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3 under-the-radar Astros players who are off to great starts in 2023
3 under-the-radar Astros players off to great starts in 2023.
To start the 2023 regular season, the always-dangerous Houston Astros seem to have had their flame dulled a bit. Through the first few weeks, the club is just 8-9 (although they are coming off a shellacking of the Toronto Blue Jays), good for third-place in the AL West.
The panic button is nowhere close to being pressed, though, as the Astros are still to be viewed as not only one of the more lethal teams in the American League, but Major League Baseball as a whole. After all, we're talking about the defending champions here.
Injuries to position players like Jose Altuve and Michael Brantley alongside pitchers Lance McCullers Jr. and Parker Mushinski have put a bit of a dent on the club's big league roster. While the pitching staff (starting pitching in particular) has enough depth on hand to replace LMJ, the position player side of things has been tested a bit to start the year.
Offensive mainstays like Yordan Alvarez and Kyle Tucker are still doing their things, hitting .273 and .304 respectively, but others like Alex Bregman (.197) and Jeremy Peña (.217) are having some troubles getting going during the early goings of the season.
That's enough of the negativity. Let's talk about some players who are performing at a much higher rate than anyone saw coming.
Outfielder Corey Julks
Julks, 27, was only just selected to the big league roster (making the first Opening Day roster of his career), but has already been tearing the cover off the ball.
In 2021, the right-handed swinging outfielder hit 23 doubles and 14 home runs in just 85 games for the Double-A Corpus Christi Hooks, swinging a hot enough bat to put his name firmly on the radar of the Astros' front office.
He followed this up with an even better offensive showing in 2022. In 130 games for the Triple-A Sugar Land Space Cowboys, Julks hit 31 home runs, scored 100 runs and drove in 89 of his own. He even stole 222 bases along the way, showcasing yet another tool he has at his disposal.
To the surprise of nobody, Michael Brantley's injury opened the door wide open for someone like Julks to step in and get an opportunity.
Through the first 11 games of his big league career, Julks is 13-for-42, which is good for a .310 average. He is striking out a ton (30 percent of plate appearances), but this appears to be a new part of his game. As evidenced by last year's performance, he seems to be sacrificing strikeouts for more home runs, which can work for some but not for all.
While not an everyday player (yet), Julks has hit two home runs and drove in five in the early goings of the season. He is doing everything right to stick around on the big league roster, and with someone like Jake Meyers struggling to get going, Julks could be earning himself a spot on the roster even after Brantley returns from his IL stint.
Second baseman Mauricio Dubón
Okay, we're willing to wear this one. Perhaps we pulled the plug on the Dubón experiment too early. After a dreadful season at the plate last year (.208 average, 56 OPS+ in 83 games), it was easy to say that he was no longer deserving of a spot on the Astros' 26-man roster.
One injury later to the perennial starter, and suddenly the Astros have a new everyday second baseman who is excelling with consistent at-bats. A chance to prove himself is all the 28-year-old could've needed.
With Jose Altuve down, Dubón, a five-year veteran in the major leagues, has been forced to step up. He has typically functioned as a utilityman who can play all over the infield and outfield, but he's only lined up at second to start the year.
Through 13 games, Dubón is 18-for-53 (.340 average), has scored 10 runs, driven in three and even shown off a strong eye at the plate, walking two times and striking out only twice as well.
This could be as simple as a hot start, or this could be a sign of what's to come out of Dubón. Now that he's tied down to one position and doesn't have to focus on playing all over the place, have the Astros unlocked a new version of him?
Only time will tell, and it's guaranteed that he will not steal at-bats away from Altuve once he returns, so it will be interesting to see how Dubón is handled when that time comes.
Outfielder Chas McCormick
McCormick, 28 on Wednesday, is in the third season of his big league career and has excelled every year so far. Yet, somehow, he is still an under-the-radar player for this Houston Astros club.
To begin his career in The Show, McCormick has put up two straight seasons of nearly identical production. In 2021, he hit 12 doubles and 14 home runs with 50 RBI and a 107 OPS+. In 2022, he hit 12 doubles and 14 home runs with 44 RBI and a 110 OPS+.
Starting off the 2023 season, he's seen some time in left and right field, but the majority of his playing time has come in center field, a position he plays at around a league-average rate. With the bat, he's going 11-for-40 (.275 average) with a pair of home runs, seven runs scored and nine runs driven in. He's also already stolen four bases (tied for his career high) and is drawing walks at a higher rate than we've seen in the past out of him.
McCormick was already going to be splitting time in the outfield with Jake Meyers, who has struggled to start the season. With Michael Brantley injured, Corey Julks has gotten more playing time and McCormick has ran away with the center field job. If he is able to continue to produce at this level, it appears his job is safe and Meyers may be the one out the door once the starting lineup is back at full health.