Next 38 games...15 against playoff teams...Will decide home field for playoffs

This.

The NBA-centric posters here don't comprehend how unbalanced the schedule truly is.... the Astros will be playing scores more games against this crappy division that I do have concerns it will make them less "battle tested" then what is expected to happen in the AL East with a 3-team heated race on the horizon.

Then again, at no point do I welcome a division race simply to "stay sharp". The Astros were forced to play Altuve and Correa through injury last year as they couldn't afford to lose ground to Oakland... and even though they won the most games in franchise history, those two being impaired impacted their playoff success (not that few more days of rest would have healed either of them).