MLB: The Houston Astros are very similar to the Atlanta Braves of the 1990's

As of this writing, the Houston Astros are on the verge of going up 2-0 on the Tampa Bay Rays. If they are able to sweep the Rays, they will be heading back to the American League Championship Series. It’s not known who they will face, but it seems likely to be a rematch with the New York Yankees. Since 2017, the Houston Astros have been the dominate team in the American League West. They had been apart of AL West since 2013, but failed to make the playoffs from 2013-2017.

One of the reasons for this team to become dominate is the success of the pitching. When your first three starters in your rotation are Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole, and Zack Grenkie. All three of these guys were aces before they came to the Astros. With how well the Astros pitching has been, it had me thinking. When have I seen a team dominate for a certain amount of years and have great pitching?

For this answer, I needed to go back to the 1990’s. The 1990’s was an interesting time for baseball. 1994 was the strike and the 1990’s would produce some of the greatest players. Some of those players was Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and John Smoltz. While Maddux did play in the 1980’s, he didn’t become the dominate pitcher he would until his time with the Braves. These pitching legends played for the Atlanta Braves. They were apart of their run that went from 1990 and ended in 2005.

While that crop of Braves won only one World Series (1995), they were a factor in the playoffs at some point. While the hitting contributed in their way, it was the pitching that got them to where they did. I’m a firm believer that Grenkie, Cole, and Verlander will do the same thing for the Astros.

Game three of this series is Monday afternoon and it could be elimination day for the Astros.