The 2015 series on team offense continues with the Houston Astros. The Astros finished tied for twenty first in the majors and fourteenth in the the American League in 2014 with 3.88 runs scored per game. They scored the same number of runs as the New York Mets.

I found a lineup for them at CBSSports.com, and it is conflict with both RotoChamp and USA Today. RotoChamp and CBS seem to be close, however, so I’m going with RotoChamp, assuming they update their lineups. That A. J. Hinch lineup is plugged into the Lineup Analysis Tool (LAT) using Musings Marcels as the batter projections. That information produces the following results:

Best lineup: 4.73 runs per game
Probable lineup: 4.69
Worst lineup: 4.47
Regressed lineup: 4.32

The Astros project to a big improvement in terms of runs scored. With a few young players like George Springer and Jose Altuve, and Jon Singleton waiting in the background, there’s plenty of upside beyound the projection. Hinch did a good job of constructing the lineup. So far, only the Angels are closer to the ideal.

It’s also apparent why the Astros acquired veterans Evan Gattis and Jed Lowrie. They knew their offense was close to the level of the better teams in the league, and Lowrie’s OBP and Gattis’s slugging make the team better. I would not be surprised to see another large jump in wins for Houston this year.

You can follow the data for the series in this Google spreadsheet.

Please consider donating to the Baseball Musings Pledge Drive.

Previous posts in this series:

• Introduction
• Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
• Detroit Tigers
• Colorado Rockies
• Oakland Athletics
• Toronto Blue Jays
• Los Angeles Dodgers
• Minnesota Twins
• Baltimore Orioles
• Washington Nationals
• Pittsburgh Pirates
• Cleveland Indians
• San Francisco Giants
• Chicago White Sox
• Kansas City Royals
• Milwaukee Brewers
• Miami Marlins
• Texas Rangers
• Boston Red Sox
• New York Yankees
• Seattle Mariners