WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Unlike last season’s unusual spring that began with the Astros addressing the sign-stealing incident and ended prematurely when the sport was shut down because of the coronavirus pandemic, Spring Training 2021 has been rather routine for Houston, aside from the health and safety protocols.

The club endured only one serious injury that figured to impact the Opening Day roster -- left-handed pitcher Framber Valdez's broken finger -- and had several of its younger pitching prospects shine in camp, such as Peter Solomon and Hunter Brown, ranked as the team's No. 3 prospect by MLB Pipeline. The Astros saw Alex Bregman report 27 pounds heavier by design and Yuli Gurriel 15 pounds lighter -- also by design. The team also got 2019 American League Rookie of the Year Award winner Yordan Alvarez back from knee surgery and signed veteran pitcher Jake Odorizzi.

Bregman was slowed by a left hamstring injury sustained in January, but he homered in his second game back. Young outfielders Myles Straw and Kyle Tucker have swung the bats well as they prepare to begin the season as big league starters for the first time. Aside from the Valdez injury, the Astros have to be pleased with how camp went this year.

Best development

Alvarez missed pretty much the entire 2020 season because of two injured knees, both of which were operated on in August. The Astros brought Alvarez along slowly in the spring, but he returned to action and professed his knee problems were a thing of the past. Having Alvarez, who bashed 27 homers and drove in 78 runs in 87 games in his 2019 AL Rookie of the Year Award winning season, back in the lineup should help the club overcome the loss of George Springer, who signed a free-agent deal with the Blue Jays in the offseason. Alvarez hasn’t swung the bat very well in the spring, but he was a couple of weeks behind most of his teammates when it comes to playing in games.

Unfortunate events

Valdez, coming off a breakout season in which he was Houston’s best starter, sustained a broken left ring finger on his throwing hand in his first Grapefruit League start on March 2. There were fears Valdez would be lost for the season, but a hand specialist in Los Angeles informed Valdez that he didn’t need surgery. There’s still no word on how long Valdez will be out, but it appears he will return to the Astros at some point in 2021. With the club having signed Odorizzi the week after Valdez went down, Valdez’s return will deepen what could be a pretty solid rotation.

Player who opened eyes

Straw came to camp as the frontrunner to replace Springer as the team’s starting center fielder and took advantage from the get-go. He went 13-for-40 with three stolen bases through the Astros’ first 14 games of the spring, and he looked comfortable at the plate. The Astros tried him out as the leadoff hitter early in camp, but it appears manager Dusty Baker has settled on Jose Altuve atop the lineup. Still, Straw’s speed could be a huge weapon if he can carry his success at the plate this spring into the start of the regular season. Defensively, he has a chance to become an elite center fielder considering he’s one of the fastest players in the big leagues.

Wow moment

Astros pitcher Luis Garcia threw an immaculate inning in an 11-8 win over the Nationals in Grapefruit League play. Garcia, battling for a spot in the rotation, whiffed Alex Avila, Carter Kieboom and Victor Robles in the fifth without throwing a ball. Garcia walked Trea Turner to start the sixth inning, but he wound up throwing four scoreless frames with four strikeouts.

“I was throwing the ball, that’s it,” Garcia said. “Thinking in the dugout, waiting for the next inning, I thought, ‘Oh my God, I think I threw a perfect inning.’ Then whoop, I did.

The feat has been done only 102 times in the regular season in Major League history.

In case you missed it

Less than a week after they lost Valdez to a finger injury, the Astros bolstered their rotation by signing the veteran Odorizzi to a two-year deal with an option. Coming off a season in which he went on the injured list three times, Odorizzi chalked up the injuries to the nature of last year’s shortened season and said his increased fastball velocity has him thinking he’s poised to take his career to the next level:

"I think everything is coming together at the right time and I think my best years are ahead of me because of that,” he said.