Astros’ spring training 2026: Improvements and diminishing returns

Early next week (Tuesday, Feb. 10 to be exact), the Astros catchers and pitchers will report for Spring Training to the Palm Beaches, their joint home with the Washington Senators.

It will be the first time since 2017 that the team reports to Spring Training after a non-playoff season, as the Astros missed the playoffs by a single game in 2025.

One way to view the team as it heads into ST is to look at what has diminished the team and what has been done to improve it since the end of 2025.

Diminish

The following would be considered items that will or could diminish the product:

• Framber Valdez headed out the door. Yes, he is still out there and available. No, he is not coming back to the Astros. Overall, his loss will be a negative for the team, though certainly it was much more of a loss before he mucked up his legacy down the stretch of the season.
• Victor Caratini headed out the door. Without even knowing who his replacement will be, it is a good bet that the Astros backup catcher in 2026 will not match what Caratini brought to the table including that role as the backup catcher, a switch hitter who brought a lefty bat to a righty-centric lineup, a lefty DH when Yordan was MIA and a very productive late inning pinch hitter. That goes along with being a dependable veteran hand behind the plate.
• Mauricio Dubon was the latest Swiss Army Knife to play for the Astros following in the utility footsteps of Marwin Gonzalez and Aledmys Diaz. Dubon’s bat lacked power and he made up for rarely striking out by rarely walking, but he brought a versatile glove that was often better than the many people he temporarily replaced.
• Chas McCormick – this may be addition by subtraction. After having been a valuable member of the outfield corps, especially in the 2023 season, Chas fell on hard times in 2024 and 2025 hitting only one homer in 100 ABs last season.
• Ramon Urias – there were thoughts that the Astros would drop Dubon and pivot to a cheaper option in Urias for 2026, though only on the infield side. They let both go this off-season and may be riding Isaac Paredes as the infield backup at multiple positions.
• J.P. France – France put up an 11-6 record with a 3.83 ERA in 2023 before needing surgery in early 2024. He came back for two appearances in late 2025 and then was DFA’d in recent days to make room for pitcher Kai Wei Teng on the 40-man roster.
• Of course, we also had the losses during the season of those headed to surgery – Ronel Blanco, Hayden Wesneski, and Brandon Walter and the injured and cut – Luis Garcia.

Improvement

The following would be considered potential for improvement or actual improvement in the upcoming season.

• Yordan Alvarez – In his career, Yordan has put up 41 homers and 118 RBIs for every 162 games he has played. So, when he only played in 48 games and had 165 ABs resulting in only 6 homers and 27 RBIs in 2025 – adding him in for (hopefully) a whole season is like adding a premier bat to the 2026 lineup.
• Tatsuya Imai – After the great success of Yoshinobu Yamamoto with the Dodgers, the Astros are trying to hook the next best Japanese “thing” with Imai. but remember two things. One, Imai may opt out after one season. Two, Yamamoto was solid his first season, but really took off his second season in LA.
• Mike Burrows – Burrows needs to last longer in games and for more games in season, but could be a solid addition to the rotation based on his 2025 at Pittsburgh.
• Ryan Weiss – This is more a rolling of the dice than Imai. He was very good not great in the Korean Baseball league and the Korean league is not the level of the Japanese league. On the other hand, he will not have the cultural adjustment that Imai will have coming to America.
• And of course, if the Astros could get some return to the mean with Christian Walker and Yainer Diaz, that would be a big boost to the team.

Heading into Spring Training, where do you see them diminished, and where do you see improvement?