Houston finished 2019 with the best record in baseball, and their unquestioned top offensive performer was primary third baseman Alex Bregman. The Aries infielder could easily steal an AL MVP award from Mike Trout, due to his fully healthy season and defensive versatility - he took over at shortstop while Virgo Carlos Correa was on the injured list for a variety of maladies. Two other Astros put up Bregman-like production on a per-game basis, but didn't approach his full season fantasy point total: primary center fielder George Springer missed a month with a hamstring strain (although he was still Virgo's highest-scoring outfielder), while rookie designated hitter Yordan Alvarez didn't make his MLB debut until June (and he'll miss out on inclusion in the 2019 Cancer Crabs lineup due to the presence of ageless wonder Nelson Cruz at DH). Gemini corner infielder Yuli Gurriel benefitted greatly from MLB's homer-happy environment in 2019, finishing with 58% more HR's than his previous career high. Looking at the points-per-game column, it's clear that both Taurus second baseman Jose Altuve and Correa put up similar production, and would easily have cleared the 2,000-point threshold if not for injuries. In terms of player movement, the only qualified hitter (at least 200 PA) to leave Houston this season was underperforming first baseman Tyler White, who was shipped off to the Dodgers.
If 2019 Cy Young Award voters don't seriously consider splitting the honors between Houston's co-aces Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole, then I'm not sure what the point of the award even is. Verlander just edges out disgraced Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw as the longest-running current Pisces starting pitcher, while Cole's mastery was a big reason Virgo walked away with the Fantasy Astrology championship this year. The Astros picked up yet another ace to serve as their SP3 when they acquired Libra's top pitcher Zack Greinke from the Diamondbacks at the trade deadline. Curiously, Houston's projected fourth starter Wade Miley (who was also the SP4 of the Scorpio Scorpions) was left off the ALCS roster, leaving the team with an all-right-handed pitching mix. Aquarius relief pitcher Roberto Osuna has seemingly put his heinous domestic violence suspension behind him to once again post an elite season as a closer. In the rest of the bullpen, 13 was a lucky number, as three separate relievers averaged that many points per game. Remember that "P" is shorthand for a pitcher with at least five starts, but more games in relief than games started, and Jose Urquidy didn't make the list of primary starters because he didn't log the requisite 10 GS and 60.0 IP - although he did reach the 40 innings necessary for inclusion on the list in general.
The main story of the 2019 Yankees is how the team somehow managed to record more than 100 wins despite the majority of their roster spending significant time on the injured list. Two player who were not bitten by the injury bug were infielders DJ LeMahieu and Gleyber Torres, neither of whom are listed at their primary positions (as evidenced by the italics in the first column). New York signed the Cancer free agent LeMahieu as a utility infielder, and while he did fill that role, qualifying at first, second, and third bases, they probably didn't expect him to put up a career year while doing so. Torres spent the majority of his time in 2019 at shortstop (that "SS" should not be italicized over on the right, that was a mistake on my part), but the versatile Sagittarian moved to the keystone when Pisces Didi Gregorius returned from Tommy John surgery. Starters who didn't make NYY's playoff roster include DH Luke Voit (due to a prolonged slump) and left fielder Mike Tauchman (calf strain) - they were replaced by Edwin Encarnacion (who arrived in New York via trade) and Giancarlo Stanton (who played only 18 games in 2019 due primarily to a knee injury - and who's out once again with a balky quad).
Injuries also affected the Yankee pitching staff, as the ace from 2017-18 Luis Severino missed nearly the entire year with rotator cuff and lat issues. However, the Pisces hurler will be back to pitch this afternoon. In a shocking non-injury-related twist for this team, Leo Domingo German will not be eligible to participate in the playoffs due to a suspension for apparently slapping his girlfriend... in view of an MLB official at an event. Meanwhile, Scorpio Masahiro Tanaka (who's at the top of the list since it's arranged by innings pitched) has turned in a masterful postseason so far, while retiring veteran Cancer lefty CC Sabathia will work out of the bullpen for the last few outs of his career. New York''s bullpen has been a clear strength behind another Pisces Aroldis Chapman, but the two leaders in bullpen innings got there as either long relievers of "follow pitchers," i.e. those who enter in relief of an "opener," who in the Yankees' case was pretty much exclusively Chad Green. While we might see Green "open" game 4 (no starters have been announced as of this writing), it seems clear that Ottavino, Britton, and Kahnle will occupy the more traditional setup spots going forward.
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