Writers and analysts have long compared the grueling 162-game schedule of the baseball season to a 10-furlong, 1 1/4-mile horse race like the Kentucky Derby. And the final stretch is called the quarter pole. It's when the jockey loosens the reins, snaps the whip, and the horse unleashes all his power in one last mighty sprint to the finish line.
That’s where we are in the baseball schedule now. There’s about one-quarter of the season left to go. So let’s look back and see how the race has gone so far and what strengths, weaknesses, improvements, and inadequacies the Astros bring into this final sprint for another championship.