Astros announce the ALDS 25-man roster versus the Red Sox

The Astros ALDS 25-man roster is set!

After a week of speculation, the Houston Astros finally announce the 25-man roster for the ALDS. With about five hours before first pitch, Astros fans across Houston are Oranging Out the city. This is the first time since 2001 that Houston did not have to play a one-game Wild Card play-in game. The Astros will face a tough cookie in Chris Sale this afternoon, but who is on the roster?

The toughest cuts on the ALDS roster was Collin McHugh and Tyler Clippard. Granted that Clippard was acquired in August to help stabilize the Houston bullpen, he didn’t make the cut for the first round. When he first came to Houston, it was after rediscovering how to pitch with the White Sox after struggling with the Yankees.

Instead of Clippard, the Astros decided to go with Luke Gregerson. While both Clippard and Gregerson have a proven background, the Astros decided to have faith in their guy. Gregerson has a 4.57 ERA (I know it feels like it’s higher) with 10.33 strikeouts per nine innings. He’s allowed 13 homers in 61 innings pitched. Clippard has a 4.77 ERA between three teams with 10.74 strikeouts per nine innings.

Instead of McHugh making the roster as a second long reliever, the Stros decided to go with the extra-hitter in Tyler White. While Josh Reddick is expected to be ready to play, they needed to carry Derek Fisher in case he was needed. With plenty of left-handed starters the Red Sox will trot out, White was needed for this roster. McHugh pitched well in the final game of the season versus the Red Sox.

Let’s take a look at the Astros 25-man roster via Jake Kaplan.

Catchers

Brian McCann

Evan Gattis

Juan Centeno

Infielders

Jose Altuve

Alex Bregman

Carlos Correa

Marwin Gonzalez

Yuli Gurriel

White

Outfielders

Carlos Beltran

Derek Fisher

Cameron Maybin

Josh Reddick

George Springer

Starters

Justin Verlander

Dallas Keuchel

Brad Peacock

Charlie Morton or Lance McCullers

Bullpen

Ken Giles

Joe Musgrove

Chris Devenski

Will Harris

Gregerson

Francisco Liriano

Morton or McCullers

With a short series, it is not surprising that the Astros went with 14 hitters and only 11 pitchers. The team feels confident that their starters will go deep in the games, so they can bring the extra hitters to have the better matchups late in games. According to Jake Kaplan, Morton, Peacock, and McCullers could be available today or tomorrow. Hinch will wait to announce who starts Game 3 later.

Next: Astros fans shouldn’t worry about the Red Sox lefty starters

They are also counting on the starters not to have early exits as we saw with the Yankees and Twins. Looking at Verlander and Keuchel, it looks like they will be able to go seven innings.

***Stats from Baseball-Reference***