2019 Houston Astros season

The 2019 Houston Astros season was the 58th season for the Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located in Houston, Texas, their 55th as the Astros, seventh in both the American League (AL) and AL West division, and 20th at Minute Maid Park. They entered the season as having set a franchise record with 103 wins, defending two-time AL West champions, both with 100 or more wins, an unprecedented feat for Houston. Having reached a second consecutive American League Championship Series (ALCS), their 2018 season ended in a 4-games-to-1 loss to the eventual World Series champion Boston Red Sox.

Following the 2018 season, the Houston Astros announced that their weekly night games would air on KTRH 740.

Outfielder and designated hitter Yordan Alvarez made his major league debut in June, set a number of records and rare feats, and proceeded to win the AL Rookie of the Month Award each of his first three months.

The Astros sent six players to the All-Star Game held at Progressive Field in Cleveland, the most in baseball, including four starters: Alex Bregman, Michael Brantley, Justin Verlander, and George Springer; pitchers Gerrit Cole and Ryan Pressly were also selected.

At the July trade deadline, the Astros acquired starting pitchers Zack Greinke—adding a seventh 2019 All-Star to their roster—and Aaron Sanchez. In his Astros debut on August 3, Sanchez tossed the first six innings of a combined no-hitter versus the Seattle Mariners, while Greinke was 8–1 with a 3.02 earned run average (ERA) over 10 starts for Houston. On September 1, Verlander pitched his third career no-hitter against the Toronto Blue Jays while striking out 14. The 12th and 13th no-hitters in club history, it marked the first time that Houston authored two in the same season.

On September 18, the Astros clinched a postseason berth against the Texas Rangers and became the first team since the 2002—2004 New York Yankees to produce three consecutive 100-win seasons. On September 22, the Astros clinched their third straight AL West title. For the first time in franchise history, the Astros led baseball with the best regular-season record. The AL West title signaled the 13th playoff appearance—the fourth since moving to the American League—and 10th division title in franchise history.

In the playoffs, Houston defeated the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League Division Series (ALDS) by a margin of three games to two. They proceded to defeat the Yankees in the ALCS by a margin of four games to two, capped by ALCS MVP Jose Altuve's deep series-ending, walk-off home run. Hence, the Astros secured their second AL pennant, third league pennant overall, and a trip to the World Series for the second time in three years. However, Houston were defeated by the Washington Nationals in seven games, a result of the first occurrence in a major league postseason series in which the road team won each of the seven games.

Despite the World Series upset, this Astros team is still considered to have put together one of the best regular seasons, and most talented rosters, in the history of baseball, owing largely to its historic 107-win campaign, earning the biggest share of season-end accolades, and record-breaking individual achievements. With seven 2019 All-Stars on its postseason squad, the Astros fielded among the most in baseball history.

Following the season, the Astros led the league with a record six players selected to 2019's inaugural All-MLB Team, including Altuve, Alvarez, Bregman, Cole, Greinke and Verlander. Bregman and Springer were honored with AL Silver Slugger Awards, while Greinke was likewise named along with a Gold Glove based on his play in the National League.

Verlander and Cole, anchoring the starting rotation, virtually replicated each other's production, combining to lead the AL in the pitching Triple Crown categories, and led or placed in the top five in virtually every other measure. Verlander—who led MLB in wins (21), and finished second to Cole in MLB in strikeouts (326 to 300) and in the AL in ERA (2.50 to 2.58)—clinched his second American League Cy Young Award. Cole's second-place finish signaled one of the closest Cy Young votes in history. Alvarez further won AL Rookie of the Year after posting the highest slugging and on-base plus slugging percentages for rookies in history, while Bregman was runner-up for the AL Most Valuable Player Award (MVP).

This was the Astros' final season with A. J. Hinch as manager and Jeff Luhnow as general manager; both were fired in January 2020 after MLB investigators confirmed that the team had used electronics to steal opponents’ signs back in the 2017 regular season.