The date is July 20th, 2011. Jose Altuve is set to make his debut for the Houston Astros. Houston walked off with a 3-2 victory over the Washington Nationals that night. Extending their lead over the last place Pirates in the 6-team NL Central to 3.5 games. Altuve collected a hit, and that was the highlight. A pretty standard major league debut. Throughout the night, Altuve probably was not thinking about his short time with the Astros affiliate the Tri-City ValleyCats. You could say the same for his teammate, Hunter Pence, who was on the ValleyCats long before Altuve was even a name to be recognized in the capital region.
Flash forward to the year 2016. The big league Houston Astros are beginning a new season as they look to get back to the postseason in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2004-05. Things have changed quite a bit since Altuve first took the field in 2011. First and foremost, Houston switched from the National League to the American League. And let me just dive in and say it; they were bad. Finishing in last in their final years in the NL Central, and in their beginning years of the AL West most of the time. Their single A affiliate Tri-City ValleyCats were just fine. Winning two titles in just four years as a New York Penn League team. They have sustained success, making the postseason four of their last five seasons. Keep in mind how rare that is for a minor league team.
So has that success carried over yet? Well, it looked very promising last October. Houston had the soon to be world champion Kansas City Royals on the brink of elimination in game 4 of the 2015 ALDS. The Royals trailed by four runs on the road after seven innings. That’s really all I need to say to explain how bad the collapse was for the youthful, energetic Astros. They lost game 4 9-6 and would go on to lose the winner-take-all game 5. Sending the Royals to the ALCS, and you know how the rest goes.
Now, i’m not going to sit here and torture you Astros fans all night here, but how they got to the ALDS in the first place was a story itself. Houston edged out the Angels by one game for the final wild card spot. And in the wild card game against the Yankees, another former ValleyCat, Dallas Keuchel, pitched the Astros to a 3-0 victory over the “Bronx Bombers” in New York. Keuchel was on the same ValleyCats team as Altuve, and even though he started his career a year later, his contribution is equally important if Houston is serious about contending for a title. There is no denying that Keuchel is an ace. He reached the 20 win mark in 2015, against a difficult AL West division to pitch against. So the Astros definitely have the pitcher they want.
I keep mentioning that Jose Altuve guy. So what has he done? Well, the 5′ 6″ second baseman is the foundation of the Houston offense. He is coming off consecutive 200 hit seasons, to go along with 66 RBI’s in 2015. Not bad for the three time all-star and former ValleyCat. Like I said, if Houston wants to contend, they need another big year from Altuve. And if he stays healthy, that’s almost a guarantee.
The supporting cast for Altuve and Keuchel is limited to an extent. But one former ValleyCat, who was on the roster in 2011, will be a huge factor in determining the outcome of this Astros team. George Springer has one of the most daunting batting stances in the majors. Standing up almost completely straight before he dips down to hit whatever pitch you throw at him. A great outfielder, Springer batted .276 with 16 homers in 2015, which was only his second year in the majors. This could be his breakout season. And Houston fans should be hopeful to find out what this guy can do for the Astros for a very, hopefully golden age worthy, period of time.
Other vitally important players on the Astros, like shortstop Carlos Correa, never played for Tri-City. Which is understandable, Correa was too good to play for a development team like the ValleyCats. As for Hunter Pence, like many other ValleyCats in the MLB, he left the Astros organization. As many of you now know, he plays for the Giants, where he has already won two rings. And he looks to lead his team to another one this year. But not if the Astros have anything to say about it. Oh how baseball can be fun.
