Houston Astros' Sustained Success Will Be Truly Tested This Coming Season

Will the Houston Astros finally miss the postseason in 2025?

Sep 24, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Astros right fielder Kyle Tucker (30) rounds the bases after hitting a home run against the Seattle Mariners in the fourth inning at Minute Maid Park. / Thomas Shea-Imagn Images

With pitchers and catchers reporting for the Houston Astros, the new-look team will be hoping to keep up the success of years past.

After what was a wild offseason for the Astros, the roster looks different heading into 2025.

For most of the last decade, the team has been able to sustain success with a strong farm system, some good trades and also working the free-agent market.

However, this winter was different for Houston.

Trading away Kyle Tucker was a shocking decision the team made despite him becoming a free agent after the 2025 campaign. Furthermore, with the return package including a couple of players who have the potential to play third base, it became clear that Alex Bregman wouldn't be signed as well.

In addition to two key cogs of the lineup departing, they also moved former closer Ryan Pressly in another deal with the Chicago Cubs.

With plenty of stars no longer with the Astros, sustaining this impressive run is going to be very challenging.

Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report recently spoke about the biggest question for Houston being whether the loss of talented core members finally catches up to them.

“So, no Kyle Tucker, no Justin Verlander, no Yusei Kikuchi, no Ryan Pressly, no Alex Bregman...no problem? Houston remains the betting favorite here, but it's starting to look like a real barebones operation.”

Despite all the losses and changeover, they will still be entering 2025 with a chance to make the playoffs.

When looking at the team, the rotation for the Astros is still very strong from top to bottom. With a couple of young arms having breakout seasons and showing promise in 2024, it helped Houston survive having multiple pitchers out for the season.

In the lineup, despite losing Bregman and Tucker, the top six still looks strong. Signing Christian Walker provides a massive upgrade at first base, which was a position they didn’t receive much positive offensive production from last year.

In the bullpen, despite trading away Pressly, the Astros still have an All-Star caliber closer in Josh Hader to finish games. The southpaw had a bit of an up-and-down campaign in 2024, but when he’s on, he can be the best in the game.

However, like last season, the bottom part of the lineup and their depth will be a concern.

Despite this still being a strong roster, it’s hard to overlook how much they have lost.

While making the playoffs is possible, seems unlikely that this version of Houston will be a true title contender.

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