Astros' trade for Jesús Sanchez is already paying off in more ways than one

It's only been five games, but new acquisition Jesus Sanchez is already paying huge dividends for the Houston Astros, and in more ways than one. With a .300/.333/.450 line since arriving in Houston, the lefty slugger is providing exactly what the doctor ordered.

Arguably, the Astros' greatest need at the trade deadline was a competent lefty bat, especially with star Yordan Alvarez on the shelf since May 2. With few lefty swingers to speak of, the club ranked dead last by a huge margin in plate appearances by a left-handed hitter with a paltry 302 through July 31. The performance from those hitters was a ghastly .213/.295/.323.

As Sanchez has shown, he can provide a much-needed punch from that side of the plate, but his impact doesn't stop there. By finding a starting caliber outfielder at the deadline, the Astros are now better able to put the puzzle pieces together in their lineup in a way that will produce greater results as a whole.

Astros' acquisition of Jesus Sanchez not only upgrades the club's pop from the left side, but it also slides Mauricio Dubón into the proper role

Entering the trade deadline, the Astros needed to solve their Jose Altuve conundrum. With a 122 wRC+ on the season, it wasn't the 2017 AL MVP's bat that was the problem, but having the 35-year-old bouncing between left field and second base left him without a permanent defensive home.

That meant that, for better or worse, utility man Mauricio Dubón had become a fixture in the everyday lineup, leaving the Astros to deal with his inconsistent bat in the lineup on a regular basis.

Now, with Sanchez in the fold, the Astros can comfortably move Altuve back to second base while forcing Dubón back to a utility role that emphasizes his strengths. With tremendous positional versatility and a strong glove, Dubón's offensive performance is much more acceptable when he's not carrying a starter's workload.

Meanwhile, Sanchez brings a lot more thunder to the lineup. His 105 wRC+ on the season indicates that he's been five percent better than a league average hitter this year, but his exceptional performance in several underlying metrics provides reasonable hope that he could blossom into much more.

In either case, Sanchez's bat is a huge upgrade over the lefties that the Astros were trotting out, and the corresponding lineup shuffle means that the Astros will be fielding their best nine on a daily basis while putting every cog in its rightful place.

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