Astros’ hot start on offense is masking yet another disappointing showing from one young bat

Eric Cole

Sep 26, 2025; Anaheim, California, USA; Houston Astros catcher Yainer Diaz (21) hits a double against the Los Angeles Angels during the second inning at Angel Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images / Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

While it is hard to get too excited about starting the season 6-7, including getting swept by the Rockies of all teams, one cannot blame the Houston Astros' offense for those shortcomings. Through Friday morning, the Astros' hitters lead all baseball in fWAR (4.2) and wRC+ (144) with Yordan Alvarez, Jose Altuve, Christian Walker, and Cam Smith leading the way. However, one bat that hasn't exactly pulled their weight is catcher Yainer Diaz.

The book on Diaz was that he was a bat-first catcher with real power in his game. While most fans had just grown to accept that Diaz was never going to be an elite framer or a defensive standout, the installation of ABS mitigated the impact of that a bit, and Diaz provided enough at the plate to compensate for those defensive shortcomings.

At least, that WAS true. After 10 games and 44 plate appearances, the early results are in, and they are pretty ugly when it comes to Diaz's offensive production.

Yainer Diaz's start to 2026 at the plate should have Astros cautiously considering other catching options

Now, 10 games in early April does not a season make. There is still plenty of time for Diaz to turn things around and/or for the rest of the offense to turn back into a pumpkin. No one is arguing otherwise.

However, there are some trends this season that feel like extensions of Diaz's previous struggles, only amplified. We already knew that Diaz was a bit of a free-swinger who you could get to chase out of the zone, and that has remained true, but the quality of the contact that Diaz has made has cratered early on. With a .225/.273/.250 line through his first 44 plate appearances, Diaz isn't walking, hitting the ball, hitting the ball hard, or providing much of any value with his bat at all.

Now, Diaz is (probably) too talented for him to be THIS bad for much longer. However, some of these flaws of Diaz's are not new. The Astros shouldn't make any rash decisions, obviously, but it would not be surprising at all if we start to hear more and more about top prospect Walker Janek's progress down in the minors in the near future. Janek is off to a crummy start to 2026 as well, but something has to give before too long.

Eric Cole

I started my career writing about baseball covering the Atlanta Braves for SB Nation's Talking Chop back in 2015 which has since been renamed Battery Power. After years of writing for those fine folks, I made the decision to take over as Site Expert at House That Hank Built before becoming a full-time MLB Staff Writer for FanSided in 2023. Along the way, I have been a guest on multiple ESPN radio affiliates as well as 680 The Fan and 92.9 The Game to discuss Braves baseball and especially Braves prospects and was a long-time host on the Battery Power podcast. These days, I continue to write about the Braves as well as covering the Astros, Padres, and Angels with particular expertise with minor league coverage, the MLB Draft, and bashing Anthony Rendon when possible. When I am not writing about or talking about baseball (which is seldom), I am an avid baseball card collector (Maddux and Soroka being my primary personal collections) and I also collect shark teeth. All other sports are mostly dead to me as my Bills have broken my heart too many times.