Top 50 Houston Astros
The Houston Astros debuted in 1962 but not as the Astros, but as the Houston Colt .45’s. The Colt .45’s were short-lived as with the advent of the space program in Houston and the first domed stadium, in 1965, the Houston Astros were officially born.The Astros may not have been the most successful on the field, but the dome (rather domes) and color schemes they used on their uniforms have made them a recognizable team throughout their existence.
Houston would win the National League Pennant in 2005 but would lose to the Chicago White Sox. They moved to the American League in 2014 and became a power, finally winning it all in 2017. They returned to the World Series in 2019 and 2021 but lost to the Washington Nationals and Atlanta Braves repsectively. In 2022, they won their second Championship.
Note: Baseball lists are based on an amalgamation of tenure, traditional statistics, advanced statistics, playoff statistics, and post-season accolades.
This list is up to the end of the 2024 Season.
An All-Star and Silver Slugger in 1983, Dickie Thon appeared to poised for something special in Major League Baseball. Coming off a season where he finished 7th in MVP voting and led the NL in bWAR for Position Players, he was beaned early in 1984 by Mike Torrez causing him to miss the rest of the season. He would return, but his vision was never the same, and he became one of the “what might have beens” in baseball. As an Astro, he would have 492 Hits with a .270 Batting Average, and a 6.7 Defensive bWAR.
Yuli Gurriel was one of the greatest baseball players on the last half of the first decade of the 2010s, though since he was from Cuba, nobody noticed. The Cuban remained dominant, but it would not be until 2016 when he defected from Cuba and signed with the Houston Astros that anyone really noticed. Playing at First Base, Gurriel was fourth in Rookie of the Year voting in 2017, whew he belted 18 Home Runs with a .299 Batting Average. The Cuban helped the Astros win the Word Series, and he hit over .290 the next two years, and though he would…
Improving offensively with each passing year, Rusty Staub debuted with the then named Houston Colt .45’s and before he left for the Montreal Expos, he would make two All Star with the Astros. Staub’s final three seasons in Houston saw him go over 150 Hits and in 1967 would lead the NL in Doubles while batting .333. Had Staub just been an average defensive player his ranking would have been much higher.With Houston, Staub would accrue 792 Hits and a .273 Batting Average.
Ken Caminiti would become a National League MVP with the San Diego Padres but it was a member of the Houston Astros where he would make the first of his three All Star Games. Caminiti was not putting up his best career power numbers in Houston (though still had 103), but he was actually at his best defensively playing for the Astros.
A two-time All-Star with the Houston Astros, Hunter Pence displayed some serious offensive acumen with three seasons if 160 Hits and 25 Home Runs. Pence would become atwo-timee World Series Champion with the San Francisco Giants, but the truth is that his best campaigns took place in Houston.
Known for being one of the more prolific Pinch Hitters of all-time, Denny Walling was a Houston Astro for 13 of his 18 seasons and was predominantly used against right handed pitchers. Walling was especially effective with his bat in the cavernous Astrodome and the fact that he was capable of playing multiple defensive positions made him an asset for Houston. He would have 726 Hits for the club.
A very quick player, Steve Finley would lead the National League in Triples in 1992. It was with the Astros that Finley would post his best Stolen Base numbers and had two consecutive seasons where he accumulated 170 Hits. Over his four years in Houston, he would have a Defensive bWAR of 5.0, a number that was actually better than he accrued for other teams this despite winning his six Gold Gloves elsewhere. Finley would have 595 Hits with 110 Stolen Bases in Houston.
Bouncing back and forth as a starter and reliever during his six seasons (over two runs) as an Astro, Danny Darwin fittingly won the ERA and WHIP title in a season (1990) where he split duties doing both. Darwin would have a record of 47 and 35 as a Houston Astro.
After a decade with the Cleveland Indians, Michael Brantley signed with the Houston Astros as a Free Agent in 2019, and as of this writing, has not shown any decline. Brantley went to his fourth All-Star Game in his debut season with Houston, setting a personal best in Home Runs (22), and batting .311. In the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign, Brantley again batted .300 (an even .300), and he returned to the All-Star Game in 2021, with Brantley again batting over .300 (.311). Brantley currently has a .310 Batting Average with the Astros with 376 Hits, and he has helped them win…
Mike Cuellar would become a World Series Champion and a Cy Young winner with the Baltimore Orioles, but he first turned heads when he was a Houston Astro. Cuellar would go his first All-Star Game as an Astro in 1967, a season where he went 16 and 11. Overall, in the four seasons he was in Houston (1965-68), he went 37-36 with 557 Strikeouts.
A two time All Star, Bob Knepper would have four seasons with Houston where he had 14 or more Wins. Knepper would have a losing record as an Astro (93-100), but still with only 7 shy of the 100 mark in Wins and 54 shy of 1,000 Strikeouts, these are two solid milestones he almost made.
Known for his very keen batting eye (he is one of the few players in MLB history to record more Walks than Hits in a full season), Morgan Ensberg had a breakout season in 2005, where he was an All-Star, A Silver Slugger and finished 4th in MVP voting. He never replicated that campaign, however, but did make his mark in Houston with 551 Hits with 105 Home Runs.