Astros Opening Day roster candidates include pair of surprise arms and one pipe dream

For a veteran-laden roster, the Houston Astros have a surprising number of roster battles going on. Much of the conversation has to do with the pitching staff, as a number of competing factors conflate the situation.

Rumor had it that the Astros would run a six-man rotation, but the impacts on the bullpen and full early-season schedule have Joe Espada thinking long and hard about whether that's a wise move. The ultimate decision could end up tipping the scales in favor of one player or another as Houston looks to carry not only the best 26 men, but the ones who are best suited to fill the roles that they need.

That's not the only place where things are complicated, however. Jeremy Peña's fractured ring finger has temporarily alleviated the infield bottleneck, but it doesn't change the fact that Houston will still have too many infielders and not enough outfielders. A subset of that issue is having too many right-handed hitters and not enough left-handed bats.

With all that in mind, Astros beat reporter Brian McTaggart came up with a list of five players who have made a strong case to make the Opening Day roster, and under-the-radar arms Peter Lambert and Christian Roa, as well as top prospect Brice Matthews, have all caught fans' attention.

Astros relievers have made strong cases to make the Opening Day roster

The Astros love to tweak with pitchers' stuff once they come into the organization, and that's exactly what they've done with Lambert. McTaggart isn't the only one on the Astros' beat who has predicted that the 29-year-old could break through, with Chandler Rome reporting earlier this month that the club has been pleased with the changes he's made, predicting he could steal a spot either in the rotation or the bullpen.

Lambert has made three appearances (one start) and thrown six scoreless innings. He has allowed a lot of traffic on the bases, however, giving up six hits and three walks thus far. Still, the ability to flip back and forth between the rotation and the bullpen could give the Astros a happy middle ground between carrying five and six starters. That could be enough to get him over the hump.

Roa is a hometown kid who grew up as an Astros fan and captured attention as a non-roster invite prior to spring training. A 2020 second-round pick of the Cincinnati Reds, he was miscast as a starter in their minor league system and found some success in Triple-A with the Miami Marlins after converting to the bullpen full-time.

His 2.83 ERA at Triple-A allowed him to get a very brief look in the majors, though he'd make just two appearances in what was his big league debut in 2025.

So far this spring, he's been lights out, pitching seven innings with a 1.29 ERA, a 37% strikeout rate, and no walks allowed thus far. The 27-year-old has a high-90s fastball and a solid slider that heads his repertoire. He could beat out Rule 5 pick Roddery Muñoz and trade acquisition Kai-Wei Teng for the final bullpen spot, though both probably still have the leg up on him due to the differences in level of investment.

Is Brice Matthews really in line to make the Astros Opening Day roster?

Brice Matthews making the roster would be great for the future, but it is hard to see how that happens. The Astros are trying to make him as versatile as possible, taking advantage of his speed to play him at both second base and in center field, but there just aren't a lot of at-bats there.

He also hasn't done enough to force the issue. While he has five steals and adds a level of dynamism on the bases that isn't otherwise present on Houston's roster, he's struggled to make consistent contact, running a 32.3% strikeout rate. Overall, he has hit .222/.323/.296 through 11games this spring, making it hard for him to overcome the roadblocks that stand in his way.