It was a long and winding road to the first World Series title in Houston Astros history, but there are good reasons to believe the next one could be right around the corner.
Considering all the effort and the rare combination of talent and luck that it takes to win a World Series, maybe it’s greedy to start thinking about another victory before the confetti has even settled from the victory parade. Certainly, the Houston Astros aren’t quite ready to consider 2018 until they’re done celebrating their thrilling 2017 championship, one that saw them upend the juggernaut Los Angeles Dodgers on the road in Game 7.
Still, as the Fox broadcasting team put it during the World Series, this wasn’t a case of David vs. Goliath, but rather Goliath vs. Goliath. The Astros had the second-best record in baseball during the regular season, and while many things went right for them to win it all, they’re positioned to make another run as soon as next season.
Put another way, Vegas may like the Dodgers to win the 2018 World Series, but it also has the Astros just the tiniest of steps behind them, just like this year. Here’s why Houston might want to have someone else on the roster ready to propose this time next fall.
1. MVPs in their primes
George Springer was rightfully named World Series MVP after looking utterly confused at the plate for one game and then crushing Dodgers pitching for the next six. Jose Altuve is the favorite to be named AL MVP when the league-wide hardware is handed out.
Guess what? Those guys should be doing more of the same in 2018, barring injury. Altuve, especially, has been remarkably consistent, racking up 200-plus hits and 30-plus steals, and fielding his position well. He’s even added power, and he’s somehow only 27, meaning he should just be entering his prime years, a scary proposition for the rest of the league.
Springer is much streakier, but the World Series provided the biggest possible stage for what he’s capable of when he’s on. Just 28, he’s announced himself to the world as a big star who can carry a team when the spotlight is on — like, say, in the next Fall Classic.
2. Some of the young stars might be even better
Big Papi himself, David Ortiz, developed an unabashed man-crush on third baseman Alex Bregman during the World Series. It wasn’t hard to see why, as Bregman operated like a vacuum cleaner at the hot corner and also did more than his fair share at the plate. He also only has one Major League season under his belt, and it’s fair to assume he could blossom into an All-Star level talent in 2018.
Everyone was already in love with Carlos Correa, who surged upward in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage after a bit of a sophomore slump in 2016. If he can stay healthy — Correa missed roughly a third of the 2017 regular season — the sky’s the limit in terms of his production.
We mentioned both Bregman and Correa are just 23, right? The Astros will head into 2018 with the left side of their infield on lock like few other teams.
3. Jeff Luhnow is so hot right now
Many teams attempt to do what the Astros did at the beginning of the season, adding veteran savvy to a young but untested nucleus. Few ever pull it off quite as successfully as GM Jeff Luhnow just did.
Josh Reddick and Brian McCann proved to be valuable contributors all the way to the title, shoring up positions of weakness in the field. Yuli Gurriel hit at the MLB level the way he did in Cuba, solving a long-running quandary about what to do at first base.
And after the regular trade deadline passed without much of a splash, leaving some Astros fans grumbling, Luhnow swooped in and grabbed Justin Verlander from the Detroit Tigers, and he was dominant for most of the postseason.
The roster has holes entering 2018 — certainly, some things in the bullpen will have to be addressed — but who would bet against Luhnow figuring out how to paper them over in time for another title run?
4. There’s more young talent on the way
It’s fair to say the wave of talent that came from the drafts when the Astros were truly dreadful has crested, but to extend the analogy, it hasn’t all reached the shore. If some unexpected questions pop up along the road to a repeat, the answers might already be on the 40-man roster.
Outfielder Derek Fisher actually played in the World Series, and while he only appeared as a pinch-runner, he had a moment when he scored the game-winning run in the epic Game 5. He hit just .212 in 166 plate appearances but has the skills to contribute in a meaningful way as soon as next season.
So, too, might the likes of pitchers Francis Martes and David Paulino and infielder Colin Moran. Maybe none of them will announce themselves to the wider baseball world the way Bregman just did, but you also can’t definitively rule it out. Let’s just say the pipeline isn’t dry when it comes to players who could help out for another World Series run.
5. They can win on the road when it counts
If championship journeys are as much mental as physical, the Astros cleared one huge hurdle when finishing off their World Series victory on Wednesday night. They took care of business at Minute Maid park in every prior round, but after dropping Game 4 to the Dodgers, a title meant winning one game in L.A.
Though they had already done it once in the insane Game 2, the Game 7 win was much more convincing. Without either Dallas Keuchel or Justin Verlander, the Astros held the formidable Dodgers lineup to a single run, scoring enough of their own that the outcome was never truly in doubt.
Next: See the opening odds to win the 2018 World Series
That jibes with what the Astros did during the regular season, when they tied the Indians with the most road wins (53) in the majors. Of course, playoff baseball is an entirely different beast, but Houston has proven it can tame that beast when it matters most, regardless of where the road to a repeat might run.