2014 Houston Astros season
The 2014 Houston Astros season was the 53rd season for the Major League Baseball franchise located in Houston, Texas, their 50th as the Astros, second in both the American League and AL West division, and 15th at Minute Maid Park.
The Astros entered the season with a 51–111 record and last-place finish in the AL West division, 45 games behind the division-champion Oakland Athletics, Houston's worst-ever record to date, and worst record in the major leagues. It had also been their fourth-progressively worse performance, as well the third consecutive of the first three 100-loss seasons in franchise history.
Houston commenced their season by hosting the New York Yankees, with Scott Feldman making his first Opening Day start, and won, 6–2. The Astros' first round draft pick in the amateur draft was pitcher Brady Aiken, at number one overall, and in the sixth round, they chose outfielder Ramón Laureano.
Second baseman Jose Altuve represented the Astros at the 2014 MLB All-Star Game and played for the American League, his second career selection. On September 1, Tom Lawless was named interim manager, the 22nd in franchise history, replacing Bo Porter, who had been fired.
With a 70–92 record and fourth-place finish, Houston improved by 19 wins from the previous season, ending a string of three consecutive last-place finishes, including avoiding a last-place finish in the AL West for the first time.
Altuve established the franchise record for hits, leading the major leagues, while becoming the first batting champion in franchise history. Altuve also received the Silver Slugger Award for the first time. Starting pitcher Dallas Keuchel won his first career Gold Glove Award. Outfielder George Springer was selected to the Topps All-Star Rookie Team.
It was the final season until 2020 in which the Astros failed to produce a winning record. This still remains the last time they finished a full 162-game season with a losing record.
Offseason
- December 3, 2023: Traded outfielder Brandon Barnes with pitcher Jordan Lyles to the [2013 2013 Colorado Rockies season|Colorado Rockies season|Colorado Rockies] for outfielder Dexter Fowler and a player to be named later.
- December 18, 2023: Selected pitcher Collin McHugh off waivers from the Colorado Rockies.
Regular season
Summary
April—May
;Opening Day starting lineupOn May 8, rookie right fielder George Springer blasted his first major league home run at Comerica Park to lead a 6–2 win over the Detroit Tigers
From May 12—29, Springer constructed a consecutive on-base streak of 15. From May 10–29, he connected for nine home runs with 22 runs batted in for a slash line of.333 /.450 /.818 / 1.268 on-base plus slugging percentage. He also had an 11-game hitting streak, and hit seven of the home runs over a seven-game span from May 21–29. On May 26, Springer established new career-bests with four hits and five runs scored to lead a 9–2 win over the Kansas City Royals. One of the four hits was Springer's fourth home run in three games, helping inject new life into a club whose record stood at 17–32. For his first full month in the major leagues, Springer batted.294 with 10 home runs, 25 RBI, 22 runs scored, and a.647 slugging percentage. He was named AL Rookie of the Month, Houston's first recipient since becoming an AL club, and first since Hunter Pence in May 2007.
June—July
The Astros signed Jon Singleton on June 2 to a 5-year, $10 million contract. At the time, this was the largest contract ever agreed to with a player who had yet to make his major league debut. A key piece in the Hunter Pence trade, on June 3, Singleton made his major league debut, and launched a home run to lead a 7–2 win over the Los Angeles Angels.Springer was featured on the June 25 cover of Sports Illustrated, including a prediction of Houston's 2017 World Series championship. At the time, Springer had 14 home runs and 59 RBI, Jose Altuve was leading the major leagues in hits, while the Astros had occupied last place in the AL West with a 33–45 record.
Over a 52-game span from July 4 through September 5, Chris Carter hammered 23 home run, 55 runs batted in, and hit for a.687 slugging percentage—all leading the major leagues in that span. He also hit.296.
Left-hander Dallas Keuchel posted a 9–5 win–loss record with a 3.20 earned run average at the All-Star break, and was named a finalist for the final AL roster spot in the MLB All-Star Game.
Beginning July 19, Springer was out of action due to a strained left quadriceps, and hence, was placed on the 15-day disabled list. He appeared to be progressing, even going through a minor league rehabilitation stint in August, but it was announced on September 16 that he would miss the rest of the season, playing in a total of 78 games.
August
On August 30, Scott Feldman tossed his second career shutout, a three-hitter to lead a 2–0 win over the Texas Rangers. The three-hitter matched a career-best, which Feldman tossed during his last shutout the season prior. The Astros scored twice in the seventh inning, keyed by Carlos Corporán's double to put runners at second and third. Jake Marisnick followed with an RBI infield single, and Corporán scored on a throwing error by reliver Phil Klein.September
On September 1, the Astros terminated manager Bo Porter and bench coach Dave Trembley as the team's record stood at. Porter was replaced on an interim basis by Tom Lawless, who had been managing the Astros' Triple-A affiliate, the Oklahoma City RedHawks. General manager Jeff Luhnow cited disagreements with Porter as the reason for his dismissal, rather than the team's on-field performance. Luhnow had "recognize that our win-loss record is largely a product of an organizational strategy for which I am responsible. Rather, I made this decision because I believe we need a new direction in our clubhouse."On September 16, Jose Altuve recorded his 211th hit of the season to pass the record established by Craig Biggio in 1998. Altuve singled up the middle in the seventh inning in a 4–2 loss to the Cleveland Indians.
Performance overview
Altuve led the major leagues with each of a.341 batting average, 225 hits, and in multi-hits games to become the Astros' first-ever batting champion. He also led the AL with 56 stolen bases. Altuve became the second Astro to lead the league in hits, joining José Cruz in 1983 in this achievement. Carter, meanwhile, tied for second in the majors with 37 homers. Left-hander Dallas Keuchel took a major step forward, finishing seventh in the AL in earned run average, the league leader in complete games, and with a 12–9 win–loss record over 200 innings pitched. Keuchel also won a Gold Glove. Rookie starter Collin McHugh, a waiver acquisition, posted an 11-9 W–L with a 2.74 ERA over 25 starts.Following three consecutive 100-loss seasons—the first 100-loss seasons in franchise history—the Astros rebounded to conclude 2014 with a 70–92 record, raising by 19 victories from a showing in 2013, to reverse multiple bleak trends, including four continuous seasons each with a progressively worse record than the preceding year, and three consecutive finalizations in last place. Further, the 2014 season was the final of 9 consecutive missing the playoffs since 2005, their first-ever World Series appearance. The Astros avoided another losing season until the 60-game 2020 gamut. As of 2025, the 2014 season was the last in which Houston completed lower than in third place.
Player stats
Note: All batting and pitching leaders in each category are in bold.Batting
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; BB = Base on balls; AVG = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases| Player | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | AVG | SB |
| Jose Altuve | 158 | 660 | 85 | 225 | 47 | 3 | 7 | 59 | 36 | .341 | 56 |
| Chris Carter | 145 | 507 | 68 | 115 | 21 | 1 | 37 | 88 | 56 | .227 | 5 |
| Jason Castro | 126 | 465 | 43 | 103 | 21 | 2 | 14 | 56 | 34 | .222 | 1 |
| Carlos Corporan | 55 | 170 | 22 | 40 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 19 | 14 | .235 | 0 |
| Matt Dominguez | 157 | 564 | 51 | 121 | 17 | 0 | 16 | 57 | 29 | .215 | 0 |
| Dexter Fowler | 116 | 434 | 61 | 120 | 21 | 4 | 8 | 35 | 66 | .276 | 11 |
| Marwin González | 103 | 285 | 33 | 79 | 15 | 1 | 6 | 23 | 17 | .277 | 2 |
| Robbie Grossman | 103 | 360 | 42 | 84 | 14 | 2 | 6 | 37 | 55 | .233 | 9 |
| Jesús Guzmán | 69 | 165 | 10 | 31 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 19 | .188 | 3 |
| Enrique Hernández | 24 | 81 | 10 | 23 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 8 | .284 | 0 |
| L.J. Hoes | 55 | 122 | 12 | 21 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 10 | .172 | 0 |
| Marc Krauss | 67 | 186 | 16 | 36 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 21 | 21 | .194 | 0 |
| Jake Marisnick | 51 | 173 | 18 | 47 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 19 | 5 | .272 | 6 |
| Gregorio Petit | 37 | 97 | 14 | 27 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 1 | .278 | 0 |
| Alex Presley | 89 | 254 | 22 | 62 | 6 | 1 | 6 | 19 | 13 | .244 | 5 |
| Domingo Santana | 6 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 0 |
| Jon Singleton | 95 | 310 | 42 | 52 | 13 | 0 | 13 | 44 | 50 | .168 | 2 |
| George Springer | 78 | 295 | 45 | 68 | 8 | 1 | 20 | 51 | 39 | .231 | 5 |
| Max Stassi | 7 | 20 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | .350 | 0 |
| Jonathan Villar | 87 | 263 | 31 | 55 | 13 | 2 | 7 | 27 | 19 | .209 | 17 |
| Pitcher Totals | 162 | 19 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .053 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 162 | 5447 | 629 | 1317 | 240 | 19 | 163 | 596 | 495 | .242 | 122 |
Pitching
Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; H = Hits allowed; R= Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; HR = Home runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; SO = Strikeouts| Player | W | L | ERA | G | GS | SV | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | SO |
| Matt Albers | 0 | 0 | 0.90 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 10.0 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 8 |
| Anthony Bass | 1 | 1 | 6.33 | 21 | 0 | 2 | 27.0 | 32 | 20 | 19 | 6 | 7 | 7 |
| Jake Buchanan | 1 | 3 | 4.58 | 17 | 2 | 0 | 35.1 | 41 | 19 | 18 | 4 | 12 | 20 |
| Kevin Chapman | 2 | 0 | 4.64 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 21.1 | 22 | 11 | 11 | 3 | 11 | 19 |
| José Cisnero | 0 | 0 | 9.64 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 4.2 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 5 |
| Paul Clemens | 0 | 1 | 5.84 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 24.2 | 28 | 20 | 16 | 5 | 13 | 16 |
| Jarred Cosart | 9 | 7 | 4.41 | 20 | 20 | 0 | 116.1 | 119 | 61 | 57 | 7 | 51 | 75 |
| Jorge de León | 0 | 0 | 4.91 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 7.1 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Samuel Deduno | 0 | 1 | 3.12 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 8.2 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 9 |
| Darin Downs | 2 | 1 | 5.45 | 45 | 0 | 0 | 34.2 | 28 | 22 | 21 | 2 | 19 | 27 |
| Kyle Farnsworth | 0 | 0 | 6.17 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 11.2 | 14 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 8 |
| Scott Feldman | 8 | 12 | 3.74 | 29 | 29 | 0 | 180.1 | 185 | 86 | 75 | 16 | 50 | 107 |
| Josh Fields | 4 | 6 | 4.45 | 54 | 0 | 4 | 54.2 | 50 | 29 | 27 | 2 | 17 | 70 |
| Michael Foltynewicz | 0 | 1 | 5.30 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 18.2 | 23 | 11 | 11 | 3 | 7 | 14 |
| Lucas Harrell | 0 | 3 | 9.49 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 12.1 | 19 | 14 | 13 | 2 | 9 | 9 |
| Dallas Keuchel | 12 | 9 | 2.93 | 29 | 29 | 0 | 200.0 | 187 | 71 | 65 | 11 | 48 | 146 |
| David Martínez | 0 | 0 | 5.14 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7.0 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| Collin McHugh | 11 | 9 | 2.73 | 25 | 25 | 0 | 154.2 | 117 | 53 | 47 | 13 | 41 | 157 |
| Brett Oberholtzer | 5 | 13 | 4.39 | 24 | 24 | 0 | 143.2 | 170 | 73 | 70 | 12 | 28 | 94 |
| Rudy Owens | 0 | 1 | 7.94 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5.2 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Brad Peacock | 4 | 9 | 4.72 | 28 | 24 | 0 | 131.2 | 136 | 80 | 69 | 20 | 70 | 119 |
| Chad Qualls | 1 | 5 | 3.33 | 58 | 0 | 19 | 51.1 | 54 | 22 | 19 | 5 | 5 | 43 |
| Tony Sipp | 4 | 3 | 3.38 | 56 | 0 | 4 | 50.2 | 28 | 19 | 19 | 5 | 17 | 63 |
| Nick Tropeano | 1 | 3 | 4.57 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 21.2 | 19 | 12 | 11 | 0 | 9 | 13 |
| Raúl Valdés | 0 | 0 | 12.27 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 3.2 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| José Veras | 4 | 0 | 3.03 | 34 | 0 | 1 | 32.2 | 25 | 13 | 11 | 4 | 16 | 37 |
| Jerome Williams | 1 | 4 | 6.04 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 47.2 | 59 | 33 | 32 | 7 | 16 | 38 |
| Josh Zeid | 0 | 0 | 6.97 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 20.2 | 30 | 18 | 16 | 6 | 7 | 18 |
| Team Totals | 70 | 92 | 4.11 | 162 | 162 | 31 | 1438.2 | 1437 | 723 | 657 | 139 | 484 | 1137 |
Awards and achievements
;Career honors- Roland Hemond Award: Tal Smith
- AL Rookie of the Month:
- * May—George Springer
- * September—Collin McHugh
- Darryl Kile Good Guy Award: Scott Feldman
- Fielding Bible Award—Pitcher: Dallas Keuchel
- GIBBY Award for Best Breakout Player: Jose Altuve
- Gold Glove Award—Pitcher: Dallas Keuchel
- Luis Aparicio Award: Jose Altuve
- 2014 MLB All-Star Game—Reserve infielder: Jose Altuve
- Silver Slugger Award—Second base: Jose Altuve
- Topps All-Star Rookie Team—Outfielder George Springer
- At bats per home run : Chris Carter
- Batting average: Jose Altuve
- Hits: Jose Altuve
- Stolen bases: Jose Altuve