The Astros released their final roster moves before Opening Day on Tuesday and they included a couple surprises, but nothing shocking. Basically, the guys who have been doing well in Spring Training made the team (mostly) and the others went to the minors.
The team optioned Korey Lee, JJ Matijevic, Bligh Madris, Rylan Bannon and Brandon Bielak to Triple A Sugar Land while reassigning Dixon Machado, Justin Dirden, Austin Davis, and Ty Buttrey to the Triple A affiliate.
That means the final two bullpen spots will go to Ronel Blanco and Seth Martinez while the last three spots in the lineup include catcher/first baseman Yanier Diaz, outfielder Corey Julks and catcher/first baseman/outfielder Cesar Salazar.
Perhaps the biggest surprise was the addition of Julks over Dirden. Salazar is someone who can provide a third catcher as well as two other spots. His flexibility will help until Jose Altuve and Michael Brantley are back from injury. Dirden had been smoking everything this spring, but Dusty Baker and Dana Brown have hinted their fondness for Julks and the fact that he only plays outfield means it was him or Dirden.
Julks certainly had the longer resume with a career on-base percentage of .350. He has some pop, hitting 31 homers in Sugar Land last year and is a very good defender. Dirden will get more chances with his first full year of Triple A upcoming, but he had an incredible spring this year.
In other battles, Diaz clearly won the backup catcher spot over Lee. Diaz has been absolutely crushing the baseball over the last two weeks and has shown a serious cannon for an arm behind the plate. He will be learning how to manage a game from the best in Martin Maldonado. Additionally, the fact that he can double at first base gives him the advantage for a team that loves multi-position players.
Probably the most disappointed guy has to be Bielak. He, no doubt, thought he was a shoe in for the bullpen after spending time between the minors and majors the last three seasons. But Blanco, who struggled last year with the big league club, was absolutely dominant this spring and able to stretch out to three innings. Having another long reliever as well as someone who can work in a bullpen game early in the season is a huge bonus. Seth Martinez, who was sensational out of the ‘pen last year, is back in a bullpen that is fairly stacked.
The rest of the major league lineup and rotation is as expected. There were few real position battles this spring, but the injuries to Altuve and Brantley do open up a couple spots that some of these young guys hope to fill. Maybe one of them will be the next Jeremy Peña.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2023.
