2 Truths and 1 Lie About the Houston Astros

Coming off of their blowout loss on Sunday Night Baseball, the Astros are currently 7-9. Over the course of a 162 game season, takes will fly, and when a team has been as successful as the Astros have recently, fans will search for anything to complain about.

With 90% of the games still to be played, there is plenty of time to right the ship for Dusty and the Astros. 

With that being said, the Astros have displayed some things through 16 games that may be trends moving forward. Let’s examine 2 truths and 1 lie about the Astros.

Truth: Depth is an issue

The Astros may be the reigning champs, but until Jose Altuve and Michael Brantley return, depth is a problem. Altuve is irreplaceable, though Mauricio Dubon is doing his best to fill in and is surprisingly leading the team in bWAR.

While Martín Maldonado isn’t employed for his bat, the Astros are somehow getting worse production at the plate when he sits. Yainer Diaz and César Salazar are hitting a combined .217 with 2 RBI and a .547 OPS.

David Hensley was supposed to play a utility role, but the former on base machine is hitting a porous .179 with zero extra base hits and 15 strikeouts to only five walks.

Jake Meyers has remained anemic at the plate, hitting only .160 and teams are running on his arm at will. With Chas McCormick battling vision issues, can the Astros withstand Meyers as their center fielder?

Yes, missing Altuve and Brantley is a big deal. Both are elite bats that will jumpstart the offense. But what if another player went down upon their return. Houston can’t just rely on Yordan Alvarez and Kyle Tucker to drive in a combined 250+ runs. 

They need some contributions from their bench bats as their stars work their way back and others (Bregman and Abreu) find their groove.