Their strikeout rate plummeted — at a level unparalleled in the last 100 years.



Their strikeout rate at home took an even more dramatic plunge — and that, too, was unlike anything we’ve seen in the last century.



They developed an uncanny ability to lay off breaking balls below the strike zone — an ability they hadn’t displayed before, and didn’t display on the road. But at the same time, they began crushing every kind of pitch inside the zone — at a rate that didn’t bear much resemblance to the way they’d handled those very same pitches in the past.



These were your 2017 Houston Astros. Remember back, oh, a few months ago, when we just referred to them as the World Series champs? Those were the days. Now we look at them and ask: Were they really that good? How much did they owe to pilfering signs and thumping on trash cans?



So here at The Athletic, we’ve been digging through the data, looking...