Astros Achilles Heel! Houston Astros Glaring Weakness Exposed
The Houston Astros’ infield is going to look different in 2025. New acquisitions Isaac Paredes and Christian Walker are a major reason why, but so too is what the team decided to do with franchise mainstay Jose Altuve.
As Altuve’s defense at second base has cratered over the last few years and the Astros pursued a reunion with Alex Bregman, the thought came to move the 34-year-old to left field. With Bregman now with the Boston Red Sox, Altuve is still putting in work in the outfield, where he is expected to play most of the time in 2025.
“Right now the plan is for him to play the majority of his games in left field,” Astros manager Joe Espada said, via the Associated Press.
Espada added that he is not interested in moving Altuve back and forth between second base and the outfield.
That opens a hole at second base for a team that doesn’t have many headed into the season. With plenty of big bats already, the Astros’ offense will still be potent. But if your goal is to win the World Series— and that’s always the case in Houston — one dead spot in the lineup can make all the difference.
That’s not to say the Astros lack options. They just have to figure out the best one.
Jose Altuve’s move to left field means the Astros need to find a second baseman
If Altuve is going to spend most of his time in left field (and assuming Paredes is locked into third base), then the Astros need a second baseman.
Fortunately for them, they just so happen to have two gold glovers in camp. One is Mauricio Dubon, who is in the driver’s seat for the starting job.
This will be Dubon’s fourth season with the Astros, though his production took a hit last season. A year after slashing .278/.309/.411, those numbers dipped to .269/.296/.361. His season totals also dropped across the board despite playing in five more games. Dubon may get the Opening Day start, but don’t be surprised if he and Brendan Rodgers share time at second.
Rodgers, whom the Astros signed to a minor league contract in the offseason, spent the first six years of his career with the Colorado Rockies, winning the Gold Glove at second base in 2022.
The Rockies non-tendered Rodgers at the end of 2024 after a year in which he slashed .267/.314/.407 with an OPS+ of 94. Now about to play his home games somewhere other than Coors Field for the first time in his MLB career, Rodgers told Chuck King of MLB.com that he’s looking forward to playing in a more conventional ballpark.
“I’ve been a sea-level hitter my whole life, until I got to Coors,” Rodgers said. “I think going there maybe once a year, instead of playing 80 games, I think it’s going to benefit me — just picking up spin and knowing where my swing needs to start and where my swing needs to be.”
The Astros may just need a stop-gap before Brice Matthews comes up
By the time the pennant race heats up, Dubon and Rodgers might not even be in the second base equation anymore. That’s because, despite a depleted farm system, one of the Astros’ most promising prospects is knocking on the door of the Major Leagues.
Brice Matthews has had a meteoric rise through Houston’s minor league system, playing at four different levels in 2024 and hitting 15 home runs with 32 stolen bases. He ended the season in Triple-A and didn’t do much over 12 games, but he has the tools to succeed with the Astros as a second baseman — or shortstop.
Second base happens to be the position he’s probably best suited for with exceptional speed and only average arm strength. He also brings some pop and plate discipline to go with his speed.
Matthews isn’t going to start the year in the Majors; it seems clear that he could still use some seasoning. But if he’s getting at bats in August, don’t be shocked.
