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4 Astros players that have been major disappointments this season
Not everything has gone right for the Houston Astros this season.
It is hard to be too upset if one is a fan of the Houston Astros right now. Coming off an AL pennant in 2021 and winning the World Series last year, the Astros are firmly in the thick of things yet again in 2023. They are just one game back in a surprisingly competitive AL West division this year and currently are relatively safe as a wild card team as well.
However, not everything has gone to plan in 2023. A host of injuries to really important Astros have made things far more interesting than they needed to be at times in including Yordan Alvarez, Lance McCullers Jr., Luis Garcia, Jose Altuve, and others. It is hard to compete at the highest levels under normal circumstances. When a big chunk of your core has trouble staying healthy, a team's depth and resolve are really put to the test.
The Astros' troubles haven't only been limited to injuries, though. Several Astros players have just not played to the level that fans have come to expect. In some cases, some of them have been downright disappointing.
Here are 4 Astros players that have been very disappointing during the 2023 season
To be clear, this isn't a scathing indictment of these players as human beings nor are these guys beyond redemption as players. Some are guys nearing the end of really successful careers that have just fallen off while others are an adjustment or two away from being really useful players again. Guys' performances from the 2023 season are the only things being looked at here.
Let's take a look at some of the Houston Astros players who have let fans and the team down in 2023.
Jose Abreu
Jose Abreu's name is probably at the top of most fan's lists here and with good reason. When Houston signed Abreu to a three year deal, the hope was that he would at least resemble the guy he was with the White Sox where he won an MVP award and averaged an .848 OPS over the previous four seasons. Unfortunately, that has not been how things have worked out at all for Abreu and the Astros in 2023.
Through 469 plate appearances with the Astros this season, Abreu has slashed .234/.290/.343 with just 10 home runs in route to being one of the least productive everyday players in all of baseball. He also just missed a chunk of time with a back injury that has seemingly bothered him all season long which could explain his issues. Hopefully the time off and subsequent cortisone shots he received help him get back on track because this season has been really, really rough.
Rafael Montero
It is always risky to give relievers contracts that pay them real money and Rafael Montero is a cautionary tale there. The Astros gave Montero a three year deal worth $11.5 million a year after he posted a 2.37 ERA in 71 appearances during the 2022 season. Montero looked like a guy who could be the anchor of the Houston bullpen for a long time, but Montero's 2023 season is a lesson in how volatile relievers can really be.
The Astros have continued to use Montero heavily, but the results in 2023 haven't been nearly as good as he has posted a 5.50 ERA and 4.84 FIP in 54 innings this year. A bit of bad luck and a jump in his walk rate is largely to blame here, but Montero has given up a lot of hard hit balls this year and that is problematic. If one is looking for a silver lining, it is that Montero's 10.5 K/9 is the best he has put up in an Astros uniform. Assuming he can rein his command in, improvement over the last two years he is under contract is very much in the cards.
Martin Maldonado
Much has been made about the decline of Martin Maldonado in 2023 here at CTH. It is understandable that the organization is loyal to Maldonado, but when a steep drop-off in his defensive ability is combined with a .180/.250/.318 line at the plate this season, it has led to one of the uglier seasons put up by a Houston player this year.
An aging catcher putting up bad numbers isn't exactly surprising, but the bigger issue is that Maldonado has still been playing A LOT lately despite those issues. Just in the month of August, Maldonado has 54 plate appearances because Yainer Diaz has had to chip in and fill in at DH and first base with Abreu on the shelf. Now that Abreu has been reinstated from the IL and Yordan Alvarez back in the swing of things, one hopes that Diaz gets the bulk of the playing time at catcher going forward. If history is any indication, that hope may be a bit optimistic.
Cristian Javier
In fairness to Cristian Javier, he has not been objectively bad in 2023. Through 24 starts this season, Javier has posted a 4.52 ERA and 4.73 FIP while accumulating 1.4 fWAR. Again, these numbers certainly aren't great by any stretch, but usually wouldn't warrant inclusion on this sort of list. However, the context of Houston's season and the expectations that were in place coming into 2023 matter a lot here.
After Javier posted a 2.54 ERA last season and the Astros rewarded him with a five year extension, he was expected to be a borderline frontline starter for Houston this season. This was even more true when injuries to McCullers Jr., Garcia, and Jose Urquidy devastated the Astros' rotation this season. However, Javier stopped missing bats in 2023 and opposing batters have been squaring him up at an alarming rate. If he can get his fastball and slider to be close as effective as they were in previous seasons, he will be just fine. Unfortunately, until that happens, Javier looks more like a fringe #5 starter on a good team than the guy the Astros thought they were keeping around.
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