Astros take a big hit in the power rankings going into the All-Star break

Astros take a big hit in the power rankings going into the All-Star break originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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It’s been quite the rollercoaster season for the Houston Astros and its fanbase this year. They have had flashes of brilliance, while also playing some below-level baseball. 

It’s been hard for this club to stay consistent with its depleted starting rotation. They lost Ronel Blanco after tearing his UCL in the spring, Hunter Brown to the 60-day IL with a right shoulder strain, and Cristian Javier missed a chunk of the season with a Grade 2 shoulder strain. 

And offensively, outside of Yordan Alvarez, there hasn’t been much to write home about. Now, Jeremy Pena, Christian Walker, and Isaac Paredes are holding their own, but it’s not enough to string wins together. 

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Astros take a big hit in the power rankings going into the All-Star break

Houston was starting to put something together during the late part of June. They were closing the gap in the division, but last week, they blew a huge opportunity to keep making up ground.

They lost the series 1-2 to the Washington Nationals, and then dropped the series to the Texas Rangers in the same fashion. With this, Bleacher Report’s Kerry Miller has dropped this team down from No. 13 last week to No. 18 in his latest power rankings. 

“It looked as though Houston had turned a corner, going 10-4 in the second half of June to vault back onto the brink of the postseason picture. But the Astros blew a golden opportunity to enter the driver’s seat in the AL West, twice collapsing late against the Rangers to instead lose some ground in that race. Upgrading the bullpen ahead of the deadline is growing more imperative by the day.”

Luckily, the team has some time to rest and recharge. However, as Miller mentions, if they don’t make a move to upgrade their bullpen, this could be quite a long second half of the season for the Houston faithful. 

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