The Houston Astros have been capable of play some surprisingly good baseball to this point this season, however it hasn’t been straightforward.
This winter, it felt prefer it was going to be a altering of the guard within the American League. The Astros elected to commerce their star outfielder Kyle Tucker with one yr left on his deal. This transfer appeared like a transparent waving of the white flag for Houston.
Moreover, additionally they let long-time third baseman Alex Bregman walk in free agency. With two of the most effective hitters on the crew leaving, the Astros have been left with loads of query marks heading into the yr.
Happily, regardless of shedding two stars, Houston has discovered methods to win though nearly all of their lineup has struggled.
Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report just lately wrote about star slugger Yordan Alvarez being the Least Useful Participant for the crew to this point this season.
“Each Jose Altuve and Christian Walker have additionally struggled to alarming levels, however Alvarez batting .210/.306/.340 earlier than touchdown on the IL at the start of Might wasn’t on anybody’s preseason bingo card.”
With a number of veteran stars struggling, this designation might have gone to a few totally different gamers. Nevertheless, based mostly on his success prior to now and what he means to the lineup, Alvarez’s struggles has crippled the unit at occasions.
While he has been on the injured list for a while now, he was struggling earlier than then.
The left-handed slugger has been among the best hitters in baseball since being referred to as up, and his prolonged hunch earlier than getting injured was shocking. Now, he has been out for almost a month, however the crew has fortunately been capable of finding some methods to generate runs.
If the Astros are going to exceed expectations and be the crew to beat within the AL, they will want their star slugger again wholesome and productive.
