Aug 30, 2025; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Astros manager Joe Espada (19) walks to the dugout after a pitching change during the seventh inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Daikin Park. Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

Astros Experience Slight Drop in Final Month Edition of MLB Power Rankings

Originally posted on Houston Astros on SI
By Michael Brauner | Last updated Sep 2, 2025 8:00 PM ET

The Houston Astros have had an absolute roller coaster of a season, which has still seen them enter the final month of the year clinging to a narrow lead in the American League West over the chasing Seattle Mariners and Texas Rangers.

After Labor Day, Houston leads Seattle by three games and Texas by 4.5, though with the Rangers surging and still a ton of baseball left to be played, locking up the West once again is going to be a tall task.

Critically, the Astros built themselves a cushion with a very successful early portion of the year, especially in June. The last two months though, they have finished below .500 in both July and August, albeit just by one and two games. Houston has ridden waves of streakiness not just in August, but all season long.

Despite all this, they are still among the best teams in baseball and are a team capable of making yet another deep playoff run when October rolls along. In his latest and final regular season power rankings, Will Leitch of MLB.com moved the Astros down to No. 10 from No. 9, leapfrogged by the New York Yankees.

"Truly, it’s rather absurd that the Astros -- who lost almost their entire rotation and best hitter for most of the season -- are still in first place in the AL West," Leitch wrote. "If they were to win the AL West this year, something they have done in every full season since 2016, this would be one of their most impressive, and most memorable, division titles."

What Astros Need to Do to Finish Strong

Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images

Houston is fairly secure in their pursuit of a playoff spot, but as Leitch mentioned, this would be their wildest win of the division yet during this unprecedented run of success. For the first time in seven years in 2024, this team did not reach the ALCS. After losing virtually their entire core either to free agency, trades, or various injuries, they have returned this year like a team who is hungry to right that wrong.

Starting on Tuesday night, the Astros face three consecutive absolutely massive series against the Yankees, Rangers and Toronto Blue Jays -- who they are competing with for home field advantage.

They will face Texas twice and the Mariners as well later this month. With everything ahead of them, Houston very much controls its own fate as to whether or not they are going to win the division once again. If they can do just that, the weakness of the American League will have them in a terrific place to make a run again.

They will need to perform at their best over the next few weeks to make that happen, though.

This article first appeared on Houston Astros on SI and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: