Starting Nine: 2017 Astros Season Predictions

We previously released our bold predictions for the season, but now it’s time to dial it back a bit and consider what we can reasonably expect from these 2017 Astros. Who better to provide such accurate prognostications than our very own TCB staff?

Astros Top Performers

We split this up by starting pitching, relief pitching, offensive player, overall MVP, and rookie of the year. Every category except rookie of the year was basically a show-down between 2 players, with Gurriel being the clear favorite for ROY honors.

Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Other Astros Predictions

Besides overall performance, we considered a couple stats (batting average, home run total), who might be a surprise fans this year, and which player the Astros will land at the deadline. George Springer, who trailed only Evan Gattis in the HR column last year, is the clear favorite to take home that title. Meanwhile Altuve, who has led the team in batting average since... well since Hunter Pence left the team, was the no-brainer pick for keeping that title.

I guess it makes sense that the picks for Surprise player would vary so much since... you know... we will be surprised by whoever it is. Finally, the picks for mid-season acquisition are all starting pitchers, though a few writers felt a trade deadline blockbuster wouldn’t be necessary.

Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Team Record and World Series Predictions

Our final Astros questions were probably what we all care about the most. Just how many games will this team win, and do they have what it takes to win the 2017 World Series?

All of our writers expect this team to finish better than the 2016 Astros, with 54% predicting 89-92 wins, 23% predicting 93-96 wins, and the final 23% predicting 98-102 wins for the 2017 Astros.

A couple writers recused themselves from answering whether or not the 2017 Astros will win the World Series, but 54% of those who responded believe they will. CRPerry13 provided the best analysis:

American League Awards

Moving on to the bigger league-wide picture, we asked our writers to predict who would take home the shiny American League hardware after the books close on the 2017 season. Perennial candidate Mike Trout looks like the favorite for MVP, while Andrew Benintendi captured most of the ROY votes. The Cy Young votes were pretty spread out with only one Astros pitcher getting a vote (and would you look who cast that vote).

Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

AL Playoffs

Finally, TCB staff predicted which teams will be playing October baseball in 2017. There wasn’t much disagreement about division winners, but the two wild cards always keep things interesting.

So... what do you think? Comment below with your predictions and we’ll check back in November to see who got it right!