WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- With Opening Day a little more than one week away, the five MLB.com beat writers who cover the American League West clubs each shared thoughts on their teams in a roundtable format. We’ll have that for you on Wednesday, but here’s a sneak peek at my thoughts on the Astros camp:
What is your team's biggest takeaway from camp so far?
The offseason goal of adding pitching depth has worked out well so far, leaving the Astros with some tough decisions to make when it comes to the back end of their rotation and bullpen. Newcomers Tatsuya Imai and Mike Burrows had terrific springs, and they will bolster a rotation headlined by Hunter Brown, with fellow newcomers Ryan Weiss and Kai-Wei Teng providing options for starting or pitching in relief. Even non-roster arms like Peter Lambert and Christian Roa have put themselves in position to perhaps make the club.
Which new player has made the biggest impact?
The Astros gave up promising prospects Jacob Melton and Anderson Brito to get Burrows from the Pirates in a three-team trade in December, and the early returns have been terrific. Burrows has thrown 12 2/3 scoreless innings in Grapefruit League play with six hits and six walks allowed and 15 strikeouts. He pounds the strike zone and works at a quick pace and has Houston eager to see what he can do in the regular season.
What's the most concerning development of camp?
Closer Josh Hader finished last season on the injured list and will begin this season on the IL, thanks to biceps tendinitis suffered just before the start of camp. Hader resumed throwing in the bullpen last week and is beginning his build-up for the regular season, so there’s hope for the Astros he can return in April. Still, having their All-Star closer dealing with arm injuries to begin the year isn’t ideal.
Give us one bold prediction
Yordan Alvarez breaks Jeff Bagwell’s franchise home run record. Bagwell set the mark with 47 in 2000, and only one Astros player has hit 40 homers in a season since (Alex Bregman with 41 in 2019), which is surprising considering Alvarez is eighth on the team’s all-time list with 170 and is one of the game’s premier sluggers. Alvarez’s career high in homers is 37 in '22, but Bagwell believes it’s about time his record is broken.
Who will win the division?
The Astros are back. Despite having a devastating amount of injuries, they still led the division for most of the 2025 season and were in first place with 10 games remaining. Adding pitchers Imai and Burrows to a rotation anchored by Brown and having a healthy Alvarez, along with Isaac Paredes and Jeremy Peña in the lineup for an entire season, makes this a more formidable club than it was last year.