Astros simply cannot afford for these 2 players to get hurt in spring training

Spring training is a time where hope springs anew, and for the Houston Astros, it's a prime opportunity to leave behind the disappointment of 2025. However, as we've seen with hamate bones getting crushed around the league, one errant pitch or one false move can take a player down. Depending on who that player is, a team's chances to contend could go down with him before the real games even begin.

In the Astros' case, there are already causes for concern. Yainer Diaz sprained his foot playing winter ball, putting the catching situation on thin ice. Then there's Josh Hader, whose season ended prematurely on August 8 due to a left shoulder capsule strain, and who is now dealing with biceps tendonitis. Houston's bullpen had the second-best ERA in the league through Hader's last game at 3.30, but from August 9 through the end of the season, that number ballooned to 4.62 and ranked 23rd.

Fortunately, neither of these maladies seems to be a long-term issue, and while both players are important, they aren't the two most devastating injuries the Astros could suffer. Instead, any medium-to-long-term injury to either Yordan Alvarez or Hunter Brown this spring would have Houston dead on arrival once Opening Day rolls around.

Astros' season would be derailed if either Yordan Alvarez or Hunter Brown suffered a significant injury in spring training

Yordan Alvarez

Alvarez is the poster child for the horrible injury mismanagement the Astros committed last season, as his hand injury was initially misdiagnosed as a mild strain, and the delay in identifying the fracture that lay below the inflammation cost the superstar 100 games last season. Later, his sprained left ankle would cause him to miss the season's final two weeks and seal Houston's playoff-less fate.

It's not a stretch to say that the Astros likely would have made the postseason if not for Alvarez's injuries. He's still the team's only proven, above-average left-handed bat, and with him sidelined for all but 48 games last year, Astros' lefties put up a league-worst .653 OPS.

Alvarez's importance goes beyond simply being left-handed. The Astros' roster is littered with aging and declining players like Christian Walker, Jose Altuve, and Carlos Correa. If the bottom falls out on any of them, the club will be in bad shape. Things would go from bad to worse if the 28-year-old stud were to begin the year laid up due to injury.

The Cuban-born star is one of the five best hitters in the game, and he's one of the few hitters who is actually in his prime on the team. The Astros need to get off to a fast start in order to contend in the AL West, and they'll be stuck in the mud if Alvarez isn't available once Opening Day arrives.

Hunter Brown

After a third-place finish in the AL Cy Young voting, Hunter Brown elevated himself from a young arm with potential to one of the few true aces in the game. After Paul Skenes and Tarik Skubal, who are in a class of their own, Brown can go toe-to-toe with any hurler out there and give Houston a chance to win when he's on the mound.

The 27-year-old has been very durable so far, making at least 29 starts each of the last three seasons. During that time, however, if he had suffered an injury, the Astros had Framber Valdez to fall back on.

Valdez is gone, and in his stead, the club has gone for a quantity over quality approach. If Houston's ace were to get hurt this spring, Tatsuya Imai, who has never thrown a big league pitch, would presumably be the opening day starter. He'd be backed by Mike Burrows, who has 99.1 innings of major league experience, Cristian Javier, who looked rusty in his truncated return from Tommy John surgery, and Lance McCullers Jr., who can't be counted on to be healthy or productive. Beyond them is another cast of characters who all present different questions and are light on experience.

Brown going down would be catastrophic, not just because of what the club would lose by not having him on the mound, but also by the increased pressure it would put on these other inexperienced pieces. Just like Alvarez, the season could be doomed if he were to miss Opening Day.