Houston Astros 'Unrelenting' in Quest for Another AL West Title

The Houston Astros are one of baseball's best team once again, as a couple of stars turning their season around encapsulates the entire year.

Jul 27, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Astros designated hitter Yordan Alvarez (44) reacts after hitting a fly ball during the first inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Minute Maid Park. / Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

The Houston Astros have been one of baseball's powerhouses for quite a stretch now and after a dreadful start to the year it looked like their AL crown was going to be in question. They answered that start with an even better stretch and are now once again in first place of the west.

Bleacher Report's Tim Kelly went around the league to find one word to describe each of the teams in the league and found 'unrelenting' apt for the Astros.

"It's been a disappointing contract year for Alex Bregman in 2024, but slugger Yordan Alvarez, RHP Ronel Blanco and second baseman Jose Altuve have helped [Houston] dig out of an early hole," said Kelly. "If RHP Justin Verlander and right fielder Kyle Tucker return healthy in the second half, the Astros may wind up winning yet another AL West title."

Bregman's season has been sort of a perfect encapsulation of the year in Houston.

For the first two months of the season, he was fairly useless at the plate. He slashed just .216/.283/.294 and many were begging for him to get traded away before he left for nothing in free agency. The Astros were a measly 23-32 in games that he played in during that stretch.

At the start of June, though, something clicked. Since then, his line has jumped up to .286/.346/.452 while Houston improved to a 31-18 record in those games.

Alvarez is another player that started the year slow, but turned things around. Granted, slow for him was still a .792 OPS for the first two months.

In the same stretch that Bregman turned things around, he's slashed an incredible .327/.423/.636, finally looking like the same player at the plate that fans had grown accustomed to.

With those bats turning around, it's no surprise that the Astros have turned around as an offense.

Hunter Brown has been a bit of a different story. He had a very bad start to the campaign, much like most of the team. It wasn't that surprising, though. He was just ok during his rookie year last year.

What has been a surprise, though, is that he flipped a switch in June and has looked like an ace ever since. In his 10 starts in that time, he's had a 2.23 ERA, finally becoming the pitcher that fans and coaches had waited for.

While these are just a couple of players, they've been instrumental in the team's rebound. Maybe next year they won't need an incredible turnaround to show their dominance, until then onlookers can only watch as Houston finally shows why they've won six of the last seven AL West titles.