Houston Astros: What if Jason Castro Hit Like He Did in 2013?

The Houston Astros Want to Turn Back Time, to the Days of Jason Castro the All-Star.

The year is 2013. The Houston Astros are right in the middle of the huge rebuild, and there is not much optimism for the year. But there was one bright spot that came out of this 100-plus loss year: the hitting of defensive catcher Jason Castro. In Houston’s first year in the American League, Castro the Astro hit .276 with 18 homers and 56 RBIs on his way to being an All-Star. He gave hope to fans that the catching position would bring in good offensive numbers for years to come.

But what happened to Castro’s numbers? While the power and RBI numbers were similar the next year, many of Jason’s other offensive statistics went down drastically, one of the most significant being his WAR and batting average.

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The All-Star year saw the catcher have a 4.5 WAR because the next two years he averaged a 1.6. These last two years Castro has had a .217 average. Though his catching ability is superb and necessary to the team, if Castro can regain his All-Star hitting form, the championship-contending Astros could become even more dangerous.

If Castro were to hit well this year, it would open up the lineup so much more for the elite Astros hitters. An end-of-the-lineup guy like Castro getting on base more will give guys like Altuve, Springer, and Correa opportunities to produce runs. The already dangerous lineup would become devastating to the rest of the league.

If Castro can stay healthy and hit well, there would be very few holes in the order. At the moment, the backup catching position is thin so a productive year out of Castro could help eliminate that need as he could play more games.

Next: Who Will Backup Jason Castro?

Castro is very necessary to this team, with or without a great hitting year. The defense, pitch spotting, and overall game-changing skills behind the plate improves the team drastically. Going into a contract year, Castro will be wanting to prove his worth and one way he must do so is on the offensive side of the game. The power has almost always been there for him, usually slugging 10-20 home runs each year, but an overall improvement to his hitting could be the boost the Astros need to win it all.

**Stats from Baseball-Reference**