Every season, there are usually a few surprises with each team—a variety of overperformance or underperformance. Whether good or bad, the level of those surprises varies, but you can count on someone playing differently than what was expected back in February and March. For the Astros, who are currently 56-40 at the All-Star break, they’ve had quite a few surprises on both ends of the spectrum. I mean, the entire IL is filled with roughly 62% of what would qualify as a Major League roster by itself.

As you can see from the list above, the Astros have faced their fair share of injury problems. The fact that this club has the second-best record in the AL is a surprise by itself, considering the names on this list. But the IL doesn’t tell the whole story about this year’s team.

The Good: Colton Gordon, Brandon Walter, and Ryan Gusto

With a variety of injuries and ongoing rehabs to the starting rotation, Houston has had to rely more on their internal depth. The trio of Colton Gordon, Brandon Walter, and Ryan Gusto has thrown a combined 148 1⁄3 innings as starters this season, posting a 4.61 ERA and 4.15 FIP. Far from spectacular results, but you can’t argue with the final product. With Framber Valdez and Hunter Brown atop the rotation doing their usual thing, you only need competent pitching from the rest of the staff. Thankfully, Gordon, Walter, and Gusto have been precisely that. They won’t be expected to start games in October, but their results so far throughout a long season are definitely valuable.

The Bad: Christian Walker and Yainer Díaz

While the injuries to Yordan Alvarez, Jeremy Peña, and Jake Meyers have affected the lineup, it hasn’t helped matters that Christian Walker and Yainer Díaz aren’t contributing much. Hitting a combined .237/.284/.390 with only 25 home runs and an 87 wRC+ isn’t going to move the needle much for a lineup still in desperate need of power production. Those two hitters combined for a 118 wRC+ last season with 42 home runs, with Walker in Arizona and Díaz in Houston. The Astros could undoubtedly use a similar rate of production in their final 66 and possibly into October.

Somewhere In The Middle: The Internal Pipeline

The 2025 MLB Draft recently concluded, and Dana Brown added some interesting talent to the farm system. Xavier Neyens has the kind of potential that this organization has sorely lacked in the minor leagues for years. Frankly, I don’t know much about this draft class, but a strong draft this year would benefit this system in the years to come. With that said, the current pipeline isn’t exactly well-regarded throughout the industry, and it isn’t brimming with position talent expected to transform a franchise. Brice Matthews, one of the team’s top position prospects, made his Major League debut this past week, but he comes with some notable red flags at the plate. It was telling that Cam Smith, who was acquired from the Cubs last December, was automatically vaulted to the organization’s top prospect billing upon his arrival. And most of this year’s draft class are position players. While the pitching pipeline has generally excelled for the Astros, they will need more impact position players to help propel this team in the future.