The current malaise facing the Astros (seven straight losses entering Monday’s series finale at the Mariners) has been accurately predicted by Out of the Park Baseball, a computer simulation that is one of the most popular in the sports genre.
Thanks to the crew at OOTP, we were able to simulate the Astros’ 2026 season through its OOTP27, which came out late last month. The sim projected Houston to finish at 82-80, placing them third in the American League West, seven games behind the champion Rangers.
Injuries plagued the Astros, with star slugger Yordan Alvarez held to just 107 games and shortstop Jeremy Pena limited to 98 games. Without the two offensive cogs, Houston batted just .244 as a team with no one driving in more than the 76 runs delivered by Christian Walker.
Despite the injuries and a surprisingly ineffective pitching staff (the Astros were 14th in starters’ ERA), Houston entered September atop the AL West before the accumulation of misfortune led to a 3-8 swoon in the middle of the month that allowed both the Rangers and Mariners to leapfrog them for the postseason.
The Orioles’ 102-60 record captured the title in the American League East, a division that also saw the Red Sox (90-72), Yankees (88-74), and Blue Jays (87-75) take each of the AL Wild Cards. Meanwhile, the Royals cruised to the American League Central with a 94-68 record, making them the only team to finish above .500 in the division.
In the National League, the Phillies (96-66) won the East, while the once-dormant Pirates took home the Central with a 92-70 mark. To no surprise, the Dodgers (97-65) won the NL West, with the Mets (93-69), Braves (86-76), and Giants (91-71) seizing the Wild Cards.
The sim had the Phils winning the World Series in seven games over the Orioles.
A seemingly inexhaustible game with inexhaustible possibilities, OOTP allows users to replay any major league season since 1876 while also playing games years into the future. Users can also put together dream teams both past and present, and has hundreds of stats on each player.
Those interested can learn more about the game at www.ootpdevelopments.com.
