The Houston Astros just released their roster for the Wild Card round against the Chicago White Sox. This series begins on Tuesday in Houston at Daikin Park and is a best of three. The Astros are the No. 3 seed in the American League thanks to winning the AL West for the eighth time in the last 10 seasons. Meanwhile, the White Sox are the No. 6 seed.
Here is the released 26-man roster that features 14 position players and 12 pitchers.
Infielders: Jose Altuve, Jeremy Peña, Christian Walker, Isaac Paredes, Nick Allen, Raynel Delgado
Outfielders: Yordan Alvarez, Joey Loperfido, Cam Smith, Lucas Spence, Taylor Trammell, Nelson Velazquez
Catchers: Yainer Diaz, Christian Vasquez
Pitchers: Bryan Abreu, AJ Blubaugh, Hunter Brown, Josh Hader, Josh Hendrickson, Tatsuya Imai, Bryan King, Logan VanWey, Peter Lambert, Bennett Sousa, Hayden Wesneski, Miguel Ullola
There were a couple of key injuries. Right-handed reliever Steven Okert wasn’t able to return from his strained hamstring even after he threw another bullpen session on Monday. That’s a big loss for the bullpen.
Right-hander Ethan Pecko also is dealing with a left hip issue, although that isn’t the reason why he was left off the roster per Chandler Rome of The Athletic. The Astros were concerned about his availability.
In not a huge surprise, Imai made the roster although his workload has significantly reduced recently.
The Astros decided to add Loperfido, which was a surprise considering they don’t really use him and didn’t call him up him later in the regular season. That obviously worked out with Spence’s heroics. Trammell making the roster over Lamonte Wade Jr. is a big surprise.
Trammell has gone 0/17 over the last seven games of the regular season. Meanwhile, Wade Jr. has hit .231 with an .824 OPS over his last seven games.
The Astros did add Raynel Delgado to the postseason roster to have six infielders. Delgado can add another defensive replacement to the team and give more versatility. That can allow him to potentially play third base if Paredes’ knee bothers him. It also allows Allen to come in and play second base, while Altuve can move to designated hitter.
Alvarez would then play left field. That would deepen the Astros lineup and help out on defense. Otherwise, it’s a roster that was expected for the most part. Manager Joe Espada also hopes to use Lambert in Game 2 potentially if needed.
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