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The Houston Astros hired former All-Star catcher Brad Ausmus, who has spent the last three seasons as a bench coach for the New York Yankees, as their next manager on Wednesday.
Ausmus’ appointment comes two weeks after the Astros named Randy Flores their new general manager.
The Astros needed a new manager after parting ways with ex-manager, Joe Espada, after the expiration of his three-year contract.
Last year, Houston went 81-81, but that was good enough to win an AL West that featured four other teams with losing records.
However, the Chicago White Sox swept the host Astros two games to zero in the American League Wild Card Round, outscoring them 13-6.
Houston dealt with an assortment of injuries, including ones to catcher Yainer Diaz, shortstop Jeremy Peña and second baseman Jose Altuve. The pitching staff was hit hard by injuries, with 19 different players starting at least one game for Houston this year. Only one pitcher (Peter Lambert, 29) started more than 20 games this season.
The Astros ultimately had MLB’s seventh-highest ERA (4.45). Houston scored a slightly above league-average 4.53 runs (the average was 4.48), but that was partially because superstar Yordan Alvarez had a dominant season (42 home runs, 106 RBI and an MLB-high 1.033 OPS).
Houston’s gone in the wrong direction since winning the 2022 World Series. The Astros were one victory away from taking the 2023 AL pennant, but they haven’t won a playoff game since. Now the Astros hope a leadership change will jump-start the team.
The 57-year-old Ausmus caught for the San Diego Padres, Detroit Tigers, Astros, and Los Angeles Dodgers over his 18-year playing career. He was with the Astros for 10 seasons (1997-1998, 2001-2008) and served as their backstop for three NL Central winners and one NL pennant (2005).
Ausmus was an All-Star in 1999 and won three Gold Gloves as well.
After his playing career ended in 2010, Ausmus became a field executive for the San Diego Padres (2011-2013) before serving as the Detroit Tigers’ manager from 2014-2017. The 2014 Tigers went 90-72 and won the American League Central but lost to the Baltimore Orioles in the American League Division Series.
The Tigers slid from there, going 74-87 in 2015. They improved to 86-75 in 2016 but then tumbled to the division cellar (64-98) in 2017. Detroit did not offer him a new deal, and his four-year contract expired.
Ausmus worked as a special assistant to Los Angeles Angels general manager Billy Eppler in 2018 and then got promoted to manager in 2019, but L.A. struggled, going 72-90. The team parted ways after the season.
In 2022, Ausmus worked as the Oakland Athletics’ bench coach. He turned down the opportunity to return. Ausmus connected with the Yankees and has been the team’s bench coach for three seasons.
Now he’s back to calling the shots on the bench as Houston hopes the return of one of the team’s best catchers in team history gives the franchise the jolt it needs.
