HOUSTON -- It’s no secret the Astros have been struggling to find offensive production from their outfielders throughout this season. Houston has started 10 different players in left field and eight different players in center field, with Cam Smith getting the overwhelming amount of starts in right field.
Astros outfielders entered Monday with a .660 OPS that ranked 29th from among the 30 teams, trailing only the Reds (.654). Houston added center fielder Daulton Varsho in a trade from the Blue Jays a month ago, but he has a .539 OPS in 93 at-bats with the Astros. Three players who are no longer in the organization -- Dustin Harris, Shay Whitcomb and Dustin Johnson -- were given starts in the outfield this year, along with prospect Lucas Spence (No. 12) and rookie Zach Cole.
The search goes on.
But the Astros got two big swings from a pair of outfielders in Monday’s 6-3 win over the White Sox at Daikin Park, with left-fielder Nelson Velázquez clubbing a two-run go-ahead homer in the fourth inning and Smith hitting a two-run double with the bases loaded in the fifth. Houston has won four of its last five games to improve to 70-68 and remain two games ahead of the second-place Rangers in the American League West.
“Big swing by Velázquez, Cam Smith drove the ball and had some hard contact,” manager Joe Espada said. “We had some really good at-bats against [White Sox starter Anthony] Kay. I thought our righties in the bottom of the lineup did a nice job.”
Velázquez, making a rare start, followed a two-out triple by Smith in the fourth with a no-doubt homer to left field off Kay for a 3-2 Houston lead. It was his first hit in 12 at-bats for the Astros, who originally claimed him off waivers Aug. 10 from the Cardinals. He was designated for assignment Aug. 20 and re-signed by Houston on Aug. 24.
Velázquez has a .744 OPS against left-handed pitchers with five home runs this season, giving Espada an outfielder he can platoon in left with left-handed hitters Taylor Trammell and LaMonte Wade Jr., who was a midseason pickup as well.
“Oh man, finally,” Velázquez said about his homer, oozing with relief. “It feels good to be able to hit a homer and put the team on the board, you know? That’s something that they expect from me. I feel great to be able to hit that homer at that time in the game.”
Smith, who was one of three players the Astros acquired in the Kyle Tucker trade with the Cubs prior to the 2025 season, has yet to find his footing offensively as he enters the final month of his second full season as Houston’s starter in right field.
The numbers he put up in the Minor Leagues with the Cubs -- and led former general manager Dana Brown to label him an “aircraft carrier” -- have yet to translate to the big league level, though Smith has shown glimpses of what he can do.
That was the case in the fifth inning Monday when he greeted right-handed reliever Trevor Richards with a two-run double to left field with the bases loaded to push the Astros lead to 6-2. Espada showed trust in Smith by not pulling him against Richards, who has reverse splits (righties hit him better than lefties). And Espada didn’t want to lose Smith’s excellent defense in right field while the team had the lead.
The swing gives the Astros some hope Smith can finally find a way to turn the corner offensively.
“Just a young player, and he’s still learning in the big leagues, developing in the big leagues,” Espada said. “For me, it’s how we help him through those [tough] stretches, the ups and downs of a baseball season. We have to trust him and build him up and give him confidence. He’s a strong-minded kid, so he’s going to turn out to be a really good player. We’ve just got to help him through this process.”
Smith was in a 1-for-28 slump prior to the double, but still managed to post a .250 batting average and .785 OPS in August. A September pennant race awaits.
“I really haven’t done much and haven’t produced at all, but I told myself, in my head, ‘Stay aggressive, keep showing up, never back down,’” he said.