Now that the whole squad is gathered in West Palm Beach, it is time to detail more specific questions about our favorite team. Most of these questions are no surprise….
Biggest Question – what will the outfield look like when the Astros break camp?
Chip Bailey asked me this question a few days ago in a text, and looking back, I realized I had left off a name. But here is what I told him.. the OF would look like this:
LF – Yordan Alvarez/Chas McCormick/ Mauricio Dubon/ Jose Altuve/Ben Gamel/Zack Dezenzo
CF – Jake Meyers/Chas McCormick/ Mauricio Dubon
RF – Chas McCormick/Ben Gamel
OK, a little facetious – but right now I think it will be Mauricio – LF/ Meyers – CF/ Chas – RF. I’m not sure what happens if they put Altuve in left field – do we then have Isaac Paredes at 2B and Dezenzo at 3B? I’m confused.
What will that bullpen look like?
Bryan Abreu is your main eighth-inning guy right behind closer Josh Hader, but how things shake out behind that is critical. If he is healthy and if he is who he showed in 2024, Tayler Scott should be the seventh/eighth inning setup or pre-setup man. Both Kaleb Ort and Bryan King showed well in limited appearances. Was 2024 a one-off for them or did the magic fingers of the Coaching staff unlock their potential forever? And is this FINALLY the year that Forrest Whitley starts paying off on that 1st round pick? Who makes the bullpen out of some of their minor league options?
Does Lance McCullers really have control over how he will be used?
Lance basically said – “Me no wanna go to the bullpen, Mama” the other day. But can you put a guy who can’t make it through a season without an injury directly into the rotation? On the radio they were calling this the Astros’ version of the Rafael Devers/Alex Bregman ado in Boston. It will be interesting to see how this works out. McCullers will not be ready coming out of Spring Training, but let’s say he is ready a month later – does he slide right into the rotation? Dana Brown indicated they had been considering his use out of the bullpen – I guess without talking to him about it.
What will the “typical” lineup look like?
Again, on the radio yesterday, they discussed the fact that Manager Joe Espada created 147 (147!!!) different lineups in 2024. I’m not sure I could do that.
It brings up all sorts of questions.
And on and on.
The bottom line: These are just some of the questions that should be addressed but may not be during Spring Training.
ALL THINGS ASTROS 
17 responses to “Astros’ 2025: Big questions going into spring training (Part 2)”
I don’t think we can determine who is playing where in the outfield at this point. We might even have another new guy added in the next month. But I will say that the following guys will play outfield at some point when the initial 26 man roster is announced.
Left: Yordan, Altuve, Dezenzo, Gamel, Chas
Center: Jake, Frenchie, Chas
Right: Chas, Dezenzo, Gamel, Frenchie
I’m also not convinced that we have all the guys that will be on the 26 man on Opening Day. We could end up with more help if Dana is allowed to spend a few dollars…but at the same time, it does not seem as though he’ll be allowed to go over the limit. But one never knows……what if Framber got traded to the Phillies or O’s for instance?
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I don’t think we can determine who is playing where in the outfield at this point. We might even have another new guy added in the next month. But I will say that the following guys will play outfield at some point when the initial 26 man roster is announced.
Left: Yordan, Altuve, Dezenzo, Gamel, Chas
Center: Jake, Frenchie, Chas
Right: Chas, Dezenzo, Gamel, Frenchie
I’m also not convinced that we have all the guys that will be on the 26 man on Opening Day. We could end up with more help if Dana is allowed to spend a few dollars…but at the same time, it does not seem as though he’ll be allowed to go over the limit. But one never knows……what if Framber got traded to the Phillies or O’s for instance?
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Lance has no business pulling a Devers. None. If he wants to pitch, he’s going to have to accept the fact that he’s lost all seniority on the Astros. I want to hear him say that he’ll do whatever the club needs. Or, I’d like to hear him say that he’s prepared to void his contract and walk.
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A couple things
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I’ve got no idea how the outfield will look. If I was guessing before ST – Gamel will open in LF, Jake in CF and Chas in RF and Joe/Dana will hope all 3 hit at least some. But lets let the boys take the field in ST and see how it works out.
I don’t know if there are many questions in the bullpen starting out. Ort looks like he will open up on the IL for a small thing and might start the season at Sugar Land to finish his preparation. The biggest question will be who is Forrest Whitley. Now some of these guys don’t have the kind of track record that makes you say they won’t create questions by June, but maybe they won’t create questions either.
Lance McCullers is actually right. Starting is easier for an oft injured guy who has to worry about being ready. Not only does he have a chance hurting himself having to crank up his arm 3 times in 4 days, he does a disservice to the rest of the bullpen if he is unable to do that. Just like your job, if someone is there that can’t quite do everything, someone else has to pick up the slack. And some point towards the end of April they will be forced into a 6 man rotation for a few weeks – and where will that BP be if again one of the pitchers can’t ever go 3 in 4 days?
147 is a bit much, takes after his mentor I guess. I would like to see that number at 50ish, with 20 of those being 1 or 2 timers. Consistency is great, giving guys jobs, players having consistency in what their role is. But we have guys in Houston right now, vying for starting jobs or important bench roles, that wouldn’t even be on the Dodgers roster. Or the Mets. Or the Yankees. Or the Braves. Do you think the Rangers would watch Jake Meyers hit .219? Or even have Jon Singleton on the roster? Or have to resort to signing Brendan Rodgers and Ben Gamel? Our bullpen is Hader, Abreu, and a bunch of guys released from other organizations. I know, Brown is hamstrung by Abreu, Montero, Greinke, and the IL. If they were all healthy and pitching at their best, a rotation of Javier, McCullers, Garcia and France is a better starting 4 of a rotation than the bottom third of baseball franchises have, but thats Dana’s IL, and that was after having to non-tender Urquidy because he can’t stay on the field either. Its tough, especially when the minors isn’t producing the pitchers the way it used to. But we are chalk full of guys that the teams we should be worried about wouldn’t even have.
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I’ll add my two cents on Altuve and left field as well. Keep in mind, it’s only worth 2 cents.
Altuve has become a subpar defender at 2B. Statcast makes him look like a bad defensive 2B. It’s not even about the plays he doesn’t make, it’s about the ones he does that take him longer to get to the ball, longer to get it to 1st, it’s about even the plays he makes that demonstrate he will continue to worsen and not make as many good plays and may not even be capable of that spectacular play anymore. Moving him to LF, where he can use his wheels to make up for some of that struggling range disappearing because of how quick an infielder has to react, there have been worse ideas. Concerned about how many more miles he is going to put on his legs just jogging to his position and back to the dugout between half innings, of course. But defensively, LF is easier to handle than 2B.
That said, put him somewhere and leave it be. Call him the LFer, and let us get used to saying our leftfielder Jose Altuve. If he is going to play 2B, quit putting him in LF. He needs reps at 2B, or his decline will become steeper. If he is going to be in LF, quit giving him reps at 2B, he needs all the time he can get to prepare for a new position. It’s this same indecisiveness that gives us a GM that says Kyle Tucker is an Astro for life, before trading him. Or sets priorities that he absolutely ignored. This is not how to prepare Jose Altuve. If ends up in LF, he will be worse for having lost reps playing 2B, and if ends up at 2B, he will be worse for having lost reps to LF.
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I feel like all I do these days is cherry pick data, but since we don’t have actual baseball yet I’ll just keep on doing it. Here are some top sprint speeds followed by their best home to 1B times last year:
Altuve 27.1 ft/sec 4.33
Bregman 26.7 ft/sec 4.59
Dubon 27.3 ft/sec 4.34
Tucker 26.0 ft/sec 4.52
Singleton 25.9 ft/sec 4.65
Pena 29.8 ft/sec 4.22
Jake 28.9 ft/sec 4.36
Chas 28.7 ft/sec 4.29
Zach 28.3 ft/sec 4.45
I think when healthy Altuve’s speed is still good enough to play 2B or LF, but suspect either his reaction times are dropping or he is a victim of our pitching staff/battery. We talk about the importance of rhythm for a pitcher or hitter, but often ignore the fielders. If a pitcher isn’t in the zone and falling behind hitters it impacts the fielders. I’m hopeful that Diaz finally getting some experience behind the plate and familiarity with the pitchers going into spring training will help limit the number of times pitchers miss their location so badly that the hitters get caught off guard with where the ball is put into play. Again, my opinion, but I think when Altuve can anticipate where the ball will go he can be a serviceable 2B despite an obvious decline in his fielding abilities.
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I agree with Altuve spending most of his time in one place. And I think left is the best place for him. Somewhere I read a few weeks ago that the left fielder handles 2.8 chances a game.
At second base, especially against a team with a batch of lefty bats, Altuve would see a lot more action. If he can make this transition, the Astro outfield becomes more potent at the plate, especially if Chas wakes up.
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I agree with Altuve spending most of his time in one place. And I think left is the best place for him. Somewhere I read a few weeks ago that the left fielder handles 2.8 chances a game.
At second base, especially against a team with a batch of lefty bats, Altuve would see a lot more action. If he can make this transition, the Astro outfield becomes more potent at the plate, especially if Chas wakes up.
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If the Astros traded for Trammell and put him on their 40-man roster, why doesn’t he get mentioned in anyone’s talk about the Astros outfield rotation?
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Fair point. I simply forgot about the guy.
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I was about to say the same thing as daveb – I forgot about him.
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YES!!! Real team baseball begins today!!!!
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Just say NO:
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/02/cardinals-astros-again-discussing-nolan-arenado-trade.html
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What a bad idea. I see Bagwell all over this one again.
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The supposed renewed interest in Arenado is a clear indication to me that the Astros indeed wanted Bregman to re-sign, right up to the very end. I think they saw the need to add another proven player to their lineup.
After Bregman signed in Boston, they revisited the idea of adding Arenado. It is an indication to me that they still want to improve their offense and their infield defense, while initiating Altuve into their outfield and keeping Alvarez at DH where he does damage and is further protected from injury and is more rested than he would be running that big body around LF.
I also believe they would rather have Dubon as an super sub at all infield positions rather than as a starting second baseman.
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I disagree. I think this is disinformation intended to make it look like the Astros are suitors for Arenado just like all the Bregman information was intended to make it look like the Astros were a major possibility. It’s clear Bregman never considered Detroit and likely only semi-considered Chicago. Boras managed to get Boston to make a deal that looks as if Bregman is the big winner. There is a ton of risk for Boston, but they may actually be best off if he stays only for 2025 allowing their highly rated prospects to take over at SS and 2B in 2026. They’re probably stuck with Devers because of his contract. How does that relate to Arenado? He’s clearly still on the block because STL wants to shed salary and not compete this year. They’re trying to make it look like there is a market and the couple teams they are engaged with better not wait until late in spring training or the opportunity would be gone. That’s my theory.
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