2024 Houston Astros

2024 Houston Astros / Franchise: Houston Astros / BR Team Page

Record: , Finished in AL Western Division (2024 AL)

Managed by Joe Espada

Coaches: Jason Bell, Alex Cintron, Dave Clark, Michael Collins, Tommy Kawamura, Omar Lopez, Joshua Miller, Bill Murphy, Gary Pettis and Troy Snitker

Ballpark: Minute Maid Park

History, Comments, Contributions

The 2024 Houston Astros started their season on the wrong foot as they were swept at home by the New York Yankees in a four-game series. To make things worse, they led in all four games, but the Yankees came back every time. These were the first four games for new manager Joe Espada, who replaced the legendary Dusty Baker, who retired during the off-season. Just when fans were starting to panic, the Astros pulled off a great feat on April 1st when pitcher Ronel Blanco, in only the eighth start of his career, pitched a complete game no-hitter against the Toronto Blue Jays and the hitters finally awoke, hitting five homers and scoring ten runs for an emphatic 10-0 win. It was the 17th no-hitter in franchise history, and the earliest ever in major league history in terms of calendar date. However, the no-hitter was followed by another excruciating loss on April 2nd, when the Astros held a 1-0 lead over Toronto with two outs in the 9th, only to see newly-signed closer Josh Hader cough up a two-run gopher ball to Davis Schneider for a 2-1 loss.

Further Reading

• Brian McTaggart: "How dominant can the Astros' bullpen be? We asked the experts: How the Wagner-Lidge-Dotel trio compares to Hader-Pressly-Abreu", mlb.com, March 21, 2024. [1]
• Brian McTaggart: "In 8th MLB start, Astros righty Ronel Blanco fires 1st no-no of '24", mlb.com, April 2, 2024. [2]

2024 MLB season by team