2 early-season moves Astros must make

The Houston Astros nearly made it to the World Series for the third straight time in 2023, narrowly falling four games to three to the Texas Rangers in the ALCS. With expectations still high for the reigning AL West champs in 2024, Houston has not started the season convincingly. Despite a surprising no-hitter from Ronel Blanco, the Astros are 2-4 — only ahead of the lowly Oakland Athletics in the division.

While one week is not cause for panic, especially for a talented team like the Astros, it also gives a good sense of the areas where the club can improve. With this slow start in mind, here are two early-season moves the Astros must make to turn things around.

Release Jose Abreu

When the Astros signed Jose Abreu to a three-year, $58 million contract before the 2023 season, it seemed like the ideal addition to the Houston lineup. Incumbent first-baseman Yuli Guriel was 38 years old and entering free agency off a year where he posted a .647 OPS.  While Abreu’s power numbers were down in 2022 (17 homers and 75 RBI versus 30 HR and 117 RBI the year before), his OPS stayed constant thanks to a 40-point rise in his batting average. Looking back, Abreu’s .350 batting average on balls in play in 2022 was fool’s gold.

In 2023, Jose Abreu batted .237 with a .680 OPS — career lows. Only a September flourish with seven homers and 28 RBI helped Abreu’s numbers approach respectability. This year, Abreu has just two hits in 19 at-bats and has yet to register an RBI despite batting in the middle of the order. Abreu did not register a homer until May 28 last year, but it is difficult to see the 37-year-old continue to stay in the lineup if he hits like this.

While the Astros do not have a quality replacement for Abreu on the bench or at the Triple-A level, even 32-year-old minor league veteran Jon Singleton is an upgrade from Jose Abreu right now.

Release Tayler Scott, promote Logan VanWey

The bullpen has been one of the strengths for the Astros over the years, but not so far this season. The Astros are 0-4 in save opportunities to begin 2024, with four different pitchers blowing late-game leads. While the team added Josh Hader to solidify the closer spot, gone are notable names like Phil Maton, Hector Neris, and Ryne Stanek — who combined for 194 relief appearances a year ago.

Hader’s start in Houston has not been ideal, as the hard-throwing lefty lost via ninth-inning runs in his last two appearances. But often the struggles of the rest of the bullpen have prevented Hader from entering the game with a lead. One pitcher who has frustrated fans so far is Tayler Scott. The South African had a 9.00 ERA in 18 MLB appearances before this year yet leagues the Astros in appearances this season. Scott has a 5.40 ERA with four walks in 3.1 innings — not the type of performance the Astros want from a guy in high-leverage situations.

One potential replacement from Triple-A is right-hander Logan VanWey. Despite being an undrafted free agent in 2022, VanWey jumped from Single, to Double, to Triple-A last year, posting a combined 4.28 ERA with 11.7 strikeouts per nine innings. The 25-year-old pitched 4.2 scoreless innings for the Sugar Land Space Cowboys at Triple-A to begin 2024. If the Houston bullpen continues to struggle, the club will need to make moves to find consistent relievers.