WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- The Astros open Grapefruit League play Saturday against the Nationals at CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches, with lefty Colton Gordon taking the mound in front of a lineup that includes top prospect Brice Matthews (second base), rookie Zach Cole (center field), Joey Loperfido (left field) and Cam Smith (right field).
The Astros will play many of their younger players in the first week of games, as veterans like Jose Altuve, Christian Walker, Isaac Paredes and Carlos Correa gradually work their way into Spring Training. Houston’s three players headed to the World Baseball Classic -- shortstop Jeremy Peña (Dominican Republic), infielder/outfielder Zach Dezenzo (Italy) and infielder Shay Whitcomb (South Korea) -- will also get early playing time this spring before the tournament starts on March 4.
Here are three storylines to watch as games begin:
1. The battle for playing time in the outfield
The only sure thing in the outfield is that Jake Meyers will be the team’s starting center fielder – though there’s been no official announcement. He gives the Astros a Gold Glove-caliber defender and is also coming off his best offensive season. From there, competition abounds.
The Astros traded outfielder Jesús Sánchez just before camp began in exchange for Loperfido, who joins Cole and Smith in battling for playing time. Loperfido and Cole can play all three outfield spots. Smith was a Gold Glove finalist in right field as a rookie last year and will also see time in center field. Astros general manager Dana Brown said in the offseason that Smith would have to win a job this spring, but the Sánchez trade improves his chances.
There’s huge upside with Cole, who burst onto the scene last year and posted an .880 OPS in 47 plate appearances (which included 20 strikeouts) with the big league club after his September callup. He’s trying to stand more upright this spring to help cover the plate better. Meanwhile, Smith faded in the second half last year, but still has huge potential going into his age-23 season. Loperfido cut his strikeout rate by 10 percent last year and is now back where his career began as the February trade returned him to Houston, who took him in the seventh round of the 2021 MLB Draft.
Dezenzo can play both corner outfield spots and first base, and Matthews will get time in center field and second base as he tries to make the club. Taylor Trammell, who’s not on the 40-man roster, is also in the outfield mix.
“I’m really going to be spending some time trying to get those guys some at-bats, creating some competition,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “You’re going to see guys starting the game and moving during the game to different outfield positions, just to see how they react and adapt to that.”
2. Searching for long relief options
The pitching depth the Astros added this offseason gives them many candidates to stick in the bullpen. Espada wants a couple of these arms to be capable of pitching two innings of relief. Ryan Weiss and Nate Pearson will be built up as starters but could wind up in the bullpen as middle-inning options, and Kai-Wei Teng and AJ Blubaugh are also long relief alternates.
“It’s going to be an interesting balancing act on how we get those guys innings against certain lineups, so when we get a lineup for the Mets or whoever based on who’s playing, we can kind of fit those guys in there so we can really challenge them and answer the questions we need them to answer for us,” Espada said.
3. Opportunities in the infield
The Astros looked to trade Paredes this winter to help clear up their crowded infield picture, but a source said earlier this week that chances of moving him before the regular season were “slim.” The early days of camp will be about playing time for Matthews, Dezenzo, Peña, Whitcomb and newcomer Nick Allen, who is an elite defender at shortstop.
Correa, Altuve, Paredes and Walker won’t play in spring games for at least a week, and with Peña headed to the WBC to play for the Dominican Republic, we’ll have to wait until the second half of the spring schedule to see how Espada handles playing time between his five veteran infielders. The only one of that group who will play multiple infield positions is Paredes, who will get reps at third, second and first.
“We're talking about potentially what to do with another really good player and a really good bat who has a high value to a team that won us a lot of games last year and is going to win us games this year,” Walker said. “It's a little bit of a puzzle, but I think it's going to make the team stronger.”