New Astros hitters are fueling a rather unfamiliar flaw in the team’s offense

While each year has been different, the Houston Astros' offense has typically been one that is very well-prepared and who puts up tough at-bats. Most of that has been the product of the sheer amount of talent in the lineup as when you have good hitters, they typically make good swing decisions and opposing pitchers have to be careful when attacking them.

Most reasonable expected a bit of a drop-off in production as a result of losing both Kyle Tucker as well as Alex Bregman. They are two tremendous hitters who are difficult to replace, but the hope was that the sheer scope of roster improvements Houston made last offseason would be able to offset those losses.

However, an unfamiliar problem has emerged in 2025 and it is due in no small part to the struggles that the Astros' new lineup additions are having at the moment.

All of a sudden, the Astros can't seem to stop striking out in 2025

Going back to 2024, the Astros were one of the best teams at not striking out. This didn't necessarily translate to more walks as they were very aggressive at the plate, but Houston had the second best strikeout rate in baseball last season at 19.3%. Given the quality of contact that most of the lineup could make, the results were obviously quite good when they limited swing and miss that much.

However, things have changed in 2025 in an admittedly very small sample. Through eight games this season, Houston has regressed to the point where they now sport the third-worst strikeout rate in baseball at 28.1%. What has changed?

Well, a few of the Astros' stalwart performers have struggled for starters. Chas McCormick and Jake Meyers striking out over a third of the time isn't all that surprising as they had offensive questions heading into the season. Unfortunately, Jose Altuve and Yordan Alvarez striking out at a similar rate is very unusual as they typically sport a strikeout percentage in the high teens.

Compounding the problem is that some of the Houston's new hitters are also striking out at a high rate. Rookie Cam Smith's early struggles have been well-documented, but the biggest problem he has had is striking out at an alarming 42.9% clip to start his big league career. Combine that with new first baseman Christian Walker's 34.4% strikeout rate and you have a recipe for a lot of unproductive outs. For those wondering, Bregman is striking out less than a quarter of the time for the Red Sox right now and Tucker's rate in Chicago is just 11.1% through his first 11 games.

The good news here is that hitters struggling early on is hardly a new phenomenon. Altuve and Alvarez in particular are going to see their numbers improve towards their historical averages and Walker's strikeout rate over the last six seasons has generally been around 25%. Odds are that those guys will end up being just fine.

However, fixing this issue sooner rather than later is going to need to be a top priority. Otherwise, Houston may find themselves needing to dig themselves out of a hole again like they had to last season.

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