WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Joe Espada uses his entire bench, a fact made clear in his first season as a major-league manager. Espada gave 109 plate appearances to pinch hitters last year, the most in any Houston Astros season since 2016.
The Astros may approach or exceed that number this season, one in which they could commit everyday at-bats to at least two players with a career OPS+ below 90. That Yordan Alvarez will be the only left-handed hitter in the everyday lineup will also force Espada to monitor platoon matchups late in games and, perhaps, increase the number of pinch-hit opportunities.
All of this must be considered as Espada and general manager Dana Brown construct the team’s Opening Day roster and evaluate the fate of right fielder Chas McCormick, whose hold on an everyday job feels tenuous at best. Even after annihilating a home run off Sonny Gray on Friday, McCormick is slashing .161/.409/.290 across 31 Grapefruit League at-bats.
“I think (my swing) has been a little better,” McCormick said on Friday. “It’s not there yet, but I think it’s close. I think if I get the ball a little more out front, I think I can be in good shape. I just have to be in good position to hit.”
Both Zach Dezenzo and Cam Smith have made compelling cases to unseat McCormick as the team’s primary right fielder, even though neither prospect is a natural outfielder. The team won’t carry Dezenzo or Smith unless everyday at-bats are available. Right field is the only place for either prospect to take them.
McCormick does have minor-league options remaining, so if Dezenzo or Smith makes the team as the everyday right fielder, the club could choose to give McCormick everyday at-bats in Triple-A Sugar Land.
Carrying McCormick as the club’s fourth outfielder may be a more sensible option, especially given Espada’s late-game tendencies. It stands to reason Jake Meyers or Mauricio Dubón — the two aforementioned players with an OPS+ below 90 — will be the manager’s most frequent pinch-hit candidates.
Removing one of Meyers or Dubón from a game will leave the Astros vulnerable in center field, a position that has never felt more important given Jose Altuve’s transition in one corner and, potentially, the inexperience of Dezenzo or Smith in the other. For his career, McCormick has been worth 14 outs above average and two defensive runs saved in center field.
If McCormick does not make the team, Dubón and Meyers are the only players capable of playing a competent center field. Bear in mind, too, that Dubón should see substantial time at second base, either as the primary starter or part of a timeshare with Brendan Rodgers or Luis Guillorme.
Taylor Trammell and Pedro León remain sidelined with injuries they sustained earlier in camp while Ben Gamel — who may make the club due to his left-handed bat — hasn’t started a major-league game in center field since 2021. McCormick seems the only option for center-field insurance, no matter how meager the offense may be.
Before his outfield glove arrived in West Palm Beach, Altuve opened the spring using Alvarez’s. Asked whether he would give Altuve any additional advice on his transition to left field, Alvarez unleashed a wry smile.
“I don’t think I’m necessarily the best person to be giving defensive outfield tips,” he said through an interpreter.
Turns out, Alvarez is more than qualified. After Altuve dropped two fly balls with runners on third base this week, he revealed that Alvarez has been delivering tips on how to hold his glove and where to catch the baseball to put himself in better position to throw out runners.
“Yordan has been helping me a lot,” Altuve said after dropping another fly ball on Wednesday night, the same day Espada anointed him Houston’s everyday left fielder.
“(Alvarez) said, ‘Catch the ball up instead of waiting too long. You get better control of the ball when your glove is up versus down.’ If you saw yesterday and today, my glove was really low trying to do the transfer. I think that feedback from him and the coaches is going to help me.”
Alvarez has been a constant companion alongside Altuve during most of his outfield drills this spring. There has even been good-natured teasing throughout camp regarding Alvarez’s place atop MLB Network’s offseason list of the sport’s top left fielders — and Altuve now taking his place.
Framber Valdez went 15-7 with a 2.91 ERA in 2024. (Reinhold Matay / Imagn Images)
Following his final Grapefruit League start on Friday, Framber Valdez said the Astros never approached him this spring about a potential contract extension. Asked whether he expects to enter free agency following the season, Valdez responded, “Yes, I think so,” a statement that should surprise no one.
Eight months separate Valdez from a market of 30 teams. It would’ve made little sense for him or his representatives at Octagon to seriously entertain an extension offer from the Astros — unless the club made the sort of offer Valdez couldn’t refuse. Rarely has this franchise had the appetite for such a scenario.
Under owner Jim Crane, the Astros have never guaranteed a pitcher more than $95 million — and that went to closer Josh Hader. No starter during Crane’s ownership tenure has ever received a richer deal than the five-year, $85 million extension Lance McCullers Jr. signed before the 2021 season.
That both McCullers and Cristian Javier sustained significant arm injuries shortly after signing long-term contract extensions can’t be ignored. Valdez has been a healthy workhorse in every sense of the word across his Astros tenure, but there remains an inherent risk to committing so many resources to any starting pitcher.
The presence of budding ace Hunter Brown might’ve mitigated the need to secure Valdez. So did the looming return of Javier from Tommy John surgery, though the team’s apparent inability to rehab injured pitchers in a timely manner must be taken under consideration.
Valdez is very likely to follow in the footsteps of George Springer, Carlos Correa and Alex Bregman as homegrown Astros who leave for more lucrative deals elsewhere. If and when he does, Houston will be in the market for a mid-rotation arm to complement Brown and Javier.
Though Houston’s bullpen is becoming easier to project, turnover may be imminent within the season’s first two weeks, underscoring the folly in obsessing over who makes the Opening Day roster.
Kaleb Ort and Forrest Whitley will start the season on the injured list, Brown said on a team-run radio show Thursday night, but it appears neither man will need more than the requisite 15 days before rejoining the bullpen.
Ort, slowed by an oblique issue early in camp, is back to throwing bullpen sessions with no issues. Whitley isn’t throwing off a mound yet while he recovers from a bone bruise in his left knee, but appeared in four Grapefruit League games before suffering the injury.
Houston will have to clear roster spots for Ort and Whitley to return to the major-league team, making it reasonable to assume the club will carry relievers with options remaining to facilitate roster flexibility.
Among the pitchers with guaranteed spots in the Opening Day bullpen, only left-hander Bryan King has minor-league options remaining. On Friday, Espada said the 28-year-old southpaw is “one of those guys I feel comfortable giving high-leverage opportunities,” a signal that Houston won’t be optioning King any time soon, presuming he pitches well.
King, Hader, Bryan Abreu, Tayler Scott and veteran non-roster invitee Steven Okert have separated themselves as virtual locks to break camp with the team, leaving at least three spots up for grabs. Putting Okert on the team would mean paying him $1.2 million, according to Spotrac — not a small sum for a team remaining mindful of its proximity to the luxury tax.
Rafael Montero will make $11.5 million next season whether he’s on the major-league roster or not, but Houston may try to extract any value it can from the final year of his calamitous contract. Montero can’t be optioned to the minors, so carrying him would leave two open spots for, ostensibly, two movable, cost-controlled arms.
Luis Contreras and Logan VanWey are the most likely candidates remaining in major-league camp. VanWey isn’t on the 40-man roster, but the club can clear a spot by placing one of Cristian Javier or J.P. France on the 60-day injured list. Contreras can provide some length, too, which would be vital early in the season when starters aren’t stretched out.
One wild card could be starter Ryan Gusto, whom Houston optioned to minor-league camp earlier this month but used in a one-inning relief role during Friday’s game against the St. Louis Cardinals. Unlike VanWey, Gusto is already on the 40-man roster and, thus, already a part of Houston’s luxury tax payroll calculation.
(Top photo of Chas McCormick: Jim Rassol / Imagn Images)
