Astros: Who is the 25th man on the ALDS roster, Straw or Stassi?

Myles Straw should be on the Astros ALDS roster.

While we continue to wait for the Astros to announce the ALDS roster to battle the Cleveland Indians, we can’t help to wonder who is on there. We do know that there will be about 11 pitchers on the ALDS roster, we don’t really know who the 11th pitcher is. Is it Hector Rondon, Josh James, or Brad Peacock? We do know that they will pick the best bullpen to matchup versus the left-handed (including switch-hitters) heavy lineup.

We will find out soon.

With 11 pitchers on the roster, that leaves 14 hitters for the ALDS roster. As we saw with the Wild Card games, you can’t have enough pinch runners. Specifically, ones with speed could be the difference in scoring that run to win the game. It’s not a secret. The Astros have four everyday hitters who are not the fleetest of foot. Brian McCann, Tyler White, Evan Gattis, and Martin Maldonado.

Yes, they are likely to have Tony Kemp and Jake Marisnick on the playoff roster, but the playoffs are a chess match. With every run mattering, we could see Myles Straw on the ALDS roster. Straw does not have much MLB experience at the plate, but he did hit his first MLB homer over the weekend. Straw stole 70 bases between Double-A and Triple-A. He would likely be used only as a pinch runner, and stay in to play defense.

Stassi?

The only other player who could make the ALDS roster could be Max Stassi. The Astros did carry three catchers last year, but that was more due to them not trusting Gattis behind the plate. McCann played most of the postseason as the catcher, with Juan Centeno getting a few innings as a catcher. Stassi has not been playing much since McCann returned from the DL.

Maldonaldo is not a defensive liability behind the plate. He could give McCann a breather here and there. There is a travel day scheduled to travel back and forth, so McCann will get a day off. If you find yourself in desperation mode and need a catcher, Gattis could gear up.

If they are going to carry the extra hitter, it would be a waste to carry Stassi. He is no longer the catcher of the future, and his bat is not up to speed after riding the bench for so long. Hopefully Straw is that extra weapon off the bench in the ALDS. This will be fun but nerve-racking series. This is October!