Opening Day 2022: Houston Astros Three Biggest Weaknesses

The Astros’ starting rotation has a lot of uncertainty surrounding it.

The injury to Lance McCullers Jr. is truly a devastating gut punch, especially since there is currently no timetable for his return. McCullers was the unquestionable ace of the staff last year and finished seventh in Cy Young voting.

A forearm strain suffered in game four of the ALDS against the Chicago White Sox last year knocked him out of the playoffs and he has yet to recover.

While the Astros starting pitching staff is still talented, there’s a lot of question marks around each pitcher.

• Justin Verlander – He has looked great this spring, but how many innings will he be allowed to pitch coming off of Tommy John surgery? He most likely won’t get many, if any, of those seven or eight inning starts this year. And will he be able to remain healthy all season?
• Framber Valdez – The talent is there as we saw in game five of the ALCS last season. But which Framber are we getting? Consistency is going to be the key thing needed from Valdez who has taken the number one spot in the rotation.
• Luis Garcia – He had an amazing season last year finishing second place in the AL Rookie of the Year Award race, but will he be able to continue to adjust as the league adjusts to him? It is after all just one season in the majors. The hope is he’s a future ace, but he’s still so early in his career you can’t pin down what numbers to expect.
• Jose Urquidy – Urquidy is kind of a combination of health and consistency concerns. Last year in the postseason he went from getting shelled in game three of the ALCS giving up six runs in 1.2 innings to then throwing five innings of two run ball with no walks in game two of the World Series earning the win against the Braves. He also has bounced back and forth off the IL quite a bit over the past couple years (Granted 2020 was primarily COVID-related.) Again, another question mark coming into the year.
• Jake Odorizzi – Jake “No more than five” Odorizzi is not going to give the Astros innings, that much is certain. With his inability to perform facing a batting order for the third time will he get deep enough into games to warrant his spot in the rotation? He’s almost assuredly the odd man out when McCullers Jr. returns but it’s almost surprising he’s in the rotation over Cristian Javier to begin with.

Lance McCullers Jr. was the most consistent and reliable starter coming into 2022 and now we don’t know if and when he will be back.  All these players are talented, but there’s also a lot of uncertainty here.

The Astros’ catching tandem are great veterans but are offensive liabilities.

Martin “Machete” Maldonado is a fan favorite in Houston and a terrific defensive backstop. He’s great at managing a game and a pitching staff. Unfortunately his offense is to put it mildly, subpar.  Jason Castro is not much better at the plate though he does have a penchant for coming through in the clutch.

That said the Astros lost one of their offensive stalwarts in Carlos Correa making their deep lineup just a little bit thinner. Where last year’s lineup was strong one through seven, this year it is unknown how Jeremy Pena will handle the bat.

The lineup is still good enough to cover for the offensive shortcomings of Maldonado and Castro, but an injury or two to big players could amplify how much their inability to get on-base hurts the team.

Even still, what they bring defensively and in terms of leadership does make up for these shortcomings. As far as weaknesses go, catchers generally are on the team for defensive purposes anyway, so having it be a black hole offensively isn’t terrible. It just depends on how much of a black hole it is.

The Astros have an on-going battle for centerfield entering the season.

Right now, Chas McCormick looks to be the incumbent who will take the field opening day. But Dusty Baker has talked about how much he loves Jose Siri’s energy and would rather have someone make mistakes aggressively than try to teach them an aggressive nature.

Since the departure of George Springer, the Astros have tried Myles Straw, Chas McCormick, Jake Meyers and now Jose Siri has entered the mix.

Not speaking from personal experience, but from what I’ve gathered ball players like to know where they stand on the team. When can they be expected to be penciled in and if they are a starter or role player off the bench.

Solidifying roles is huge mentally for preparation day in and day out.  Right now the Astros have two players capable of handling center field duties with a third, Jake Meyers, on his way back from injury.

The lack of certainty and experience at the position (All three of Siri, Meyers and McCormick are within their first year of playing at the major league level) leaves the Astros with question marks on who is the best fit and now they will be experimenting going into the season.

There’s nothing to suggest all three players couldn’t develop into the reliable producer the team needs, especially since they’ll be hitting in the bottom third of the order and just need to give decent production (.250-.260 batting average would suffice.)

It will be hard to develop a rhythm though without the regular at-bats. Dusty Baker hopefully makes a commitment sooner rather than later so the team can move forward.

And while shortstop could have made this list, Jeremy Pena is truly an unknown. We don’t know if he will be a weakness, a strength or just enough to keep the team winning.  All of these unknowns will soon become clear. Starting tonight.