Josh Hader & Jose Abreu’s Sudden Unselfishness Shows the Astros’ Winning Culture Still Matters — Alex Bregman Sees the Signs of a Comeback

Unselfishness isn’t always easy to see, but it never left these Houston Astros. This is why Joe Espada’s team — which is really still Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman and Justin Verlander’s team — is very capable of pulling itself out of a historic hole, that 12 games under .500 start that had Yankee fans gleefully celebrating online like they’d actually won something. With four wins in their last five games, including a gut check of a home series win over the Cleveland Guardians, the Astros vets believe the turnaround has already started.

“Definitely something we can build on,” Bregman says when I ask him about the fight the Astros show in turning back a Cleveland team that’s been an early season surprise. “If we can just continue to do what we’ve doing these last few days. . .

“I really like everything that’s been going on.”

The idea that this proud, determined and playoff proven bunch is done because they started 7-19 never made much real sense. This golden age of Houston baseball always has been about doing things that had never been done before. From becoming the first Texas team to ever win a World Series to becoming the first team ever to make seven straight American League Championship Series, these Astros defy historic norms to make their own. It’s what they do.

Why should rebounding from a start that is supposed to bury a team’s playoff chances be any different?

Teams as unselfish and talented as these Astros find a way. Sometimes that means leaning on a reclamation project like Jon Singleton, who suddenly certainly looks like Houston’s new starting first baseman. Singleton hits two home runs and drives in six runs while starting three straight games at first base against Cleveland. No one ever doubted the power in Singleton’s bat, but the consistency has been as elusive as seeing a spotted owl.

But maybe, just maybe, some regular playing time — an extended stint in the lineup — could change that.

“I’ve been putting in a lot of work and it’s starting to pay off,” Singleton says.

Having Jose Abreu go away (for now) seems to have helped the Astros. But the unselfish way Abreu did it may mean even more in the end. Abreu willingly accepting getting optioned to the minors when he could have forced the end of his frustrating run with the Astros instead is no small thing.

It shows this Astros’ culture of unselfishness is still going strong, still converting almost everyone who enters this clubhouse.

The idea that this proud, determined and playoff proven bunch is done because they started 7-19 never made much real sense. This golden age of Houston baseball always has been about doing things that had never been done before

Jose Abreu accepts his demotion even though MLB’s veteran rules would allow him to decline. Then there’s new Astros closer Josh Hader telling the rookie manager that he wants to go two innings when the Astros need him to, something Hader refused to do in the regular season as a San Diego Padre. Hader’s one inning stance became so ingrained that Padres pitcher Joe Musgrove mocked it in a not-so-veiled manner.

Now that Hader is an Astro, with Jim Crane having committed to him for five seasons, he is telling Joe Espada he “wants” that extra inning. If you don’t think the culture of this Astros clubhouse plays into that, you probably think it’s a coincidence that all of Nikola Jokic’s teammates play better on his team too.

This Astros’ unselfishness has a way of spreading.

“You know, I think he’s one of the best teammates I’ve ever had,” Bregman says of Abreu. “Honestly, he’s one of the best hitters, and best hitter minds, I’ve ever been around. Obviously, he’s an MVP, All Star. He’s a leader in this clubhouse. I think he’s going to get everything right — I know he’ll get it right — and come back and be a huge help to us down the stretch.

“Just like he did last year. How many big at-bats and clutch at-bats did he have for us down the stretch last year? Knowing him, and knowing how hard he works, and how great of a human being he is, he’s going to get it right. And get back here and tear it up for the rest of the year.”

The Astros raved about Jose Abreu, the teammate, last season. How he never let his own struggles get in the way of always being there for his guys. That does not make the three-year, $58.5 million contract the then-GM-less Astros signed him to before last season any less of an albatross.

But it does make it awfully hard not to root for him. Abreu cares a lot about his teammates and doing right by them. That is an Astro. That is the standard Jose Altuve and Bregman have set. It’s hard to keep these Astros down for long in part because of how much they care for each other. Stand by each other. Stick up for one another.

This isn’t the secret sauce of the Astros’ relentlessly consistent winning as much as it’s a core ingredient.

“Definitely something we can build on. If we can just continue to do what we’ve doing these last few days. . .I really like everything that’s been going on.” — Alex Bregman

A lot of things go right for the Astros in this series win over the Guardians, which leads into an even bigger Minute Maid series this weekend against the Seattle Mariners, the pitching rich American League West division leaders of the moment. Alex Bregman finally hits his first home run of the season, even if the free agent to be still isn’t quite himself swing wise. Journeyman catcher Victor Caratini hits a walkoff home run to lift Houston to an extra inning win.

Things still aren’t close to perfect. The Astros are still 11-2o, still nine games under .500. It’s better than being 12 games under .500 though.

The Astros’ unselfishness is not waning though it all. Instead guys like Jose Abreu and Josh Hader, vets who could balk at changing their ways, are jumping to buy in. That means something. That shows plenty. You might want to think twice before declaring this near dynasty dead.