Each week, we will take a look at the best and not-so-best Astros performances and stories of the week.
2. Jose Altuve: What slow start? Altuve had his 42nd 4-hit game last night, including 2 home runs. With that performance, Altuve leads the team in AVG, OBP, OPS, hits, walks, and total bases through 5 games. Every year, there are rumors of his demise. Every year, he proves those rumors to be greatly exaggerated. As an added bonus, he currently has a +4% success rate added defensively.
3. Christian Walker: Currently leading the team with 4 doubles, Walker has been stinging baseballs in the early going. While last season he really struggled against high velocity, an offseason conditioning program and a mechanical adjustment to his swing have led to excellent results so far against high velocity pitches. Espada moved him up to 5th in the order last night, and he delivered an RBI double. While he will always be a strikeout guy, he has also walked 3 times this season which is a great sign for a guy with a career .325 OBP that early on he is taking to the Astros new philosophy at the plate
2. Bryan Abreu: No matter how much the Astros try to downplay things with Abreu, every red flag should be at full mast with him right now. Abreu averaged 97.3 MPH on his fastball in 2025, often hitting 99-100 MPH. When he came out on Sunday throwing 92, everyone in the organization should have been worried. Espada tried to say it was mechanical after the game, but for a guy to lose 5 MPH on his fastball doesn’t seem like mechanics to me. With Hader out likely until at least May, the team really cannot afford to lose Abreu for a long stretch. Maybe it’s just a dead arm period, maybe it’s more. They need to find out definitively and not take any chances with his health. Losing both back of the pen arms, two guys who have been thoroughly dominant, would be an incredibly tough blow to a team that has been ravaged by injuries the last two season.
3. Brice Matthews: Boy that 434 foot HR last night was a TANK, and I was really happy for him to get that blast. However it cannot obfuscate from the bigger picture, which is Brice has struck out 6 times in 9 AB, and he looked shaky in centerfield on Friday night, seeming to have trouble getting jumps on balls. Center field is the easiest of the outfield positions to see the ball clearly and get a good jump, so that was strange that he struggled so much with it Friday night. Cam Smith bailed him out on one play coming across to make a great running catch in right center on a play that should have been Matthews. Matthews let a couple of balls fall in front of him that he didn’t get good reads on as well. I am not down on Brice, but that HR was the lone bright spot on what was a tough week overall for him. Hopefully it gets him going.