The Houston Astros are your 2017 World Series Champions!  But by now, the celebrations and the parades have ended and the Astros players and coaches are back to working harder than they ever have before trying to repeat as champions.  But I believe the Stros’ have a better chance than last year.

First of all, put into perspective the obstacles the Astros had to face throughout the 101 win season in 2017.  At the start of the season, ace Dallas Keuchel missed multiple starts with a pinched nerve in his neck, Carlos Correa missed 2 whole months with a damaged ligament in his thumb, and a literal hurricane struck Houston and caused devastation across the city and flooded downtown Houston for many days.  Despite all of this, the Astros prevailed. They won the first World Series in franchise history.

History says however, that they won’t repeat as champions in 2018.  The last time there were repeat champs in the MLB was in 1998-2000 when the Yankees won 3 titles in a row.  This is one of the most competitive pro sports leagues in the world, as there are a countless number of teams always contending for a title.  Three of the last 5 defending champs had losing records heading into the all-star break which is horrible considering those teams had just won a world series and the other two teams barely had a win percentage over 50%.  This is a trend that has plagued many franchises in the last 17 years. But, if any team is gonna break the mold, it’s the 2018 Houston Astros!

The Astros will head into opening day with an even better roster than they had last season, believe it or not.  Over the course of the off-season, the Astros traded away 4 players including talented prospect 3B Colin Moran and RP Joe Musgrove for 27 year old fireballer Gerrit Cole.  Cole has previously played for the Pirates in all 5 years of his career and he was by far their best pitcher. When you look at the numbers, he had the worst ERA of his career at 4.26 and he won only 12 games while also losing 12 over the course of the season.  Not very positive at a quick glance. However, he was battling a multitude of minor injuries and he was playing for one of the worst teams in Major League Baseball that only won 75 games out of 162. When he is healthy and behind a great supporting cast, he can be one of the best pitchers in baseball as he was in 2015.  He had the best year of his career with a 2.60 ERA and a 19-8 record. He was even an all-star for the first time and finished 4th in Cy-Young voting. I am confident he will return with a vengeance in his first year with the Astros.

The Astros have quite possibly the best team in franchise history and the best starting lineup in baseball and they will stop at nothing until they win another world series. AL MVP Jose Altuve is still the best infielder in baseball and will put up similar numbers this upcoming season.  And Carlos Correa is my prediction for MVP this year if he can remain 100% healthy. Also, the Astros by far, have the best starting pitching rotation in the league with Justin Verlander, Dallas Keuchel, Gerrit Cole, Lance McCullers Jr., and Charlie Morton.

By the time November hits, don’t be surprised if the parades start back up again after another Astros World Series victory.