Houston Astros 2024 postseason: 5 defining moments from regular-season rollercoaster ride, including Tucker injury, Kikuchi trade

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — The Houston Astros were widely considered favorites to win the American League West heading into the 2024 season, which began with a scare: They suffered a four-game loss at home to the New York Yankees.

Six months later the ‘Stros’, led by their first-time manager Joe EspadaThey sip champagne as unlikely defending division champions.

The video above is from September 24, 2024, when the Astros won the AL West title.

Jose Altuve, Yordan Alvarez, Framber Valdez, Alex Bregman and a mix of rookie and veteran talent sent fans on a rollercoaster ride with peaks, like an early-season no-hitter, and valleys, like “Tuve” going barefoot was thrown out of the air game.

ABC13 Sports identified five milestones that defined the season. If you think we’ve forgotten one thing, Let us know.

Ronel Blanco’s no-hitter

April 1, 2024: The 30-year-old from the Dominican Republic may have been the unsung arm of the pitching rotation entering the season. After all, this was his first chance to start in the major leagues.

And the first chance was a gem. On April Fools’ Day, of all days, Blanco threw 105 pitches to 29 batters in front of 27,285 people at Minute Maid Park – None registered a base hit.

Blanco was the star of the Astros’ first win of 2024 and Joe Espada’s first win of his major league managerial career. Despite a 10-20 start in the first 30 games, the victory in some ways set the stage for the club’s glorious late season.

WATCH MORE: After the no-hit game, the Astros’ Ronel Blanco expected a hug from his mother, a big moment in the pitcher’s long journey

The King’s Bruise

June 3rd: Batters swing and bounce baseballs off their legs every night, but when right fielder Kyle Tucker sent one off his shin, no one knew at the time that it would cost the All-Star three months of his career.

The ballclub initially called the injury he suffered against St. Louis a shin bruise, and the team assumed he would be off the field for just a few days. As the days turned into weeks, fans realized something worse. Tucker later revealed it was a broken tibia.

The 27-year-old’s absence was certainly devastating. Tucker was well on his way to competing for various home run and base stealing crowns. But the injury proved the Astros were resilient. Houston won 49 of the 80 games Tucker missed during that time.

10 games back

June 18th: That was the lowest point. Going 33-40 and losing to the historically bad Chicago White Sox, the Astros dug themselves deeper into a 10-game hole and looked up to the then-AL West leaders, the Seattle Mariners. Things went awry for the team with World Series aspirations, not to mention that Tucker, Cristian Javier and Justin Verlander were unavailable due to injuries.

So how did Houston go from ten games behind to up to six games ahead of Seattle?

The ‘Stros never looked back, going 18-6 from June 19 to July 19 as Houston caught the Mariners and secured first place in the division. Seattle simply collapsed, taking an 8:15 lead during the same period.

Bike in Seattle

July 21st: Yes, the Astros lost that game to the Mariners, but when a perennial All-Star achieves a career accomplishment like this, it can solidify that star’s reputation throughout baseball.

Yordan Alvarez has three-homer games, walk-off blasts and championship go-ahead round-trippers. But until that Sunday afternoon, he had yet to have a hit for the cycle — a major league batter’s rite of passage.

No. 44 singled in his first at-bat, hit a home run in his second, hit an RBI triple and tied it with a late-game double. This game only added to the fairytale story of the Cuban slugger, who was so overlooked in the Dodgers organization that he was expendable to the Astros. Thanks, LA.

SEE ALSO: Astros salute Mariners fan who grabbed historic ball from Yordan Alvarez

Abreu out, Kikuchi in

June 14th and July 29th: Baseball is a business that involves investments and divestitures. General manager Dana Brown refused to part with assets well before the trade deadline, telling reporters the team was “too good” to break up.

However, one piece couldn’t survive the season. First baseman Jose Abreu was cleared to walk In mid-June, after struggling at the plate, the former AL MVP was sent to the club’s Florida Complex League to look for improvement. When he left, he was just halfway through his three-year, $58.5 million contract.

However, the team had a surcharge for this deduction, which was initially questionable, but later paid off. The starting pitcher is needy Astros acquired one-time All-Star Yusei Kikuchi from the Toronto Blue Jays before the July 30 deadline. Cool, right? Well, fans by and large weren’t, um, fans of the trade, and most said the cost of young major leaguers Will Wagner, Jake Bloss and Joey Loperfido was too high for a rotation piece on an expiring contract . What had the Japanese left-hander done since his arrival? He posted a 2.70 ERA in 10 games, all but one of which were Astros wins.

SEE ALSO: Don’t sleep on it: New Astro, known for needing 14 hours of sleep, debuts with 11 strikeouts

Honorable mention

Spencer Arrighetti’s August: The Astros desperately needed starting arms, and they were going to get them any way they could, especially from Sugar Land. Like any fresh newbie is 24 years old was average in his first four months in the majors, posting a record of 4-9. But then Arrighetti threw 12 strikeouts against Tampa Bay, another 13 at Fenway Park and another 11 in a no-hit bid in Philadelphiaall in August. On the other side of this fantastic month, Arrighetti was named AL Rookie of the Month, solidifying his spot on the roster for the playoffs and years to come.

The Walkoffs: Three were particularly exciting – all included home runs. Victor Caratini’s two-run blast on April 30 against Cleveland; Yainer Diaz’s crush on August 19 against Boston; and Alex Bregman’s backbreaker against the Dodgers on July 27.

SEE ALSO: Jose Altuve’s barefoot ejection creates the latest wild moment in ‘Stros’ history.

Astros star Jose Altuve’s friendly gesture during the ball game makes for the boy’s “best moment.”