Astros: Alex Bregman injury the opportunity Abraham Toro needs

The Houston Astros have a clear vision of Alex Bregman’s future, but Abraham Toro’s is more shrouded. Time to get some clarity.

These injuries suck. When you see the Houston Astros put up 23 runs in two games without Yordan Alvarez, Michael Brantley, and Alex Bregman, the immediate question is, “well could we have put up 40 with Alvarez, Brantley, and Bregman?”

But say what you will, these injuries are giving opportunities to guys who just might power the next generation of Astros. Kyle Tucker? Taylor Jones? And my man, Abraham Toro? With Kyle Tucker, we kind of all knew he was going to be a star. With Taylor Jones, it’s not as consequential what happens yet.

Right now, I’m just matching up comparable stars. Tucker can fill for Alvarez, but who fills for Bregman? And that question comes with a complementary question—what is Abraham Toro going to become?

Abraham Toro is more than a cheap silver lining

Toro is the Astros third-ranked prospect. Yet I feel like he often gets swept under the rug because he doesn’t have one big thing he does well, nor does he carry the high-round draft pick of someone like Tucker or Forrest Whitley. Nor is he ranked in baseball’s top 100 prospects list like Tucker or Whitley are.

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But Abraham Toro has already been showing us this year what makes him so special—a switch hitter that uses every bit of the field.

Switch hitters are getting rarer these days, and rarer still when you see a switch hitter that doesn’t have a big drop off when switching sides. On either side of the plate, you’ll see his numbers are fairly equal, not to mention the spray to all fields and the contact he makes with the ball.

Toro showed tremendous ability to drive the ball in the first game in Colorado and he followed up with a big fly in the second game for a three-run shot that ended up being the difference-maker. And power isn’t even his thing. Because remember, nothing is his thing. He just has a lot of things.

With Bregman out for at least ten days, Toro will have an extended stay third base where he can remind fans that they have a lot to be excited about with one more youngster.

Obviously we all want Alex Bregman back, but allowing our No. 3 prospect an extended run in the lineup is hardly a poor man’s silver lining. Especially with how much he’s already making out of it.