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The Houston Astros have been in the World Series the last two years, losing in 2021 but winning in 2022, and they are looking to repeat that success in 2023.
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Most Astros games this season will be locally televised on AT&T SportsNet Southwest, while others may be nationally televised on MLB Network (those ones will also be on ATT-SN Southwest), ESPN, ESPN2, Fox or FS1. A couple may be untelevised and stream on YouTube, Apple TV+, Peacock TV or ESPN+.
If you don’t have cable and you live in the Astros market, you can watch a live stream of every televised Astros game on FuboTV or DirecTV Stream, which both include AT&T SportsNet Southwest and come with a free trial.
Here’s a full rundown of those options, as well as some ways for out-of-market viewers to watch Astros games live online without cable in 2023:
If You’re in the Astros Market
FuboTV
You can watch a live stream of AT&T SportsNet Southwest, ESPN, ESPN2, Fox, FS1, MLB Network and 100-plus other live TV channels on FuboTV. You’ll need to include the “Sports Plus” add-on for MLB Network, but you can include any add-ons you want with your free seven-day trial:
Once signed up for FuboTV, you can watch Astros games live on the FuboTV app or FuboTV website.
Compatible devices for the FuboTV app include Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Fire Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Xbox One or Series X/S, Samsung TV, LG TV, any device with Android TV (such as a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet.
DirecTV Stream
DirecTV Stream has four different channel packages: “Entertainment,” “Choice,” “Ultimate” and “Premier.” ESPN, ESPN2, Fox and FS1 are included in every one, while AT&T SportsNet Southwest and MLB Network are in “Choice” and up, but you can pick any package and any add-ons you want with your free five-day trial:
Once signed up for DirecTV Stream, you can watch Astros games live on the DirecTV Stream app or DirecTV Stream website.
Compatible devices for the DirecTV Stream app include Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Fire Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Samsung TV, any device with Android TV (such as a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet.
If You’re Out of the Astros Market
Amazon Prime’s MLB.TV Channel
Amazon Prime subscribers (Prime comes with a 30-day free trial) can watch every out-of-market, non-nationally televised MLB game via Prime Channels.
The MLB.TV channel costs either $24.99 per month to watch every out-of-market game (“All Team Pass”) or $129.99 for the year to just watch out-of-market Astros games (“Single Team Pass”), but either option comes with a free seven-day trial:
MLB.TV Amazon Prime Free Trial
Once you’re signed up for the Prime MLB.TV Channel, out-of-market viewers can watch Astros games live on the Prime Video app or Amazon website.
Compatible devices for the Prime Video app include Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Firestick, Apple TV, Chromecast, any device with Android TV (such as a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), Xbox One or Series X/S, PlayStation 4 or 5, various smart TV’s, Xiaomi, Echo Show or Echo Spot, iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet.
MLB.TV
This is ultimately the same as the Amazon Prime option above, only you’ll watch games on MLB’s digital platforms instead of Amazon’s.
You can watch all out-of-market, non-nationally televised MLB games via MLB.TV. It costs $24.99 per month or $149.99 for the year to watch every out-of-market game, or $129.99 for the year to just watch out-of-market Astros games. The monthly and yearly all-team options include a free seven-day trial (the single-team option does not):
Once signed up for MLB.TV, out-of-market viewers can watch Astros games live on the MLB TV app or MLB.TV website.
Compatible devices for the MLB TV app include Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Fire Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, various Smart TV’s, Samsung Smart TV, Android TV, iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet.
ESPN+
This isn’t going to be an option to watch a lot of Astros games, but if you’re looking for a cheap way to watch a random MLB game daily, ESPN+ includes at least one out-of-market game every day during the regular season:
In addition to one live MLB game every day, ESPN+ also has dozens of other live sports, every 30-for-30 documentary and additional original content (both video and written) for $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year (or $13.99 per month for a bundle of all three of ESPN+, Disney+ and Hulu).
Once signed up for ESPN+, out-of-market viewers can watch a daily MLB game live on the ESPN app or ESPN.com.
Compatible devices for the ESPN app include Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Firestick, Apple TV, Chromecast, PlayStation 4 or 5, Xbox One or Series X/S, any device with Android TV (such as a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), Samsung Smart TV, Oculus Go, iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet.
Astros Season Preview 2023
The Houston Astros won the AL West in 2021 with 95 wins, then lost in the World Series in 2021 to the Atlanta Braves. They bounced back big time in 2022, earning 106 wins on their way to a World Series title over the Philadelphia Phillies. It was the Astros second title in the past five years, and the fourth AL pennant in the same time span.
In 2023, they are obviously looking to build on those great seasons and repeat as World Series champions. In the offseason after the 2022 season ended, they lost first baseman Yuli Gurriel, pitcher Justin Verlander, shortstop Aledmys Diaz and several other players off the roster. But they added first baseman Jose Abreu and traded for outfielder Bligh Madris from the Detroit Tigers.
In an interview at spring training, manager Dusty Baker told CW39 Houston that the bullpen and starting pitchers working hand in hand is going to be key this year.
“I’ll go back to what Yogi Berra said — if you don’t have a bullpen, you don’t have nothin’. I mean, especially in modern baseball, the bullpen is the key. But you gotta have the starting staff not to overwork your bullpen, which is one reason they work hand in hand, which is one reason why we had the best bullpen is that they weren’t overworked because our starters went more innings than anybody in baseball,” said Baker, adding, “Early in the season, your bullpen does a whole bunch of the work because your starters aren’t really prepared to go that deep and then hopefully in the middle, the starters pick up their innings.”
He went on to talk about the lineup and said, “We’re going to try to field the best team that we have. Some of it’s on what we see maturity level in the game, some of it depends on what they did last year and are projected to do this year and see if we can put ’em in a situation to succeed as often as possible.”
Baker was also asked about spring training and he basically said that he doesn’t love it, but it’s a necessary part of the season.
“Spring training is kind of a necessary ill. Spring training’s fun for the fans, but for us, it’s work. Anything that you do at six o’clock in the morning and you might not get to bed or go home, you got 12-hour days. And you get two days off a month … if you don’t do your homework, you don’t pass the test and that is what this is, is homework. You’re preparing your body and your mind for the daily grind,” said Baker.