Three takeaways from the Houston Astros in the first half of the season

HOUSTON — They nearly needed life support after the first four weeks of the season and were 10 games behind in the division by June 18, but the Houston Astros operate with an aura of inevitability, almost an expectation that whatever misery they endure will be short-lived.

“We really persevered,” manager Joe Espada said. “We’ve come a long way. I had no doubt that we could get back in contention. There was no doubt. I’m just proud of the way we did it, never losing hope, never panicking. We know how good we are as a team and we fought to get back in contention.”

Espada has led his club from the brink to within one game of first place in the American League West. A three-game victory over the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park this weekend would put Houston in first place for the first time this season.

Here are three takeaways from the Astros’ first half of the season.

The Astros’ roster is rich and will determine their destiny

Kyle Tucker was an early contender for the American League MVP award, but his absence in the final month before the All-Star break may have hurt his chances. What Houston has done in his absence is the most positive development of the team’s first half of the season.

Without their best hitter, the Astros have averaged 5.4 runs and 9.3 hits over a 35-game stretch. They’ve scored at least six runs 15 times without Tucker, adding to the depth and length of a lineup that should propel this team where it wants to go.

The Astros were always built to be a run-making team, relying on Jeremy Peña’s offseason adjustments and Yainer Diaz’s rise to an everyday role. Their pitching staff then collapsed, reinforcing the importance of an offense that must mask him.

Including Tucker, seven of Houston’s qualified hitters finished the first half of the season with an OPS+ of 100 or higher. No American League team had more hits and none had fewer strikeouts than Houston.

The team can sometimes look overly aggressive, but it has found a better balance since the start of June. Better hitting and a “passing the baton” approach have contributed to Houston’s resurgence. Alex Bregman’s blossoming after a dreadful first month has also helped.

Superstars like Bregman, Tucker, Jose Altuve and Yordan Alvarez should spearhead the offense, but the contributions of Houston’s complementary players have elevated this roster to another level.

Jon Singleton has stabilized first base after Jose Abreu was released. The emergence of Joey Loperfido and Jake Meyers has helped mask Chas McCormick’s underperformance. Singleton, Loperfido and Meyers all have OPS+ above 100, though Loperfido’s is just 97 plate appearances in the major leagues.

Relying on all of them to maintain their production is dangerous, so it might be wise for second-year general manager Dana Brown to add a more experienced hitter at the trade deadline.

What might give him pause: Tucker still has the team’s best slugging percentage, best on-base percentage and best OPS. Adding him back into an already productive offense might be just what Houston needs.

Only two Opening Day starters were not placed on injured reserve. Ronel Blanco is one of them. (Tim Warner/Getty Images)

There is never enough pitching depth

As of Feb. 1, Houston had seven healthy starting pitchers with solid major league experience on its 40-man roster. Injured veterans Luis Garcia and Lance McCullers Jr. were looming as post-All-Star additions, while top prospect Spencer Arrighetti appeared poised to make his major league debut.

At the All-Star break, just four healthy starters remained, a barrage of losses that threatened to derail the season. That they didn’t is a credit to pitching coaches Josh Miller and Bill Murphy, as well as an assortment of players the Astros couldn’t have imagined counting on for so many crucial innings.

Houston has already used 29 pitchers in its first 96 games, three shy of the franchise record set three seasons ago. Hunter Brown and Ronel Blanco are the only two starting pitchers on the Astros’ Opening Day roster who didn’t have to go on the injured list. Both have bolstered a pitching staff that might have succumbed without their contributions.

Garcia, McCullers and Justin Verlander finished the first half of the season on the sidelines. Of the trio, only Garcia is pitching from a mound — and even his return has stalled somewhat. JP France, José Urquidy and Cristian Javier have already undergone season-ending surgeries, reducing their roster while forcing Houston to add at least one starter at the trade deadline.

General manager Dana Brown likes to mention the extra games many Houston pitchers have thrown because of the club’s seven straight ALCS appearances, but it’s worth wondering why that didn’t figure into his calculation during the winter, when his baseball operations department didn’t add any starting pitchers.

Blake Snell’s failure in spring training suggested Houston had concerns about the depth of its rotation. Few could have imagined the attrition that awaited him. No front office can prepare for three season-ending surgeries in a month, but it’s clear Brown and his baseball operations department need to be more mindful of how quickly he can decline.

Joe Espada Passes His First Management Test

The Astros didn’t start the season 7-19 because of Espada, and their June turnaround wasn’t the result of any managerial brilliance. Players are more responsible for a team’s record than anything a manager does, but Espada should be commended for guiding this club through a disaster.

During the franchise’s worst start since 1969, Espada has struck a balance between promoting urgency and maintaining a positive attitude. He handled Abreu’s demotion and release with the tact a respected veteran deserves, but never shied away from laying out the obvious reasons why it had to happen.

By keeping faith in Bregman and his back three relievers throughout their miserable first two months, Espada has shown confidence in moments few thought it was deserved. Espada’s ever-changing lineup, his propensity to replace a hitter late in a game and his aggressive use of his bullpen underscore the gravity of every game now.

The two team meetings Espada held — both, coincidentally, during the series in Chicago — delivered brief but direct messages about the way forward.

The first game came after being swept at Wrigley Field on April 25. Espada told the team to treat its upcoming two-game series in Mexico City as a second Opening Day. Houston won both games and is 41-27 since then.

The second, after a 2-0 loss to the White Sox on June 18, had only one goal: to hit .500 before the All-Star break. Espada’s players heard his pleas.

“This isn’t the way I wanted my managerial career to start, but I knew at the end of the day the guys were going to turn it around and we did,” Espada said. “Again, we’ve got a ways to go, but we’re playing the best we can and I expect our guys to continue to play hard and play good baseball.”

(Top photo by Alex Bregman: Tim Warner/Getty Images)