Houston Astros Skipper Reveals Reason for Their Turnaround

The Houston Astros manager talked about the turning point for the team over the past month.

Jun 30, 2024; New York City, New York, USA; Houston Astros manager Joe Espada (19) comes out to make a pitching change in the fourth inning against the New York Mets at Citi Field. / Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

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

Injuries hurt the pitching staff and lineup early in the year, and with a new manager in Joe Espada, it's tough to blame Houston for what happened. Still, they figured it out and head into the All-Star break with confidence.

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

“Roller coaster is a good analogy for it,” Espada said, according to Greg Rajan of the Houston Chronicle. “A lot of ups and downs, but I really like the way we bounced back."

Typically, the Astros have found success in every step of the way over much of the past decade. They struggled for the first time in a very long time, and teams often crumble when that happens.

Even if a team finds this type of success, dynasties have to come to an end at some point. This looked like it could've been the time, but Houston doesn't look ready to give it up just yet.

With the trade deadline approaching, there's a real chance that they'll be even better than they were over the past five weeks, giving them another opportunity to win a World Series.

Espada pointed to a few different times when they came together and figured things out, pointing to the Chicago White Sox series in June as the turning point.

“I think our series in Mexico was a series where we flushed a lot of stuff out and we said it’s time to do it now,” Espada said. “We had a couple of conversations as a team there and in the White Sox series (June 18-20 in Chicago) that I thought was kind of a turning point where we set some goals as a club and we have met those goals."

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

That was without Kyle Tucker, too, as the left-handed slugging All-Star has been out since June 3 with a shin injury.

It'll be intriguing to see how the rest of the campaign goes, as Houston looks to be in an excellent position with a bulk of confidence.