How Houston Astros stack up with probable roster, positional strategies for postseason success

POSTSEASON OUTLOOK

How Houston Astros stack up with probable roster, positional strategies for postseason success
The Astros have some big decisions to make.Composite Getty Image.

The MLB postseason is right around the corner, and one of the most popular discussions about the Astros has to be (or at least was) Justin Verlander's role moving forward.

It appears Houston GM Dana Brown plans on reevaluating Verlander's status after the first playoff series.

Which is quite a position reversal compared to his last comments about JV when he broke out the “back of the baseball card” nonsense on the club's flagship station on September 11. Better late than never, I suppose.

With that said, it appears the Astros will role with Framber Valdez, Hunter Brown, and Yusei Kikuchi. Which seems like the right choice at the moment.

But now the Astros have another x-factor to navigate. If Yordan Alvarez is able to play with his sprained knee in the postseason, it's hard to imagine he would be playing in left field.

With him locked in at DH, Yainer Diaz will have to either catch or play first base. The same goes for Victor Caratini if he's in the starting lineup. Which also means that games in which both Caratini and Diaz play, Jon Singleton will be on the bench.

We'll likely see a platoon at first between Caratini and Singleton when Diaz is behind the dish. Mauricio Dubon could also factor in.

Which leads us to the outfield. Kyle Tucker is a no-brainer to play right field, and we'll likely see a platoon in left between Jason Heyward and Dubon.

One would assume Jake Meyers gets the nod to play center field due to his excellent play on defense, but you never know. As Chandler Rome noted in his article for The Athletic this week, Meyers has the 4th-worst OPS (.540) in baseball since the All-Star break.

Dubon is starting in center on Tuesday night. Make of that what you will. Could be nothing, or could be something.

We could also see Chas McCormick play some center or left field should he return healthy from his hand/finger injury.

Plus, how many pitchers and position players should the Astros carry in the Wild Card round? Should they keep more hitters so they can pinch hit for guys like Meyers should they find themselves down in a big game?

Don't miss the video above for the full discussion!

*Catch our weekly Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast. Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and Charlie Pallilo discuss varied Astros topics. The first post for the week generally goes up Monday afternoon (second part released Tuesday) via The SportsMap HOU YouTube channel or listen to episodes in their entirety at Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

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The Mets beat the Astros, 3-1. Photo by Logan Riely/Getty Images.

Juan Soto hit his first homer with the New York Mets, helping his new team beat the Houston Astros 3-1 on Friday night.

With two out in the third inning, Soto drove a 1-2 pitch from Hunter Brown deep to right for a solo shot that lifted New York to a 3-0 lead.

Soto's 390-foot shot came a day after he struck out on a full-count slider from closer Josh Hader with two on and two out in a 3-1 opening-day loss.

Before that, Soto singled and walked twice Thursday in his Mets debut. The slugger signed a record $765 million, 15-year contract as a free agent in December.

New York starter Tylor Megill (1-0) pitched five-plus innings of one-run ball. He allowed three hits, struck out six and walked one.

Edwin Díaz struck out one in a perfect ninth for his first save, finishing a three-hitter.

Brown (0-1) struck out seven in six innings. He allowed four hits and walked three.

Mark Vientos hit an RBI double for New York in the second and scored on a single by Jesse Winker.

Houston scored its only run in the fourth on Yordan Alvarez's sacrifice fly.

The Astros had a runner on first with one out in the eighth when Luisangel Acuña made a diving stop on Alvarez's grounder to second, popped up and threw to first for the out.

Houston was 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position.

Key moment

The Astros loaded the bases with one out in the sixth, but Reed Garrett struck out Alvarez before retiring Yainer Diaz on a fly ball to right-center.

Key stat

The Mets have won the last seven games started by Megill dating to Aug. 30.

Up next

Houston’s Spencer Arrighetti opposes Griffin Canning when the series wraps up Saturday night. Arrighetti looks to build on a strong rookie season when his 171 strikeouts were the third-most by a rookie in franchise history.

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