Why I'll be Rooting for the Astros Going Forward:

Yeah, yeah, I know. You probably have a paragraph ready to send me about how cheating is wrong and the Houston Astros should never be forgiven. But just hear me out. I'm always the first to point out that the Astros didn't win the 2017 World Series, and that Hank Aaron is the home run king. I hate cheating just as much as the next guy. But in terms of Astros hate, when does it end? The MLB gave out their punishment, we had a year or so to have fun and rip on the Astros, but we're nearly 2 years from when the scandal was made public, and 4 years from when it actually happened. After much self-debate, I'm ready to forgive the Astros for the greater good of baseball. Yet again, just hear me out.

Baseball has a problem. I'm sure we're all aware. The three outcome hitter (home runs, walks, and strikeouts) has all but taken over the league. Due to advanced analytics, it's been figured out that going 1 for 3 with a homer and 2 strikeouts is more beneficial than 3 for 3 with 3 singles. And teams have stuck to that logic, with the game suffering as a result. Games are longer, attendance is down, and many different solutions are being tossed around, usually met with disapproval from baseball fans. You get the gist. However, the Astros have been playing baseball differently this year. Differently than any other team.

As of June 14th, only the Astros and Blue Jays have more hits than strikeouts as a team. Only 2 teams doing this is not normal: up until 2018 there had never been an MLB season with more strikeouts than hits league-wide. The Blue Jays have 37 more hits than strikeouts, while the Astros have 151 more hits than strikeouts. This has also lead to the Astros having the lowest strikeout rate in MLB, with 18%. They are the only team with a strikeout rate below 22%. Additionally, they are the only team in MLB with a contact rate above 77%, hitting the ball in play during 81.5% of at bats. Even with all of this, the 'Stros are 10th in the league in home run rate. A good ranking, but nowhere near what their batted ball stats suggest. This can only mean one thing. They're hitting singles and doubles. They're having traditional rallies. They have productive outs. With 2 strikes, they actually have an approach, because they know a strikeout is the absolute worst thing a hitter can do. And guess what? It works.

Who leads MLB in team wRC+? The Astros. Who leads the league in team wOBA? The Astros. It'd be one thing if traditional stats such as batting average, slugging percentage, and RBIs were up for them. Then one could simply argue that hitting the ball in play was good in the past, but doesn't work according to today's sabermetrics. But wRC+ and wOBA are two of the most used new-age stats, and they suggest that putting the ball in play, and having a fair but not overwhelming amount of home runs, actually works.

I could even take this one step further, and mention the Astros' pitching. These Astros pitchers sit 19th in MLB in strikeouts per 9. Yet, when looking at quality of contact stats, only 30% of batted balls have been hit hard by Astros' opponents, good for 4th in the league. Additionally, they sit in the middle of the pack in barrel rate given up, with 7.9%, yet are doing so while giving up a subpar launch angle of 13.3 degrees. Therefore, their problem resides in locating pitches and not getting enough hitters to ground-out, not in actually giving up hard hit balls.

One thing I wish the Astros were better at was stolen bases. I miss the strategy of the game being deployed, with bunts, steals, hit and runs, and my personal favorite: the squeeze play. However, the Astros are definitely headed in the right direction, and proving to the rest of the league that you can be successful while simultaneously eliminating the three outcome hitter on both sides of the ball. They also are the first team to provide completely free housing for their minor leaguers, a move that is completely off topic, possibly having to do with publicity and not good morals, but still notable. Either way, the roller coaster that is the Houston Astros is in full swing, and I can only hope that more and more people notice what the Astros are doing. I had a lot of fun ripping on the Astros for their cheating scandal, but it's time we put it all behind us and work on saving the game we know and love.