomez provided the Astros with a big solo homer in the fourth inning on Tuesday night, but Jed Lowrie pinch hit for him in the ninth inning after Gomez apparently tweaked his previously strained intercostal muscle, an injury that has cost Gomez playing time in the second half. Before the AL Wild Card game, Gomez logged just five plate appearances since September 12th because of the injury.
But even when Gomez *was* on the field for Houston, he struggled. Since his trade from the Brewers, Gomez has hit just .242/.288/.383 with four homers and ten stolen bases. When healthy, Gomez is a game changer, infusing both speed and power into a team’s lineup. Without him, the Astros have to play two of Colby Rasmus, Jake Marisnick, Marwin Gonzalez, and Preston Tucker, all of whom have lower ceilings and less talent than Gomez. Houston can win with two of them playing, but they have a better shot with only one of them in left field and Gomez in center.
