It’s baseball season again. The first hint of spring comes when pitchers and catchers report a few days prior to other position players just before Valentine’s Day. For the Astros, that day was Wednesday in Palm Beach, Florida.
This comes after an interesting offseason, one with perhaps as many questions as answers. GM Dana Brown did what he could to stock the cupboards full of pitching arms, but the mix of older veterans and young up-and-comers means he and manager Joe Espada will have a lot of decisions to make.
For now, let’s dig into the three biggest storylines as Spring Training 2026 gets underway.
How do the Astros deal with the weird imbalance of position players?
The biggest question looming over Spring Training is what the Astros will do, if anything, with their infield logjam. Isaac Paredes was brought in last year to play third base and Christian Walker to play first. Both are still here, but so is Carlos Correa, who took over third when Paredes was injured. Ideally, the Astros would like to move Walker who is older and seemingly on the decline to let Paredes play first, but right now, it’s anyone’s guess.
Then, you have the outfield, full of question marks and young players not all guaranteed spots on the 26-man roster, and bereft of left handed bats. And, to top it off, an aging Jose Altuve and a healthy Yordan Alvarez, both needing time as designated hitter, but also maybe in the field? Oh, and did we mention the only backup catcher on the roster is Cesar Salazar?
There have been lots of trade rumblings — perhaps moving Paredes for a lefty outfielder — but given the age of some of this lineup, it might make sense to stand pat and see if everyone emerges from Florida healthy. Odds are, someone won’t and they might regret trading their safety valve.
Regardless, it’s kind of a mess.
Who will be in the rotation, the bullpen and the minors?
Right now, there are 10 or 12 guys who could argue for a spot in the starting rotation. Even with a tight schedule to start the season, there will only be six starters and maybe one or two swing players in the bullpen. Competition should be fierce. Hunter Brown, Christian Javier, Tasuya Imai and Mike Burrows would appear to have four spots locked up. Spencer Arrighetti would make the most sense as the fifth starter. But, how then do you deal with Lance McCullers, Jr., Nate Pearson, Ryan Weiss, Jason Alexander and others?
As we learned the last two seasons, you really can never have too many arms on your pitching staff and the Astros took that to heart this offseason. Having a few players with options allowing them to move up and down from Sugar Land will give the team flexibility. It will also give the Space Cowboys a pretty solid rotation of their own.
What youngster will emerge?
Last year Cam Smith burst onto the scene, a natural infielder who had never played in right field became a capable and competent starter…for a while, anyway. Dana Brown has let it be known that Smith’s spot on the 26-man roster is not guaranteed and that they would love to have more lefties in the outfield (Jesus Sanchez could be one, but his hitting after the Astros acquired him last year was subpar at best, and Alvarez will play spot minutes in left.), and that Smith will play some center this spring.
Enter Zach Cole who homered on his first pitch and was solid at the plate to go with his above average defense. Could he fill a role alongside Smith and Jake Meyers? Zach Dezenzo has experience in the outfield and from the right side of the plate as well.
Despite the crowded infield, don’t bet against Brice Matthews, who has plenty of tools and more than a little pop in his bat. His minor league options make it likely he sees more time at Sugar Land, at least early in the season, but his bat may force the issue with the Astros eventually.
This article appears in Private: Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2026.