The outfield, third base and starting rotation remain key question marks going into Spring Training.
The Houston Astros enter the 2025 season with more question marks than usual.
Big-name losses like right fielder Kyle Tucker and relief pitcher Ryan Pressly highlight key areas of concern for the Astros. However, the undetermined timelines of return for pitchers Lance McCullers, Cristian Javier, J.P. France and Luis Garcia add another element of murky complexity to the rotation.
No matter how you slice it, there’s little doubt about where the biggest position battles are going into Spring Training. Here’s a rundown of where they stand and who will compete for them.
Big shoes to fill in right field
While the Astros maintained the top spot in the American League West without Kyle Tucker in the lineup for three months last season, he still leaves behind a gaping void. Jake Meyers will likely start most games at center field. But Chas McCormick, able to play all three positions in the outfield, is coming off the worst season of his career, where he batted .211 with a .576 OPS in 267 plate appearances. The Astros should be targeting an outfielder in exchange for Bregman, but the clock is ticking.
While the club acquired Taylor Trammell from the New York Yankees, it also has prospects like Jacob Melton, Pedro León, Cooper Hummell and Kenedy Corona waiting to be the next man up. León’s story is well-documented: a highly-touted prospect the Astros signed in 2021 with hopes of a fast ascent to the major leagues to replace George Springer, who finally debuted in 2024. Melton was a 2022 second-round pick from Oregon State known for his power but struggled with consistency at the plate in the minor leagues until late 2024, when he was promoted to triple-A and finished with a .744 OPS through 199 plate appearances. Unfortunately for Melton, prospect Joey Loperfido’s hot streak prompted his promotion earlier in the season. Hummel is a 30-year-old veteran who lives between the triple-A and major league levels while 24-year-old Corona just made it to the triple-A level at the end of last season.
Depth a concern for starting pitching
Framber Valdez, Hunter Brown, Ronel Blanco and Spencer Arrigetti are the guaranteed pieces of the starting rotation. It’s likely that newly-acquired Hayden Wesneski will slide in that fifth spot, but both triple-A starters Ryan Gusto and Colton Gordon are guys Astros general manager Dana Brown noted may make their debuts this season. With a healthy Lance McCullers, Cristian Javier, J.P. France and Luis Garcia, there wouldn’t be much concern, but given the Astros’ slew of injuries last season and uncertainty surrounding their return, it’s better to be overprepared.
Wesneski started 22 of his 67 games with the Chicago Cubs last season, posting a 3.86 ERA through 67 ⅔ innings. Gusto is a right-hander who was an 11th-round pick out of Florida Southwestern State College in the 2019 draft who started 26 of his 29 games with the Space Cowboys last season, posting a 3.70 ERA through 148 ⅓ innings pitched. Gordon is a 26-year-old right-hander who pitched in the Triple-A National Championship Game in Las Vegas last year, leading the Space Cowboys to a 5-2 victory over the Omaha Stormchasers. He was added to the 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft.
The third Base conundrum, featuring Alex Bregman?
It’s on everybody’s mind, especially if Bregman is on his way out. When the Astros acquired Isaac Paredes from the Chicago Cubs, the immediate thought was that he’d replace Bregman. Paredes has played third base in 325 of his 464 games in his five-year MLB career. His production at the plate doesn’t in any way match Bregman’s, but he’s consistent enough to slide into the lineup at a position he’s familiar with. The big question is, what’s the downstream impact if Bregman stays?
Jose Altuve has talked about being willing to play left field, which would slide Paredes to the second base position. But if Bregman leaves and it’s just Paredes, the Astros might want more than one option to play third. Young prospects like Zach Dezenzo and Shay Whitcomb made their big league debuts last season — and while Dezenzo slid in at first base a few times when he was called up last year, his primary experience is at third. The 24-year-old recorded a .242/.277/.371 slash line with two home runs and two doubles in his 65 plate appearances as a big leaguer last year. Whitcomb finished with a .220/.304/.293 slashline through 46 plate appearances, but also set the MLB record with four errors against the Seattle Mariners, which set a franchise record for most errors in a single game. But Whitcomb had a dominant season in Triple-A with a .881 OPS for 25 home runs, 22 doubles and two triples.
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