For the first time since 2016, the Houston Astros will be watching the playoffs from home, like the rest of us. Houston closed the season with an 87–75 record, leaving them just one game shy of the third and final wild card spot. 

Houston finished the season strong, winning two of three from the Angels on the road and the Tigers at 87 wins and 75 losses. Detroit owned the tiebreaker, propelling the Tigers to postseason.

The four-time defending AL West champions did start the 2025 season strong, boasting a 7-game division lead as late as July 6th. The second half of the season told a different story, posting a 31-35 record after the all-star break. Now fans and the franchise have the same question- what went wrong?

The lineup used to be a consistent group that just plainly tried too hard and didn’t . Their chase rate and strikeouts increased over the stretch, failing to string together wins or make a run when it mattered most. Lack of offensive production was the most glaring culprit. Scoring three runs or fewer most of the time and averaging a mere 4.06 runs per game, down from 4.82 before the break.

Always close and never truly out of it til the end, the disappointing truth is they had fallen too far to recover. The Astros finished the season averaging 4.2 runs per game- their lowest since 2016.

The offense faltered, and the injuries mounted. At least 26 members of the team had stints on the injured list. Of the team’s four All-Star players, three were out for more than a month. 

Yordan Alvarez fractured his hand and later sprained his ankle. Jeremy Peña missed multiple weeks with rib and oblique injuries. Isaac Paredes was out too because of a hamstring strain, and Josh Hader’s shoulder injury. He couldn't pitch the end stretch of the season. 

And it wasn’t just Hader. Pitchers Ronel Blanco, Hayden Wesneski, Brandon Walter, and Luis Garcia included. All had either undergone or are scheduled to undergo Tommy John surgery in 2025.

Injuries aside, the front office didn’t stand pat as heads began to roll. After losing an MLB-high 17.6 projected wins above replacement (WAR) because of the countless injuries, the Astros shook up the staff. Houston parted ways with key members of the coaching and training group, including hitting coaches Alex Cintrón and Troy Snitker Both have been with the team since 2019. 

Next on the chopping block was catching coach Michael Collins, assistant GM Andrew Ball. A lot of the blame fell on head athletic trainer Jeremiah Randall, who’s been with the team since 2015.

Heading into the 2025–26 offseason, Framber Valdez (starting pitcher) and Victor Caratini (catcher) are both set to become free agents. As for the 2026–27 season, the players likely to be free agents are Lance McCullers Jr. (starting pitcher), Bryan Abreu (reliever), Mauricio Dubón (utility player), and Ramón Urías (utility player).

Manager Joe Espada has expressed that the team needs to be better as a whole, on both ends of the diamond. He’s addressed the fact that the team needs to be more productive offensively, but understands that things can improve on defense as well. 

The front office will lean on their soon-to-be newly acquired coaching staff, Espada will lean on the lineup and veterans, saying, ”I personally like to empower some of our leaders to have a say in how we’re going to address the aspects of our game that we need to address,” per msn. It seems like he’ll consult third baseman Alex Correa during the process. 

 A disappointing end to the 2025 season and an already busy offseason, including major coaching vacancies and up to six key players set to hit free agency. The Astros will look toward their 2026 season uncertain of the future of the franchise.