Astros angling for another AL West crown

This story was excerpted from Brian McTaggart’s Astros Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

HOUSTON -- The Astros open the second half of the season with their biggest series of the year with three games in Seattle beginning Friday at T-Mobile Park. The Mariners lead the American League West by one game over Houston, which has trimmed nine games off Seattle’s lead in the standings since June 18.

After starting the season 12-24, the Astros went 38-22 in their final 60 games before the All-Star break. What made that surge even more unlikely is they did it with a plethora of injuries to their starting pitching staff, including Justin Verlander (out since June 9 with a stiff neck), and without All-Star right-fielder Kyle Tucker, who has been out since June 3 with a shin contusion.

“Roller coaster is a good analogy for it,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “A lot of ups and downs, but I feel like the way we bounced back, we have put ourselves in a really good position here to make a strong push in the second half. There was no doubt we were going to do it, but I was really proud of the guys the way we’ve done it here in the last couple of weeks. It’s been really, really impressive.”

The Astros hope to get Verlander and Tucker back by the end of the month, and with the Trade Deadline only a few weeks away, the club will be trying to add a starting pitcher and a bat to the lineup.

Here’s a breakdown of the Astros at the All-Star break:

Second-half goal: Win the division
The Astros have won the last six AL West titles in full seasons (excluding 2020) and have put themselves in position for another one this year. They were 10 games out of first place on June 18 and reduced their deficit to within one game of the Mariners with a strong finishing stretch. They went 17-6 in their final 23 games before the break, averaging six runs per game despite Tucker's injury and releasing veteran José Abreu in June.

Likely Trade Deadline strategy: Acquire starting pitching
With Verlander, Cristian Javier, José Urquidy, Luis Garcia, Lance McCullers Jr. and J.P. France on the injured list (Javier, Urquidy and France are out for the year and McCullers recently suffered a setback), the Astros desperately need starting pitching. They don’t want to give up high-end prospects in trades, but they should be able to land an arm that can eat some innings in the second half and take some burden off young starters Ronel Blanco, Spencer Arrighetti and Jake Bloss. Houston would also like to add a bat to the lineup, preferably one that could play at first base. A starting pitcher is a must, however.

Key player: Kyle Tucker
He was making a push as an early-season MVP candidate when he fouled a ball off his shin June 3 and didn’t play again in the first half, leaving the Astros without a huge bat in their lineup. At the time he went on the IL, he was fourth in OPS in MLB behind Aaron Judge (1.080) and Juan Soto (1.027) of the Yankees and Marcell Ozuna of the Braves (1.000). He also ranked second in the AL in walks (46) and third in slugging (.584), and was the only qualifying player in the AL with more walks than strikeouts. Tucker is the third player in franchise history with at least 19 homers in the team’s first 59 games.

Prospect to watch: A.J. Blubaugh
Blubaugh (team’s No. 6 prospect) may be the Astros' next pitcher to make his Major League debut this year, joining Arrighetti and Bloss. He is 6-2 with a 3.66 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP in 75 1/3 innings over 16 games this season, 15 of which have come with Triple-A Sugar Land. A seventh-round pick in the 2022 Draft, he pitched in the Futures Game this year. The Astros are expected to add a starter at the Trade Deadline, but Blubaugh could provide some help to the rotation in the second half.