Can the Houston Astros be stopped?

Currently leading the A.L. West by a game and a half and winners of 12-straight, is anyone capable of stopping the Houston Astros?

The Houston Astros are the defending champions, and as such, are the team to beat. The only problem is, no one seems able to do that.

Their biggest competition this season is most likely the Boston Red Sox, or the team that took them to seven games in last years ALCS, the New York Yankees. They’re 2-2 against the Red Sox and 2-5 against the Yankees.

That being said those games were earlier in the season, and right now the Astros have managed to reel off 11 wins in a row. Now they look like the Astros from last year. So let’s answer the question can they be stopped?

The answer is yes and no.

The answer is no because of how their schedule has played out, and how it’s going to play out for the next month.

Putting their current 11-game winning streak in context, those wins have come against the Texas Rangers, Oakland A’s and Kansas City Royals with one game against the Seattle Mariners sprinkled in there. Those teams are a combined 87-129 which is not good. Not to mention they own their division with a 25-10 record against the rest of the AL West.

Another loss doesn’t seem to be in sight because the Astros don’t play another team with a record above .500 until they play the Angels AFTER the All-Star break. Couple that with their pretty much unhittable pitching staff, and who knows when they’re going to lose again.

Now the answer is also yes because they’ve somewhat struggled against the leagues best teams. The Astros are a combined 4-9 against the Red Sox and Yankees. Those teams are in all likelihood their biggest threats to keep them from repeating.

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Their bullpen is currently ranked fourth in baseball and that’s the good news. The bad news is that they still don’t have a reliable lefty in the pen, and they are susceptible to squandering leads. Two of their losses to the Yankees have come after taking leads into the ninth inning.

The Astros don’t have a glaring flaw when they’re at their best which is why it’s going to be extremely difficult to beat them. You’ll have to be on your A-plus game to beat them.