Houston Astros Skipper Says Team 'Should Be Proud' of Their Performance

After their disappointing elimination in the Wild Card round, Houston Astros skipper Joe Espada says the team should be proud of what they did this season.

Sep 25, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Astros manager Joe Espada (19) answers questions from the media in the dugout prior to the game against the Seattle Mariners at Minute Maid Park / Erik Williams-Imagn Images

The Houston Astros' American League record of seven straight ALCS appearances is over.

Considering what they accomplished had never been done before by an AL team in the history of Major League Baseball, it was only a matter of time before they would be eliminated from the playoffs before reaching that point of the postseason.

Unfortunately, it came when there are tons of questions surrounding the Astros going forward.

Alex Bregman and Justin Verlander are set to become free agents this winter, and it's likely that both aren't on this roster in 2025.

Houston geared up for this potential final year with their franchise legends on the team, signing Josh Hader to the most lucrative contract for a closer in MLB history that would ideally give them a shutdown backend of the bullpen that could close out leads this offense handed them.

Instead, that was the complete opposite of what happened.

In Game 1, the Astros were stifled on offense, only scratching across one run in the bottom of the ninth inning and failing to capitalize when they had runners in scoring position like they have done so often during their previous playoff appearances.

With their season on the line in Game 2, that was the same story, except this time, the offense was able to rally and hand over a lead to their relief staff who was supposed to close things out.

That didn't happen, either.

Ryan Pressly blew his first-ever save in the playoffs on a wild pitch and Hader allowed a bases-clearing double in the eighth inning that gave the Detroit Tigers an insurmountable 5-2 lead that took the air out of the building and ultimately ended their year.

Houston now enters the offseason with tons of questions to answer about what they are going to do with this roster so they can reach the ALCS round again to give themselves a chance to win the World Series.

But before the Hot Stove gets underway, skipper Joe Espada made it known the Astros players should feel good about what was accomplished this year.

"It's tough. But I want our guys to be proud of how far we've come ... So many great things we did that I don't want us to hang our head down just because of the way the season ended. We should be proud of what we accomplished and how we did it. I think the process is important," he said in his postgame press conference.

There's no doubt Houston faced challenges throughout the campaign that made things difficult, dealing with three season-ending injuries to their projected Opening Day starters, not having Kyle Tucker for an extended period of time, and not getting back the duo of Lance McCullers Jr. and Luis Garcia at all this year.

Still, the Astros were the favorites to get past the upstart Tigers who only had one player on their roster with playoff experience.

The result is disappointing, and while they did accomplish their goal of winning their fourth straight AL West division title, they didn't perform well enough to make noise in the playoffs.

How they remedy that going forward will determine if they can reclaim their dominance over the American League when the calendar flips to October.