Astros Have Been MLB's Best Team in June Despite Mounting Injury Concerns

As the weather heats up, division races around the MLB have continued to intensify with teams vying for postseason positioning slugging it out.

One team that has surged to the top their division after getting off to a slow start has been the Houston Astros, who have built a 4.5-game lead over the rest of the AL West thanks in large part to their stellar play thus far in June.

The Astros' 14-6 mark heading into Tuesday night's matchup against the Philadelphia Phillies actually ranks as the best in all of baseball over the first three weeks of the month, a feat made all the more impressive considering the amount of injuries they've been forced to deal with.

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Houston has seemingly has had to put somebody new on the injured list every other day for what feels like months, with the starting rotation being hit particularly hard.

As of this writing, the Astros have five starters on the IL, with both Ronel Blanco and Hayden Wesneski lost for the year with Tommy John surgery.

Most teams would have more than likely buckled under the weight of these repeated blows long ago, but not Houston.

In fact, it seems like the team has only grown stronger in the face of adversity.

Whether or not the Astros end the month on top remains to be seen, but the fact they have played so well is remarkable.

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That being said, Houston will need to address their mounting injury concerns in order to ensure their recent momentum carries over into the back half of the campaign.

They've weathered the storm thus far, but there's only so much a team can take before the burden becomes too much to bear.

As such, general manager Dana Brown figures to be very busy come next month's trade deadline, as he looks for ways to improve his team both on the mound and at the plate.

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All in all, Houston more than deserves their flowers for what they've been able to do so far during the first official month of summer, but teams don't hang banners for having the best record over a three week span during the regular season.

What the Astros have done as of late will only matter in the long run if they are able to continue building upon that momentum and make yet another push for a championship.

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