Opening Day 2022: Houston Astros Three Biggest Weaknesses

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.