Houston Astros Can Look to Their Past for Playoff Hope

The Houston Astros are 10 games under .500 after 40 games, but it doesn’t mean their playoff hopes are done yet.

May 12, 2024; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Houston Astros center fielder Joey Loperfido. | Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

The Houston Astros have been fighting an uphill battle since they were swept in a four-game series by the New York Yankees on opening weekend. Since then, the Astros have been working just to get back to .500.

After beating Detroit on Sunday and taking a three-game series win over the Tigers, the Astros are 15-25 with approximately a quarter of the season complete.

Entering this week the Astros are 6.5 games back of the American League West lead. They’re nine games out of the Wild Card race.

But, history says they’re not quite done yet.

According to The Athletic, in the modern era of baseball (since 1901) three teams have started a season 15-25 and reached the postseason.

One of them just happens to be the 2005 Houston Astros.

Yes, the franchise’s first World Series team, led by Hall of Famers Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell, started their season 15-25 on May 19. The season actually got worse before it got better, as the Astros lost five games in a row to drop to 15-30, 15 games below .500.

The Astros got back to .500 for the first time on July 9, got above .500 for the first time on July 19 and rode a seven-game winning streak and a 14-2 finish to July to stay there for good.

Houston finished 89-73-1, clinching the Wild Card berth in the National League. From there, the Astros beat the Atlanta Braves in the Division Series and the St. Louis Cardinals in the Championship Series before they were swept by the Chicago White Sox in the World Series.

The other two teams to do it are the 1974 Pittsburgh Pirates and the 1989 Toronto Blue Jays.

The Pirates finished 88-74, won the NL East and lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL Championship Series. The Blue Jays finished 89-73, won the AL East and lost to the Oakland Athletics in the AL Championship Series.