Astros insider hints 3 out of nowhere candidates might make the Opening Day roster

When it comes to spring training roster battles, it's easy to get bogged down in looking at the stat lines to predict who might make the cut for the Opening Day roster and who will be left out. However, that's not all that goes into the calculation. The Houston Astros will have several decisions to make, and they'll be considering all the data before locking in the final 26 players for the opener.

The coaches see these guys work every day, not just in game action. They take the way they prepare, how they perform in bullpen sessions or batting practice, and more into account when making the final decisions.

So when Astros insider Chandler Rome dropped three surprising names as overlooked candidates to make the Opening Day roster, it might be worth considering that there's some intel he has that goes beyond the box score.

Astros insider names three surprise candidates to make the Opening Day roster

Pitcher Peter Lambert

Peter Lambert was such a deep cut in the starting pitching conversation that he didn't even make our power rankings for the fifth and sixth starter spots. The soon-to-be 29-year-old spent parts of four seasons with the Colorado Rockies, posting a 6.28 career ERA before heading to Japan in 2025 and recording a 4.26 mark in the NPB.

According to Rome, the right-hander has impressed Houston this spring after the club tinkered with his repertoire. He could be in line for a starting role, or a long-relief-swingman type of job serving in both the rotation and the bullpen. The latter job could be vital in making the team's plans for a six-man rotation feasible.

Catcher Carlos Perez

Backup catcher has been a sneaky need for the Astros throughout the offseason and into the spring. Houston repeatedly let it be known that it didn't trust Cesar Salazar to take over for Victor Caratini, and finally made a move to bring in veteran Christian Vazquez to compete.

Vazquez might be the front-runner now, but that doesn't mean that he's a lock. Fellow 35-year-old Carlos Perez is someone the Astros think highly of, and while his resume is less extensive than Vazquez's, he also has more experience than Salazar. Perez also has the advantage of working with the pitchers since the beginning of spring, something that Vazquez won't have much time to do as he's currently playing with Team Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic.

That might give Perez the leg up, at least to start. Vazquez signed a minor league deal, so even if he doesn't win the job outright once he joins Astros camp, he might be able to supplant Perez (or Salazar) early on in the regular season once he has his sea legs. Or maybe not. The jury is still out.

Reliever Kai-Wei Teng

The Astros' bullpen is a fascinating thing. There's some clear talent in the back-end, but there are also some roles up for grabs. Josh Hader's injury and recovery timeline also throws an interesting wrinkle into the mix.

Without Hader, there are likely three locks to make the Opening Day roster from the left side: Bryan King, Steven Okert, and Bennett Sousa. There's a lot less certainty among the right-handed options, especially with Bryan Abreu sliding into the closer role.

Jayden Murray and Roddery Muñoz are two potential options, but the former has all three minor league options intact and little big league experience, while the latter is a rare Rule 5 pick with extensive big league experience, though his performance has been mostly underwhelming.

Therefore, Kai-Wei Teng might have an inside track to open the season with a bullpen job. The Astros traded for him for a reason, giving up an intriguing prospect in Jancel Villarroel and international bonus pool money for his services. That's not an insignificant investment.

Rome claims that Teng has "impressed" during spring training, and the Astros have already given him 5 2/3 innings of work. His 3.18 ERA looks nice, but it's come with a 1:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio and two homers allowed. But remember, that's only part of the equation. He might be impressing in workouts, and that might be enough to get the 27-year-old over the hump.