The Houston Astros secured their fourth consecutive American League West championship Tuesday. The resilient team has been powered by Jason Heyward, who wasn’t even on the club’s radar when the season began.

Heyward was designated for assignment by the Los Angeles Dodgers on Aug. 22 and then released by the team on Aug. 24. This was done rather abruptly with the return of Mookie Betts from the injured list and the additions of Tommy Edman and Kevin Keirmaier.

Since signing as a free agent with the Astros on August 29, he has been a jolt to the offense. He is hitting .224/.283/.490 with an OPS of .773. He has a double, four home runs and nine RBIs in his short time with the Astros.

On Tuesday, he had a spectacular home run to seal the Astros’ division championship.

Jason Heyward gets a well-deserved second chance with the Astros

Heyward spent 14 years in the big leagues and has contributed to some great teams. It is tough to consider the Dodgers making their playoff run without Heyward, who had been an asset to the club for the better part of two seasons. Such is the nature of the business to move on to younger options, though.

Heyward seems grateful to be making an impact on his new team.

“To be one of the guys that’s new to this team late in the year is a cool experience and I’ll never forget it,” Heyward said.

Heyward is known for his relaxed demeanor, which seems to be a good fit for a team that manager Joe Espada said has maintained a calm environment despite several adversities, including a number of key starters getting injured and even losing their seasons to injuries.

The Astros will host the best-of-three AL Wild Card Series next week in Houston against the No. 6 seed in the AL, which could be the Royals, Tigers, Twins, or Mariners.