The Houston Astros’ real biggest rival in the MLB might just be away games. The only reason the Astros didn’t make it to the playoffs this year wasn’t just a plague of injuries. Houston recorded drastically worse stats than they did at home, which ultimately led to their fall from grace and playoffs miss. 

When traveling, Houston’s stats were noticeably worse than when they were at home. The Astros overall record in Houston was 46-35, but away, they lost almost half of the games at 41-40. It’s only a five win difference, but it’s noticeable and securing just one more win would have put Houston in the playoffs right now. 

The Astros were ranked in the top-10 for defensive performance with +23 in defensive runs saved (DRS), so it’s clear the offense was the issue. The average runs per game and batting average both dropped off when they weren’t in Houston. 

Average runs fell from 5.1 at home to 4.4 away- a 0.7 gap. A little rounding shows the team left roughly 55-60 runs on the table. The batting average also suffered at the hands of a plane ride. The Astros’ average dropped over twenty points, from .263 at home to .241 away, per StatMuse. That is a massive dip, and it cost them. 

If we’re talking away losses, the road games against the Detroit Tigers cannot go unmentioned. At Minute Maid Park in Houston, the Astros overpowered the Tigers in the first two games, in what fans were sure would be a sweep. The Tigers won the third game of the series 7-4. 

In the August series against the Tigers, the Astros were destroyed in Comerica Park. Detroit took all three victories, outscoring them 18-2 over the three games. When it came time to qualify for the playoffs at the end of the season, those losses to the Tigers were the deciding factor, since the two teams had identical 87-75 records.

So what happened? Well, there are a number of factors that contribute to why most teams play better at home. Travel fatigue and time zone switches, comfortability and confidence, crowd energy, etc. 

For Houston though, there is more to consider. For one, their field is much more batter-friendly than others. Leaving Minute Maid means at least 15 more feet of outfield and turns a 340-foot hit from a fan’s souvenir to an easy out in most other stadiums. After the big 2017 sign-stealing scandal, many fanbases still consider the Astros the enemy, so the boos get laid on heavy. 

 This season in particular, alternating between hitting coaches Alex Cintrón and Troy Snitker had a lot to do with their demise as well. The two coaches have drastically different coaching styles-  Cintrón being an old-school veteran who coaches on instinct and personal connection, while Snitker is younger, data-driven, and more rigid. 

Yordan Álvarez, the Astros’ All-Star designated hitter, missed 100-games, which also affected the offense as a whole, tanking consistent leadership, confidence, and overall energy. Houston struggled to fill the hole and rotated several players in his stead- two of which were rookies. 

As always, it wasn’t just one factor that can be definitively blamed for the Astros’ downfall. A lot went wrong for the team on the road- from injuries to inconsistent coaching to rookies adapting to being on the most hated team in baseball.