2019 Astros versus 2018, 2017

Not an I.D.I.O.T., but I just wanted to point out how much deeper this team is than last year's team which was a bit of a fundamentally different, pitching staff-dominated squad in terms of overall value and how we got to our 103 wins.

The 2017 version with its unending lineup proving that no lead was safe, is a much better comp for this team.

Spoiler

Using a barometer of 3.0 WAR as a cutoff for full season performance, based on the charts above you can tell that the 2017 incarnation of the Astros was deeper than the 2018 one. What's more, the 2018 Astros had 3 of their top five contributors to value (and 4 of the top 7) as pitchers. This hints at the injury bugs that last year's Astros had to contend with, but it also perhaps demonstrates that, contrary to popular thinking, pitching might actually not be what carries you through in the playoffs.

The 2019 Astros, once you prorate a 3.0 WAR season into the current 104 games that have been played, have many more contributors to their current performance, with 9 guys projected to surpass 3.0 WAR by season's end (1.9 is the bar at this point) and a couple more who easily could get there if they stay healthy (Correa, Altuve, ALVAREZ). Four of the top 9 guys are pitchers, but we might also have 8 position players finish the year with over 3 WAR which would be nigh unheard of. To me this portends for more postseason success, because the game over the past 5 years (since the Royals won it in my opinion) has shifted away from being how many aces you can get to just shut down the opposition. That doesn't fly anymore, with hitters being trained to just work counts and foul as many balls off as they can (thanks, Ben Zobrist). Now, it's all about lineup longevity, giving the other team as few easy innings as possible, and then how many reliable bullpen arms you have to just throw into the meat grinder.