Can Red-Hot Oakland Catch Injury-Riddled Astros in the AL West?

• The Oakland Athletics put together a 10-game winning streak to vault themselves into second place in the AL West
• The Houston Astros will have to play without Jose Altuve, George Springer and Carlos Correa for the foreseeable future
• The Astros are still a huge -6600 favorite to win the AL West

The Oakland Athletics had a sluggish start to the 2019 season but a 10-game winning streak has vaulted them up the standings. They’re now back in contention for a Wild Card spot.

Are they capable of catching up with the Houston Astros, who are the World Series favorites and hold a big lead in the American League West?

2019 Odds to Win American League West

Athletics on a Tear

When you break it down by the numbers, the A’s 10-game winning streak (which ended yesterday) was quite impressive. They outscored their opponents by a margin of 78-31 while beating them down by a 25-12 home-run margin too.

The bottom of the lineup did plenty of the legwork as Josh Phegley, the no. 9 batter, had 10 RBIs during the streak, while no. 8 hitter Ramón Laureano posted a 10-game hitting streak.

What’s even more impressive is much of that came without slugger Khris Davis in the lineup. He’s second on the team with 12 home runs on the year but he’s missed seven straight games. Their odds to win the AL West have moved considerably, going from +2200 (on average) last week to +1200 as of today.

A’s Weren’t Much Before the Run

The challenge for anyone backing the A’s here is that they were the worst team in the West before this run. Sure, it’s impressive, but let’s remember that they were 19-25 before that and had lost four of six.

Furthermore, let’s take a closer look at the teams they’ve defeated. They won three straight against the Detroit Tigers, who are one of the worst teams in the American League.

Then they went on the road and swept three games from the Cleveland Indians, who are playing well below expectations this year.

Then they came home and swept three from the Seattle Mariners, who are dead-last in the West.

This isn’t exactly a murderer’s row. They should return to being average once the schedule gets more challenging.

Tracking Down the Astros is a Big Task

There’s no question that the Astros are banged up right now. They just lost Carlos Correa for four-to-six weeks and have been playing without Jose Altuve, who is dealing with some fatigue in his right knee.

Also, George Springer is out.

Even so, the Astros have a big lead in the division (7.5 games at the time of publishing), still have the best pitching staff, and have more depth than anyone else.

Could they go into a little bit of a funk? Of course. Do I expect them to blow the division? Absolutely not. They’ll have to tread water for a month or so, but should get most of their weapons back after that. As for the A’s, they’ve mostly been treading water outside of this 10-game winning streak – as evidenced by the fact that they’ve lost two straight since getting that 10th win.

I wouldn’t bet on Oakland – or anyone else – to win this division. Houston is still the best bet, but -6600 is a ridiculous price.