{"id":540910,"date":"2026-01-25T03:32:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-25T03:32:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/540910\/"},"modified":"2026-01-25T03:32:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-25T03:32:09","slug":"astros-notes-altuve-infield-left-handed-bats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/540910\/","title":{"rendered":"Astros Notes: Altuve, Infield, Left-Handed Bats"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Astros held their annual FanFest event on Saturday. Aside from the autograph sessions and photo opportunities, the main theme was trying to sort out the crowded infield mix. With Jose Altuve<\/a><\/strong>, Jeremy Pena<\/a><\/strong>, Isaac Paredes<\/a><\/strong>, Carlos Correa<\/a><\/strong>, and Christian Walker<\/a><\/strong> all vying for playing time, not to mention Yordan Alvarez<\/a> <\/strong>manning DH, it\u2019s a difficult puzzle to tackle.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to be creative,\u201d manager Joe Espada told reporters, including Chandler Rome of The Athletic<\/a>. \u201cAnd I have to find ways to get them all in the lineup and keep everyone healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Altuve, a career second baseman, began last season as Houston\u2019s primary left fielder. The results were about what you\u2019d expect from a 35-year-old playing the outfield for the first time. Altuve posted a miserable -10 Defensive Runs Saved and -5 Outs Above Average in his 47 appearances on the grass. Espada maintained the stance that Altuve would be back at second base in 2026, with only the occasional start in the outfield.<\/p>\n

While his batting average dipped, Altuve remained a productive offensive player last season. He swatted 26 home runs and chipped in 10 steals. Perhaps more importantly, he stayed on the field. Altuve appeared in 155 games, his most since 2016.<\/p>\n

Altuve won\u2019t be the only Astro getting a chance at second base this season. Paredes and Brice Matthews<\/a><\/strong> will get reps at the position, per Brian McTaggart of MLB.com<\/a>. Matthews will also get opportunities in center field.<\/p>\n

Paredes played strictly third base in his first season in Houston, but he has experience at all four infield spots. The majority of his second base appearances came during his two full seasons with the Rays. Paredes made 44 starts at the keystone from 2022 to 2023. He\u2019s never been a standout defender at any spot, but his work at second base has been passable. Paredes has recorded -1 Defensive Runs Saved in his 456 2\/3 innings there.<\/p>\n

Getting Paredes\u2019 bat in the lineup, regardless of where he fits, will be key. The righty\u2019s pull-heavy, fly ball-driven approach worked just as expected when he made Daikin Park his home. Paredes launched 20 home runs in just 102 games in 2025. A hamstring injury robbed him of the chance to attack the Crawford Boxes for a full season, but the initial returns were promising.<\/p>\n

MLB.com<\/a> has Matthews as Houston\u2019s top prospect. The 23-year-old was a first-round pick in 2023. He put up 17 home runs and 41 steals at Triple-A last year, earning a brief MLB call-up. Matthews has primarily played second base in his minor league career. He also has experience at third base and shortstop, plus a handful of appearances in the outfield.<\/p>\n

Baseball America<\/a> labeled Matthews the best defensive infielder in Houston\u2019s system. Even with his lack of an MLB track record, he\u2019s likely the best glove the Astros could utilize at the position. Adding Matthews to the infield mix would further muddle a crowded situation. There\u2019s also the question of whether he could make enough contact to earn regular at-bats. Matthews had a 27.9% strikeout rate with Sugar Land last season. It was 31.4% across four minor league levels in 2024. Matthews fanned 20 times in 47 MLB plate appearances.<\/p>\n

The infield glut could be sorted out by a trade or two, and general manager Dana Brown told reporters several players are drawing interest. Rome cited Walker and Jesus Sanchez<\/a><\/strong> as two names that fall into that bucket. He also mentioned Boston has interest in Paredes, though a deal isn\u2019t believed to be close. In terms of additions, Brown mentioned looking for a left-handed hitter to offset the righty-laden lineup. \u201cIf that opportunity presents itself and we can make some sort of trade to do that, it would be intriguing for us to make the team better.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Rome points out, the Angels were the only team to have fewer left-handed at-bats than the Astros last season. Victor Caratini<\/a> <\/strong>accounted for nearly half of those plate appearances, and he\u2019s now a Twin. Alvarez is the only lefty penciled in for regular work, with Sanchez and Zach Cole<\/a><\/strong> also factoring into the outfield group.<\/p>\n

Steve Adams recently covered Houston\u2019s outfield issues in a Front Office article<\/a>. The free agent market for lefty-swinging outfielders is barren, especially with Max Kepler<\/a><\/strong> missing<\/a> the first half of the year. Michael Conforto<\/strong><\/a>, Adam Frazier<\/a><\/strong>, and Mike Tauchman<\/a><\/strong> are among the remaining options who earned semi-regular playing time in 2025. The trade market would yield more interesting candidates. Rome tossed out Jarren Duran<\/a><\/strong> and Wilyer Abreu<\/a><\/strong>, adding that Houston finds the latter more intriguing than the former.<\/p>\n

Brown still has a couple of months to make adjustments to a team that missed the playoffs last year for the first time since 2016. \u201cWe\u2019re going to continue to grind all the way up until spring training and maybe even in spring training. We don\u2019t want to leave any stone unturned for making this team a better team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Photo courtesy of Gary A. Vasquez, Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Astros held their annual FanFest event on Saturday. Aside from the autograph sessions and photo opportunities, the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":540911,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[238687,20168,28438,1266,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-540910","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-brice-matthews","9":"tag-isaac-paredes","10":"tag-jose-altuve","11":"tag-mlb","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115953634052638976","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540910","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=540910"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540910\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/540911"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=540910"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=540910"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=540910"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}