Earlier this week, Astros manager Joe Espada told the Houston beat that Jose Altuve would play the “majority” of his games in left field. The second-year skipper walked that back a bit on Friday, indicating that the team’s position player mix remains unsettled.
“I’m not committed to Altuve being the everyday left fielder nor any X player being the everyday second baseman,” Espada said (relayed by Brian McTaggart of MLB.com). “We are exploring all our options here and we’ll make those decisions when we get towards the end of camp.”
Altuve has gotten the bulk of his Spring Training work in left field. That’s likely to continue as the Astros try to build his outfield reps. While Espada’s most recent comments leave the door open for the nine-time All-Star to return to second base, it still seems likely that Altuve will remain the team’s primary left fielder. That’d leave the keystone to Mauricio Dubón. Houston added former Rockies’ Gold Glove winner Brendan Rodgers on a minor league deal. He could also play second base if the Astros want to bounce Dubón around the diamond.
There’s an outside possibility of top prospect Cam Smith factoring into the infield mix before long. Selected 14th overall by the Cubs last summer, Smith went to Houston alongside Isaac Paredes and Hayden Wesneski in the Kyle Tucker blockbuster. Smith has all of 32 professional games under his belt, only five of which have come above High-A. Though he’s likely to begin the season in the minor leagues, the 22-year-old has turned some heads in his first Spring Training. Smith is 7-11 with a pair of homers in exhibition play. He has drawn four walks while striking out just once.
Chandler Rome of The Athletic examined the possibility of Smith breaking camp with the MLB team. Rome notes that the Astros promoted 2023 third-round pick Jake Bloss last June, less than one calendar year from his draft date. (Bloss was traded to Toronto in the Yusei Kikuchi deal a month later.) Bloss, a right-handed pitcher, had started eight games in Double-A and jumped from there to the big leagues. Carrying Smith on the Opening Day roster would be a bolder move, as he has almost no experience facing upper minors pitching.
Smith is a natural third baseman. That’s the position he played at Florida State and where he saw all of his defensive innings in the Chicago system. Rome writes that the Astros would like to get him some work in right field (in addition to third base) in the minor leagues. Houston’s outfield is arguably its biggest weakness. Altuve will probably have some growing pains defensively if the Astros use him as their primary left fielder. Center fielder Jake Meyers is unlikely to provide much offensively. Chas McCormick is looking to rebound from the worst season of his career in right field. If McCormick struggles for a second consecutive year, right field would be a target for midseason upgrade. The Astros would presumably want Smith to have some minor league experience there before considering him a candidate for outfield work at Daikin Park.
At the same time, they’re also facing a potential injury absence on the infield dirt. Christian Walker went for imaging after reporting soreness in his left oblique. Espada provided an encouraging update on Friday, saying that the MRI didn’t reveal any kind of strain (link via McTaggart). The Astros intend to gradually ease him back into game action.
Smith’s path to breaking camp may be conditional on Walker opening the season on the injured list. That’d leave first base to a combination of Jon Singleton and Zach Dezenzo unless the Astros wanted to slide Paredes across the diamond and install Smith at the hot corner. Espada didn’t commit to Walker being ready for Opening Day, but the lack of a strain seems to leave that as a possibility.
Espada provided one other injury update of note. Lance McCullers Jr. got through a live batting practice session this afternoon without issue (via Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle). The righty is expected to get into game action in the near future. That’ll be a big step for McCullers, who hasn’t pitched in the majors since the 2022 World Series. The Astros have already announced that he’ll begin the season on the injured list as he returns from June ’23 flexor surgery. If McCullers gets into Spring Training action, he could be ready to return from the IL within the first few weeks of the regular season.