For the Houston Astros, the 2026 Major League Baseball season gets underway this afternoon, with a 3:15 p.m. first pitch, and Hunter Brown on the hill facing the Los Angeles Angels. The Angels, widely believed to be the worst team in the AL West, are in town for four games, so this is an opportunity for the Astros to get off to a fast start, in one of the more pivotal season in franchise history.

While it’s been an amazing ride for Astros fans, going back to 2017 and the first of their two World Series titles, running through the next six seasons after that with trips to at least the ALCS. The fact of the matter, though, is that the Astros haven’t won a playoff game since Game 5 of the 2023 ALCS. Last season, they missed the playoffs for the first time since 2016. 

The bottom line is this — the Astros window of title contention may be closed. At best, it’s slightly ajar and relying on many different somewhat improbable outcomes to reopen it. The confidence level in upper management and on-field management is shaky, at best. However, we love baseball, and Opening Day still brings feelings of hope, at least for 24 hours. 

With that all in mind, the Astros announced their opening day 26-man roster on Wednesday morning. Here it is, with a few thoughts on it below:

PITCHERS (13)

52 Aberu, Bryan , RHP

69 Blubaugh, A.J., RHP

58 Brown, Hunter, RHP

50 Burrows, Mike, RHP

45 Imai, Tatsuya, RHP

53 Javier, Cristian, RHP

74 King, Bryan, LHP

43 McCullers, Lance, RHP

46 Munoz, Roddery, RHP

48 Okert, Steven, LHP

73 Roa, Christian, RHP

17 Teng, Kai-Wei, RHP

51 Weiss, Ryan, RHP

CATCHERS (2)

21 Diaz, Yainer, C

2 Vazquez, Christian, C

INFIELDERS (7)

20 Allen, Nick, IF

27 Altuve, Jose, 2B/OF

1 Correa, Carlos, 3B/SS

0 Matthews, Brice, 2B/SS/3B/OF

15 Paredes, Isaac, 3B/1B

3 Peña, Jeremy, SS

8 Walker, Christian, 1B

OUTFIELDERS (4)

44 Alvarez, Yordan, LF

10 Loperfido, Joey, OF

6 Meyers, Jake, CF

11 Smith, Cam, RF

There are definitely some interesting storylines with these decisions. Let’s take a look:

Here are the guys heading to the Injured List, and which ones matter

The Astros placed these pitchers on various versions of the Injured List (10 day, 60 day, etc) — Ronel Blanco, Enyel De Los Santos, Josh Hader, Nate Pearson, Bennett Sousa, Brandon Walter, and Hayden Wesneski. The only non-pitcher going to the IL is Zach Dezenzo. By far, the most important of these players is Hader, who is being paid $19 million to close games. His shoulder injury that ended his 2025 season prematurely seems to be healed, with a biceps inflammation being the latest ailment. Bryan Abreu is a suitable replacement as closer, but the ripple effect on the set up roles will be felt. 

Brice Matthews appears to be getting a “Dubon” opportunity

Matthews was the first draft selection of Dana Brown’s tenure as general manager, but I doubt Brown is keeping him on the 26 man roster out of sentimentality. The reality is that Matthews, an infielder by trade, has shown enough acumen in picking up the outfield positions that he, at the very least, could prove to be a valuable piece as a late inning defensive replacement. If he can show some progress at the plate, then the future gets kind of exciting. 

Zach Cole is headed back to Sugar Land, which we saw coming

Most of the lineup projections for the Astros at the beginning of spring training had Cole as the Opening Day left fielder. That felt aggressive to me, almost wishful really. Cole had all of 48 plate appearances at the big league level, and at best, looked just okay. When the Astros made the trade to bring Joey Loperfido back into the fold, that was the tell that maybe Cole wasn’t showing enough to make the big league club. That tell turns out to be accurate. 

Tatsuya Imai and Cam Smith are the two biggest “x factors”

First, allow me to give you my definition of an “x factor.” To me, an “x factor” is a player with a very high ceiling of potential who is not expected to reach that potential this coming season. For Imai, the adjustment to MLB from playing in Japan is the huge variable. If he acclimates well, Imai projects as a solid, if not very good, number two starter. Cam Smith was a first round pick or a reason. He has all the talent in the world, as we saw defensively last year, when he was a Gold Glove finalist in right field, a position he’d never played prior to 2025. If the bat can catch up to the glove, Smith is a likely 20 to 25 home run hitter, with mid-.800 OPS potential. If both of these guys hit those marks, I think the Astros (assuming relatively decent health for everyone else) are back in the 90 to 95 win club. 

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