Houston Astros Projected To Have Best Record in AL
The Houston Astros make a couple of recent moves that likely had a role in new projections that make them the team to beat in the American League.
Baseball Prospectus released its latest PECOTA projected standings for 2024 on Wednesday. The site runs thousands of simulations to come up with the standings along with a range of victories for the season.
PECOTA, which stands for Player Empirical Comparison and Optimization Test Algorithm, is Baseball Prospectus’ proprietary system that projects player and team performance.
And it likes the Astros in 2024.
The team just extended second baseman Jose Altuve to a five-year contract. In January, the Astros bolstered their bullpen by signing closer Josh Hader to a five-year deal. The Astros also have one of the best batting orders in the game.
Last year, the Astros only won 90 games, but tied the Texas Rangers on the final day of the season at the top of the AL West. Because the Astros owned the tiebreaker over the Rangers, they got the higher playoff seed.
But, the two teams met in the AL Championship Series and the Rangers won in seven games.
BP believes the Astros won’t just end up with the AL West title in 2024, but they’ll end up with the best record in the AL, barely passing the New York Yankees.
BP projects the Astros to finish with 94.6 wins, just edging out the Yankees with 94.5 wins.
The Astros are projected to have a 91.3% chance of making the playoffs, with a 73.6% chance of winning the division. From there, the Astros have a 78.6% chance of reaching the divisional playoffs and a 10.1% chance of reaching the World Series.
Astros pitchers and catchers report to spring training next week in West Palm Beach, Fla.
