Astros Skipper Makes Proclamation About How Team Will Play in September

Joe Espada made a statement regarding how the Houston Astros are going to perform in September.

Jun 24, 2025; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Astros manager Joe Espada (19) prior to the game against the Philadelphia Phillies at Daikin Park | Erik Williams-Imagn Images

It hasn't been pretty for the Houston Astros the past two months.

With records of 12-13 in July and 13-15 in August, that marked two straight losing months for the Astros. That's not necessarily a sign that they are one of the premier teams in the sport who can win a World Series championship.

The only saving grace for Houston has been the futility of their division rivals, with the Seattle Mariners being unable to perform at a high level on a consistent basis, the Texas Rangers being one of the most disappointing teams in Major League Baseball compared to preseason expectations and the Athletics and Los Angeles Angels still not getting into that competitive echelon.

Because of that, the Astros are still in the driver's seat when it comes to winning the AL West, owning a three-game lead over the Mariners with a month left to go in the regular season.

Joe Espada Says Astros Will Play Better in September

Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

But if Houston is going to secure their fifth division title in a row and the eighth out of the last nine years, then they have to play better than they have been with a sputtering offense and hit or miss performances from their pitching staff.

Manager Joe Espada believes the best is yet to come for his team, and he made a bold statement regarding how this group is going to perform during the final month of the regular season as they prepare themselves for another playoff run.

"We’ll get it going here. We’ll put this month behind us and this is when we play our best, in September," he said, per Brian McTaggart of MLB.com.

The first place the Astros can start when it comes to turning things around is their performance at Daikin Park. During the month of August, they went 6-6 and averaged 2.4 runs per game, a far cry compared to how they have done on their home field in the past.

How they performed on Monday to begin the month of September was a great sign, as the offense put up eight runs during their bludgeoning of the Angels in the finale of their four-game set to salvage a split.

The Halo Effect.#TheNextFrontier x @MethodistHosp pic.twitter.com/opOWPRSZEb

— Houston Astros (@astros) September 1, 2025

They'll have three more games to keep that momentum rolling against a New York Yankees team that began to play their best baseball of the year to close out the month of August. But for as much attention as the lackluster home performance in August has gotten, it's what Houston does in away stadiums that will determine their success.

After their three-game series against the Yankees, the Astros then head out for a long road trip, facing the Rangers for three contests before going north of the border to play the Toronto Blue Jays for three and then down to the south to face the Atlanta Braves for three. Houston comes back and has six home games against Texas and Seattle, but they close their season on the road against the Athletics and Angels.

So if Espada's proclamation is going to come true, then the Astros will have to bring their best when they are on the road, a setting that has produced just a 34-32 record thus far.