How long can the Houston Astros stay so right-handed?

Sports

add

HOUSTON — Before beginning a three-game series against the Houston Astros at Daikin Park, the Cincinnati Reds altered their starting rotation. Probables issued by both teams on Friday afternoon listed left-hander Andrew Abbott as Sunday’s starter.

Replacing Abbott with rookie right-hander Chase Petty may have been in response to Hunter Greene’s groin injury and maintaining Petty’s routine, but Abbott still could’ve started the series finale on full rest.

“We for sure thought we were going to see Abbott,” Houston first baseman Christian Walker said. “They’re willing to tinker with their rotation to avoid throwing a righty. I think it’s a compliment.”

Skipping Abbott was a sensible decision and accentuated a flaw of the Houston Astros’ floundering offense. Twelve of the team’s 14 active position players hit right-handed. The two that don’t are backup catchers, creating a lineup devoid of dimensions and difficult to deploy late in games.

Neither Reds manager Terry Francona nor any of his 28 counterparts can justify throwing a left-handed pitcher against a club unable to create a basic platoon advantage.

As a result, the Astros have taken 206 plate appearances against left-handed pitching across the season’s first 39 games. Only the Los Angeles Angels entered Sunday with fewer. Houston is still slashing .228/.302/.380 in its limited looks at southpaws, one of 13 lineups that awoke on Sunday with at least a .700 OPS against them.

Nineteen teams entered Sunday with at least 500 plate appearances from a left-handed hitter. Houston has 123. All but 10 are from Yordan Alvarez, the slugger who is still not swinging a bat while nursing a muscle strain on the top of his right hand.

Alvarez’s absences are always glaring. He hasn’t produced this season, but his mere presence can prompt panic inside an opposing dugout, forcing managers to make decisions they may not have otherwise planned.

Now, no real strategy is required. Any right-handed reliever is available against a lineup unable to counter. That Francona avoided the two left-handers in his bullpen during Saturday’s 13-9 Reds win underscored the scenario.

How much longer the Astros can afford the imbalance is a pertinent question. Adding another left-handed hitter isn’t going to inspire a total turnaround, but it could correct the roster while creating more opportunities for advantageous matchups this club has seized in the past.

Houston finished last season with a .752 OPS against left-handed pitching. Only five teams were better. In 2023, the Astros led the American League with an .809 OPS against southpaws. Both of those teams featured Kyle Tucker and Alex Bregman, a fact that can’t be understated.

The Astros brought in Isaac Paredes and Christian Walker to bolster the offense after trading Kyle Tucker and losing Alex Bregman. (Tim Warner / Getty Images)

To replace them, general manager Dana Brown signed Walker and acquired Isaac Paredes. Both boast a career OPS higher than .780 against left-handed pitching. Paredes has taken 17 plate appearances against southpaws this season. The two Walker took on Sunday increased his total to 22 — and produced three of the Astros’ six runs.

“Lefties can still be effective against righties, but generally, things are moving closer toward us as righties,” Walker said. “The slow stuff getting closer to us is a little less effective. … A right-hander throwing a slider to a right-handed hitter — it’s slow, it’s fading down and it’s also moving farther away from right-handed hitters.

“You’re already out in front of it and it’s getting further away from you, so reaching for it makes it tough. The lefty stuff working back, I know I can be early, but I know if I just hold on a bit and ride it out, that pitch is getting closer to me and almost helping me out.”

When — or if — an inflection point will arrive for change is a legitimate question. Houston’s win on Sunday inched its record to a game above .500. In the 12 games since consecutive shutouts from the Kansas City Royals on April 25-26, the Astros are averaging 5.4 runs per game.

Walker’s OPS has risen 70 points across that span. Catcher Yainer Diaz increased his from .499 to .652 during the same timeframe. Better performances from those two — and Alvarez upon his return from the injured list — will be more meaningful than adding a marginal left-handed hitter to the back of the roster.

That this is a conversation at all calls into question Brown’s decision to reward two prospects for their performances in spring training. Carrying both Zach Dezenzo and Cam Smith defied convention and ran counter to manager Joe Espada’s insistence that both players would receive everyday playing time at the major-league level.

Choosing both outfielders over left-handed hitting Ben Gamel — an archetype of what this Astros’ roster could use — put immense faith in both Smith and Dezenzo to distinguish themselves as difference makers.

Smith struck two singles on Sunday, but still sports a .673 OPS after 105 major-league plate appearances. Dezenzo has an .828 mark across Houston’s past 15 games and has passed Smith on the team’s outfield pecking order.

Injuries to both Alvarez and Jose Altuve forced Espada to play both Smith and Dezenzo together on Sunday, but when the club is at full strength, not enough at-bats exist for both. Bear in mind, too, that Chas McCormick has taken just 18 plate appearances since April 15, prompting wonder about his role within this roster construction.

Ideally, McCormick should function as a defensive replacement or a pinch-hitter in late-game situations against left-handed relievers. That Houston has taken so few plate appearances against them (119, third-fewest in the majors) complicates the plan.

Smith, McCormick and Dezenzo all have minor-league options remaining. Smith’s development should be the Astros’ priority, but if Houston does have plans to demote him, no left-handed hitter exists internally to replace him.

Injuries to left-handed hitting outfielders Jacob Melton and Taylor Trammell have depleted the depth inside an already fallow farm system. Luis Guillorme is a left-handed hitter, but has a .644 OPS with Triple-A Sugar Land and would join a roster already overrun with infielders.

An external addition is perhaps the Astros’ best hope for adding a left-handed hitter. Difference-makers aren’t stockpiled on outright waivers or in other minor-league systems. But Houston doesn’t need a stalwart, just someone to coax more favorable matchups from opposing pitching staffs.

Making sweeping changes isn’t mandatory, but at some point, achieving more balance must be.

(Top photo of Christian Walker: Alex Slitz / Getty Images)

This news was originally published on this post .

Share on

email

Previous

trending_flat

How Max Verstappen is saving F1 2025 from one-team domination dullness

Sports

Next

trending_flat

How Logan Thompson is dominating the NHL playoffs with smart reads and ‘nth degree’ competitiveness

Sports