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As we enter July and the international signing period, the Astros are 44-41 and are only a 1/2 game ahead of the Oakland A's. The A's went on a tear in the middle of June, winning 12 out of 14 including 10 in a row at one point. They briefly took a 1.5 game lead for first place. Fortunately for the Astros, the A's lost 3 in a row to the Angels to close out the month of June. Oakland is currently 44-42.
The Astros have a quick 2 game interleague series at Colorado followed by a day off and then a 3 game series at home vs. the Angels to wrap up before the All Star break.
As of now it appears Jose Altuve, Michael Brantley and Justin Verlander will be likely starters for the AL All Star team while Alex Bregman, Roberto Osuna, and Ryan Pressly will also make the roster as backups and relievers. In most years Josh Reddick would probably be in the running for an All Star roster spot with his .323/.377/.507/.883/9 HR/47 RBI stat line, but there have been some great first half performances by AL outfielders.
The Astros rank in the top 4 in every American League offensive category except home runs (9th). And that is despite subpar hitting by George Springer (.243/.319/.399/9 HR/34 RBI) and Carlos Correa (.235/.328/.394/10 HR). Despite Correa's average and fairly low slugging percentage, he is second in the AL with 71 RBI's. Also to keep in mind, George Springer had an absolutely awful month of April to start the season, so he's definitely hitting better in May-June than his stat line shows - hopefully that trend continues.
Altuve and Bregman have both been on a tear recently, including Altuve being named the AL player of the month for the month of June.
Verlander (12-3, 2.79 ERA, 125 K's) is our team MVP at the moment because our starting pitching has been dreadful - mostly injury related. Wade Miley was our #4/#5 starter to begin the year and has recently been demoted to the bullpen in favor of LHP Framber Valdez. Gerrit Cole is still out for another 2-3 months with shoulder issues and has been out since 5/14/19. Colin McHugh & Brad Peacock (our #3 & #4 starters) have been taking turns on the injured list, but both are currently healthy.
The bullpen currently ranks third in the AL, but I feel it's overrated at the moment because Ryan Pressly and Roberto Osuna have such great stats. Craig Kimbrel has been rocked in a couple of recent outings and definitely seems to not have as much control of his pitches recently that have led to several guys getting on base. Hopefully that changes. Maybe the All Star break will do us some good.
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