Astros: the Niko Goodrum days look to be over

With Niko Goodrum slumping, his time with the Astros could be over soon, while a trip to Triple-A would be the next step.

The Houston Astros weren’t clear on the recovery of infielder Jose Altuve and Jeremy Peña on Saturday, but postgame, manager Dusty Baker noted both Altuve and Peña will return to the lineup Sunday for the series finale, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reported.

With both out of the lineup Saturday, Aledmys Diaz and Niko Goodrum secured starts at shortstop and second base, but the struggles continued for Goodrum.

The switch-hitter finished the day 0-for-4 with three strikeouts, leaving with his 23rd strikeout in 45 plate appearances this season. Sitting with a $2.1 million contract, Goodrum doesn’t hold much value on the payroll nor the roster, and following a trade Saturday, his days in the Major Leagues might be on hold.

Goodrum is slashing .116/.156/.163 on the year, exiting Saturday’s loss to the Washington Nationals. Playing in a small sample size, Goodrum only qualifies for two categories on Baseball Savant — one being in the 12th percentile for average exit velocity.

Although he can play across the infield and extend to an outfield corner, his bat is paving a path for a minor-league stay.

At 30-years-old, Goodrum sits with all three of his option years. The Detroit Tigers — who were in a rebuild — didn’t need to option the infielder early on during a stretch of losing for the organization. But with Mauricio Dubon expected to join the 26-man roster Sunday, Goodrum will likely be optioned in response.

With Dubon joining the 40-man, the 27-year-old is making only $715K this season and remains under team control until 2027 with his first year of arbitration coming in 2024. Dubon is unarguably the better option financially and statistically.

Trading Michael Papierski — one of the three Triple-A catchers — for utility depth was a pot boiling for sometime, and with two starters banged up, reliable defense as well as a bench bat with a respectable on-base average is needed for a contending team.

While Triple-A Sugar Land has experienced major-leaguers rostered in Franklin Barreto and Edwin Diaz (7-day IL), a Goodrum addition would add even more lineup versatility and differentiations for manager Mickey Storey.