Two weeks from Opening Day and Yordan has one hit thus far in spring games. Why am I worried?

bc you're a fan

Edit: I, too, have my irrationalities in sports

I'm bringing the family to USA vs Canada tomorrow night. What site is best to use for parking?

We probably won't get down there until 5:30-6:00 as we will be in College Station looking for fall housing for my son most of the day.

Good guys on TV tonight.

Back to back doubles from Yordan and Yanier in the bottom of the first make it 1-0.

And I think this pitching staff is gonna be pretty nasty. Brown is Brown, Imai looks nasty, and Burrows has started the spring with 10 straight shutout innings.

Ag_07 said:

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Good guys on TV tonight.

Back to back doubles from Yordan and Yanier in the bottom of the first make it 1-0.

And I think this pitching staff is gonna be pretty nasty. Brown is Brown, Imai looks nasty, and Burrows has started the spring with 10 straight shutout innings.

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What a play from Sousa! pic.twitter.com/HsesbpEQrZ

— Houston Astros (@astros) March 13, 2026

Late innings meltdown.

Ugly 9th inning defense.

iBrad said:

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I mentioned this before, but you weaken the lineup a lot by simply benching or getting rid of Walker. You have to hope an outfielder on the roster fills that void…and we already have two outfielders in Jake and Cam who are anything but a sure thing. We could easily have the worst outfield in MLB in terms of offensive production.

The optimal scenario would have been to trade Walker, shed a lot of his salary, and address the outfield through free agency. That was a pipe dream, though, as no one wanted to take on enough of his salary to make a trade viable.

The most realistic option was/is to trade Paredes for a comparable outfield bat. Unfortunately, Boston would rather keep their gluttony of left hand hitting outfielders.

The only option I see at this point is for Espada to figure it out, which likely means Yordan and/or Altuve are in LF a little more often, opening up DH and 2B for Paredes. That, and the inevitable injury opening up playing time.

I think the guy that gets screwed the most in this is Nick Allen. But given Espada's propensity to get guys starts and at bats, Allen probably sees the field too much while a bat you'd rather have in the lineup sits.

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How do you weaken the lineup by benching/getting rid of an aging/declining first baseman that was below league average last year?

His output is easily replaceable.

I hope we get the same Walker for the last two months of the season but that's a stretch to expect that to happen. I know Spring Training stats are somewhat meaningless but he only has one hit so far while Peredes is raking.

Peredes output as the second best hitter on the team, suited for our ballpark, and who puts up a pesky at bat is completely irreplaceable. You would need to get very high value return to make trading him worth it, and it doesn't seem like the value on the market works in our favor.

Best thing to do is not trade him, get him as much playing time as possible with some creative roster shuffling. See what Walker can do in the first half, and make a trade if necessary at the deadline for someone that may either:

1) Find a team to overpay for Paredes and give a very good return

2) Trade Walker if he regains Value on the market but doesn't necessarily light the world on fire

3) Trade Walker and eat a significant amount of his salary if he returns to typical aggregate 2025 form

I still don't think we'll find anything in 1) that will net a return commensurate with what he means to this team. But options 2 and 3 should reveal themselves in due time. What's in our best interest as a team is to get rid of Walker, period end of story if there is a logjam that presents a problem.

I think that's where the problem lies.

We need Walker's, Yordan's, Pena's, Isaac's, Correa's, and Altuve's production all at the same time.

Yeah you can rest guys to get Paredes ABs but it's gonna at the sacrifice of losing one of the others.

Having the equivalent of Isaac's production at a position that can play without sacrificing one of the others is why trading him has such upside.

iBrad said:

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And replace Walker's production with who? Who hits .238 with 27 HRs and 88 RBIs. Our outfield options are slim. Jake has struck out in half his ABs this spring. Cam needs to take a big step forward in year two. Cole? Dezenzo? Loperfido? We rolling with one of them, possibly two if Jake struggles? And we're just hoping they pan out?

It's easy to say that Walker's production can be replaced. Harder to identify who will do it when you're picking from a group that's never done it.

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His production at Daikin last year is easy to replace with like or better. The road games, not so much.

3B Paul 97 said:

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I'm bringing the family to USA vs Canada tomorrow night. What site is best to use for parking?

We probably won't get down there until 5:30-6:00 as we will be in College Station looking for fall housing for my son most of the day.

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If you have the patience to drive around and don't mind walking, parking meters are free after 6pm. If you get there before 6 and find a spot, just pay for the time until 6 and you're good. After 6, all free. Might have to walk a little, but could save some coin.

iBrad said:

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And replace Walker's production with who? Who hits .238 with 27 HRs and 88 RBIs. Our outfield options are slim. Jake has struck out in half his ABs this spring. Cam needs to take a big step forward in year two. Cole? Dezenzo? Loperfido? We rolling with one of them, possibly two if Jake struggles? And we're just hoping they pan out?

It's easy to say that Walker's production can be replaced. Harder to identify who will do it when you're picking from a group that's never done it.

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His RBIs are misleading since he batted way higher in the lineup than he ever deserved to be.

27 HRs is nice, but he strikes out a ton, can't hit the fastball well, and doesn't walk much or work the counts.

If the difference is Walker or Paredes, then Paredes gets priority playing time and Walker sits more often. I still think you can make it work fine if Alvarez starts LF at home

Farmer1906 said:

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Mike Burrows continues to look like a solid acquisition by the Astros!

Five strikes, four shutout innings, lots of whiffs, what’s not to like?? pic.twitter.com/hJLV7fH5Ut

— Pitch Profiler (@pitchprofiler) March 13, 2026

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Five strokes in four innings? Not that impressive

Mr.Bond said:

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EastCoastAgNc said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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Mike Burrows continues to look like a solid acquisition by the Astros!

Five strikes, four shutout innings, lots of whiffs, what’s not to like?? pic.twitter.com/hJLV7fH5Ut

— Pitch Profiler (@pitchprofiler) March 13, 2026

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Five strokes in four innings? Not that impressive

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5 strokes sounds like a Friday night at my house

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Thanks autocorrect.

I literally spit Dr. Pepper.... Thanks TexAgs.

txags92 said:

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iBrad said:

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And replace Walker's production with who? Who hits .238 with 27 HRs and 88 RBIs. Our outfield options are slim. Jake has struck out in half his ABs this spring. Cam needs to take a big step forward in year two. Cole? Dezenzo? Loperfido? We rolling with one of them, possibly two if Jake struggles? And we're just hoping they pan out?

It's easy to say that Walker's production can be replaced. Harder to identify who will do it when you're picking from a group that's never done it.

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His production at Daikin last year is easy to replace with like or better. The road games, not so much.

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It's so funny how you get stuck on one point and just hammer it over and over and over. We get it. He didn't hit well at home.

Regardless, he was a .800 OPS hitter in the second half. That IS hard to replace.

I'm a see what the first two months are for Christian Walker.

AggiEE said:

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iBrad said:

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And replace Walker's production with who? Who hits .238 with 27 HRs and 88 RBIs. Our outfield options are slim. Jake has struck out in half his ABs this spring. Cam needs to take a big step forward in year two. Cole? Dezenzo? Loperfido? We rolling with one of them, possibly two if Jake struggles? And we're just hoping they pan out?

It's easy to say that Walker's production can be replaced. Harder to identify who will do it when you're picking from a group that's never done it.

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His RBIs are misleading since he batted way higher in the lineup than he ever deserved to be.

27 HRs is nice, but he strikes out a ton, can't hit the fastball well, and doesn't walk much or work the counts.

If the difference is Walker or Paredes, then Paredes gets priority playing time and Walker sits more often. I still think you can make it work fine if Alvarez starts LF at home

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So we don't want the 88 RBI?

Look, I understand where you are coming from.

I only ask you to answer this question: do you think the locker room is important?

Beat40 said:

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txags92 said:

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iBrad said:

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And replace Walker's production with who? Who hits .238 with 27 HRs and 88 RBIs. Our outfield options are slim. Jake has struck out in half his ABs this spring. Cam needs to take a big step forward in year two. Cole? Dezenzo? Loperfido? We rolling with one of them, possibly two if Jake struggles? And we're just hoping they pan out?

It's easy to say that Walker's production can be replaced. Harder to identify who will do it when you're picking from a group that's never done it.

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His production at Daikin last year is easy to replace with like or better. The road games, not so much.

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It's so funny how you get stuck on one point and just hammer it over and over and over. We get it. He didn't hit well at home.

Regardless, he was a .800 OPS hitter in the second half. That IS hard to replace.

I'm a see what the first two months are for Christian Walker.

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I like the guy. I want him to be successful here. I want him to be a key hitter who drives in a lot of runs. I don't dismiss what he did in the 2nd half at all. But I also will object when we act like what he did last year was irreplaceable, particularly when there are situations where he was anything but clutch. And choosing to focus on his hitting at Daikin is not some obscure niche stat pulled out to try to rail on the guy, it is where we play half of our games every season, so if he can't be effective hitting there, it should be a consideration in how we draft a lineup.

I am with you on hoping he starts the season well and this is a non-issue going forward. But I guess we will have to wait and see.

What I like about Walker moving forward:

• The last 2 months look to be real. Aug/Sept xwOBA & xwOBAcontact - .356/.329 & .457/.477. It wasn't good luck. July was good luck tho.
• The bat speed is still damn good.
• He should have more help around him and can be a little more comfortable in the 5/6 hole.

What I don't like about Walker moving forward:

• While he was good defensively, he was significantly worse than his elite 1B play in 2022-2024.
• The strikeouts were bad last year and stayed bad even in the good months.
• Before 2025, he was good at drawing walks.

https://instagr.am/p/DVzzR-uDEUg

Astros today at the Cardinals: pic.twitter.com/TA76sEeNE8

— Matt Kawahara (@matthewkawahara) March 13, 2026

Cristian Javier is expected back in Astros camp tomorrow, Joe Espada said. https://t.co/V3pli5Umlz

— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) March 13, 2026