Astros vs Rangers Preview: Rough Start for Astros
Astros Have Struggled to Start Season, Now Facing In-State Rivals
After a disappointing opening homestand, the Houston Astros (2-5) will look for a little road success as they head a few hours northwest to visit the defending World Series champion Texas Rangers (4-2) for a four-game wraparound rivalry series. This Astros vs Rangers preview will touch on how Houston’s offense has bounced back from a tough start while the Rangers’ stacked lineup has rounded into mid-season form despite a few notable MLB injuries.
The Astros were swept in a four-game set at home by the Yankees to start their 2024 campaign before rebounding to win two of three against the Blue Jays. Granted, the Major League Baseball schedule wasn’t so kind to Houston with two solid opponents to kick things off but it was still concerning for the Astros to fail to get a game against the Yankees. The lineup didn’t do much in that series but it looked more like itself against Toronto, notably in a 10-0 win that also featured the season’s first no-hitter from Houston starter Ronel Blanco.
Texas kept its momentum from the 2023 postseason going with series wins over the Cubs and Rays. The rotation — even with Jacob deGrom, Max Scherzer, Tyler Mahle, and Michael Lorenzen still on the shelf — has been solid and the lineup continues to produce even without Nathaniel Lowe (oblique strain) and Josh Jung, who just broke his wrist.
The Rangers have such reliable guys like Marcus Semien, Corey Seager, and Adolis García at the top of the order that they can withstand those losses. That’s why Texas is -120 to win the series (+100) even though the Astros are -135 moneyline favorites in Friday’s opener.
Houston Astros vs Texas Rangers 
Location: Globe Life Field
Day/Time:
Astros Are As Dangerous As Ever
Thanks to the Blue Jays series, in which Houston scored 19 runs, the Astros are leading the AL in pretty much every major offensive category. They’re first in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, OPS, total bases, and home runs. Five different Astros already have hit multiple home runs and every regular other than Alex Bregman and José Abreu has an OPS+ of at least 30% better than the league average. This is a very tough lineup to navigate and that could be said about both teams in this Astros vs Rangers preview.
We all know how good the core of that lineup is — between José Altuve, Bregman, Kyle Tucker, and Yordan Álvarez — but it’s the continued emergence of the newer regulars, such as Jeremy Peña and Yainer Díaz, that makes Houston so scary. Peña’s production dipped last season from his stellar rookie campaign in 2022 but he has looked great so far this year and Díaz seems to have solved Houston’s longtime woes with offensive production from the catcher position.
The Astros have remained at the top of the baseball standings for years because of their consistent starting pitching — despite constant injuries — and elite top-of-the-lineup bats. As those pitchers and hitters age, though, they’ve managed to do a really job at developing less-heralded prospects into All-Star caliber players. That has been proven true again and again at the plate and on the mound, where Houston also has a litany of quality arms on the IL yet the Astros still have plenty of good starting options. It’s very impressive.
Rangers Can Beat Up on Houston ‘Pen
Houston has a clear weakness: its bullpen. The Astros tried to address their lack of reliable bullpen arms by signing star closer Josh Hader to a five-year, $95 million deal in the offseason but he has really struggled with Houston and has been responsible for two losses.
Hader will bounce back yet beyond him, Ryan Pressly and maybe Bryan Abreu, a lot of the guys in the bullpen are either inconsistent or just unproven. The Astros didn’t bring back Héctor Neris or Phil Maton in free agency and Kendall Graveman is on the shelf due to shoulder surgery.
No Astros vs Rangers preview could be complete without noting how Houston cost them severely in the Yankees’ series and is in the bottom-third in baseball in most statistical categories. Hader and Pressly are a dominant late-game duo but they are getting up there in age and it might be tough for the Astros to get them leads with how shaky the rest of the relief corps is. With how powerful the Texas bats are, and how quickly the Rangers can turn a close game into a blowout, there could be a lot of late-game fireworks in Arlington for the home team.
Hunter Brown is A Guy to Watch
Hard-throwing Hunter Brown — who has received plenty of comparisons to his injured teammate and future Hall-of-Famer Justin Verlander — will start for Houston on Friday against Texas’ Cody Bradford. Saturday will see J.P. France go against the struggling Jon Gray while Sunday’s game will feature Blanco and Dane Dunning. The series will wrap up on Monday as current Houston staff ace Framber Valdez takes on Andrew Heaney.
The lines agree that, if you’re making baseball picks today, it might be a good idea to take Houston. Brown pitched well against the Yankees in his first start of the season and is a great breakout candidate after a so-so first full season in 2023, impressive postseason cameo, and great Spring Training. He grew up in suburban Detroit rooting for and emulating Verlander and now gets to learn from him while having his own spot in the Astros’ rotation.
Brown’s stuff is nasty and he seems to be turning into yet another reliable Houston starter. Jump on that bandwagon early as he battles with the promising yet inconsistent Bradford.
Astros vs Rangers Odds
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