Yes. Letting grounders get to the OF loses games. Not catching balls loses games. Not hitting homers loses games. Lots of things lose games.
Yes I think everyone knows Altuve will be playing left field. You sarcastically posted a video of Chas’ famous catch in CF when we were talking about Altuve in LF. Hence, my response about Chas being a better CF than Altuve and that it wasn’t the type of play that would “expose” Chas as he is great at running down fly balls. It would be Chas’ arm that would be exposed, not chasing a ball to the wall.
You are wrong. I actively remember Daryl Ward in LF. Every single to LF was a standup double, with the throw taking 3 bounces to get to second ... or make that ... near second.
Well, Brendan, you were the worst qualified 2B in MLB last year, posted 0.8 fwar with an 88 wRC+, and were non-tendered by one of the worst teams in the league, so I wouldn’t keep repeating “I feel like I had a pretty good year last year” if I were you. That really shouldn’t be your standard.
I heard a funny/interesting take…if Juan Pierre and Johnny Damon can be outfielders for however long, why not Altuve? He just needs to get the ball in quickly. MMP (I will not stop using that) had the 2nd lowest amount of runners attempting to advance from LF in the league, behind Fenway. Altuve is a great athlete even though he’s on the backend of his career. He just needs to get the ball in quickly to Pena and I think he can be serviceable.
https://www.mlb.com/astros/news/astros-position-battles-to-watch-in-spring-training-2025 Updated Opening Day roster prediction: LF Altuve DH Alvarez 1B Walker 3B Paredes C Diaz RF McCormick SS Pena 2B Guillorme CF Meyers Bench: Dubon, Gamel, Caratini, Dezenzo Rotation: Valdez, Brown, Blanco, Arrighetti, Wesneski Bullpen: Hader, Abreu, Montero, King, Scott, Whitley, Sousa, VanWey IL: Ort, Dubin, Garcia, McCullers, France, Javier Optioned: Contreras, Gordon, Gusto, Hernandez, Salazar, Whitcomb, Corona, Leon DFA: Singleton, Hummel, Trammell
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6151980/2025/02/21/astros-spring-training-jose-altuve-left-field/ •RELIEVER Kaleb Ort’s sore left oblique is not healing as quickly as team officials hoped. According to a league source, outfielder Taylor Trammell injured his calf on Friday, though the severity is unknown. Trammell required a golf cart ride back to the clubhouse following his injury on a back field. •OF the 32 infielders who made at least 500 throws last season, only Gleyber Torres had a weaker arm than Altuve, who averaged 75.5 mph on the 553 throws he made. Altuve’s hardest throw registered at 81.3 mph, the lowest among that group of 32 players. Houston drilled live cutoff and relay throws for the first time in camp, forcing Altuve to confront the biggest hurdle in his transition — and perhaps showing the best way to navigate it. Altuve’s right arm isn’t going to transform into a strength in five weeks. Shortening the distance he must cover is crucial. Enter shortstop Jeremy Peña, whose arm will become a far bigger focus whenever Altuve plays left field. The Astros will position Peña deeper than most cutoff men to give Altuve a closer target. Peña averaged 80.3 mph on the 680 throws he made last season and maxed out at 88.3 mph, which suggests he can handle the longer throws this setup will force. Aside from one throw he rushed toward the end of Friday’s drills, Altuve showed surprisingly competent arm strength and accuracy. Peña caught every ball but one on a line. Most arrived on target and toward the middle of Peña’s chest. Drawing broad conclusions from one day of drills in February is silly. Bigger tests for Altuve will come with fans in the stands and no prior knowledge of where a ball might be hit, but many left the field encouraged by what transpired. •FEW people have been more vocal during full-squad workouts than new third-base coach Tony Perezchica, who Espada hired in hopes of bringing a new voice and vision to Houston’s base running and defense. The team’s emphasis on better base running is apparent, be it by their pre-workout drills or some of the live running action seen during live batting practice sessions. Perezchica has had various groups of infielders out for early work on turf fields and is taking total command of full-team infield drills, a job once reserved for Espada himself. Perezchica has spent individual time with both Cam Smith and Brice Matthews, the team’s two most touted infield prospects. “I’m working a lot more on defense than I ever have, and that’s a good thing. I take pride in that,” Smith said. “With Tony, the main thing is glove presentation, positioning facing the field instead of facing the batter to set up your angles better so you’re not cutting yourself off from the glove side ball.” •MAURICIO Dubón and Jon Singleton may share the time-honored spring training title of “best shape of my life.” Dubón reported to camp at 190 pounds, up from his listed weight of 173 last season. Meanwhile, Singleton has slimmed down. His exact weight is unclear, but one look at him reveals how transformative of a winter he had. Whether it’s enough to win a roster spot is still a mystery. Singleton does hit left-handed, which is an advantage on a very right-handed heavy roster, but his lack of versatility and Houston’s sudden needs at second base might change how the club constructs its roster. However, if the team decides to deploy Dubón at second base in a daily role, carrying the left-handed hitting Luis Guillorme to serve as a utilityman could still free a spot for a lefty swinger.
I think Altuve would need to not have a right arm before I would start Guillorme. That takes us back to Abreu levels offensively, and he isn't that great defensively anyway.
With Meyers and Chas out there this most likely will be true. I don't know in all of my years of watching the Stros I've seen 3 worse arms in the OF at the same time.
