An offensive overhaul is underway for the Houston Astros, who are jettisoning longtime hitting coaches Troy Snitker and Alex Cintrón as part of a seismic shakeup within the franchise.
Catching coach Michael Collins and head athletic trainer Jeremiah Randall were also dismissed, and assistant general manager Andrew Ball has also been let go, according to league sources. Collins, Snitker and Cintrón had all been part of the major-league coaching staff since 2018.
Snitker and Cintrón shared hitting coach duties for the past seven seasons, a stretch in which Houston’s lineup led the American League in OPS, batting average and on-base percentage while preaching a “pass the baton” mentality built upon putting the ball in play. Houston’s 19.6 percent strikeout rate since 2019 is the lowest in baseball.
The Astros won three American League pennants, one World Series and appeared in the playoffs six times while Snitker and Cintrón oversaw the offense.
Failing to reach the postseason in 2025 spelled doom for both coaches, who are the sacrificial lambs for a franchise that finds itself in unfamiliar territory. The Astros missed the playoffs for the first time in nine seasons, prompting general manager Dana Brown to promise “a complete look at all of our operations.”
Last winter, Brown said he met with both Cintrón and Snitker after Brown believed the Astros “got away” from their collective offensive approach. The 2024 lineup saw a major-league low 3.64 pitches per plate appearance, had baseball’s second-highest chase rate and, after the All-Star break, scored just 283 runs. Fourteen offenses scored more.
Among the points Brown said he emphasized last winter to Cintrón and Snitker were seeing more pitches and “being a little bit more patient, and aggressive in zone, not so much aggressive out of the zone.”
At the same time, Brown traded outfielder Kyle Tucker and allowed free-agent third baseman Alex Bregman to sign with the Boston Red Sox, robbing the offense of two players who could’ve helped the efforts.
In response, the 2025 Astros boasted baseball’s second-highest chase rate and saw the third-fewest pitches per plate appearance of any lineup in the sport. Houston scored three or fewer runs in 82 of its 162 games while sporting a .719 OPS that ranked lower than any of Cintrón and Snitker’s past six offenses.
Troy Snitker, seen here with outfielder Cam Smith, is the son of former Braves manager Brian Snitker. (Troy Taormina / Imagn Images)
Significant injuries to Isaac Paredes, Yordan Alvarez and Jeremy Peña contributed to the decline. Paredes, in particular, was acquired in the Tucker trade for his patience and ability to work at-bats.
The pull-happy third baseman led baseball by seeing 4.46 pitches per plate appearance in 2024. In 2025, he appeared in just 102 games, sidelined for most of the second half by a strained right hamstring.
“When Paredes went down, we started seeing less pitches per at-bat, I think that’s going to be a big focus for us: that you have to hunt your pitch, stick with hunting your pitch and get to more two-strike counts to make the pitcher work a little bit harder,” Brown said last week. “I think the fact we chased a little bit early, I think our guys were pressing a little bit because we had guys missing in the lineup and we tried to do too much.”
Ignoring the attrition when assessing the Astros’ impotent offense is impossible. Alvarez appeared in just 48 games after hand and ankle injuries. Peña, who made his first All-Star team this season, missed significant time with a rib fracture and oblique strain. Breakout center fielder Jake Meyers missed two months with a calf injury.
More concerning, though, is the collection of similar offensive profiles that produced the trends Brown despises. Peña, Yainer Diaz, Christian Walker, Cam Smith, Mauricio Dubón and Jose Altuve all have top-50 swing rates in the sport. Diaz, Dubón, Altuve and Peña all boast chase rates of at least 35.3 percent. Walker’s spiked from 24.2 percent last season to 28.4 percent in this one.
Walker, Altuve, Peña, Smith and Diaz took the most plate appearances on the team this season. Dubón contributed 490 of his own. A slew of free-swinging, chasing players produced predictable results, posing a question that Brown had to weigh this winter: Is this a personnel or philosophy problem?
Three months remain to render an answer about personnel. Thursday offered a resounding response to the philosophy.