2026 MLB First-Half Recap: Houston Astros

The Pitching

The Good

One year after Yordan Alvarez missed most of 2025, the slugger came back with a vengeance this year.

Alvarez slashed .318/.426/.633 with 31 home runs and 48 extra-base hits over the first half. Those are exceptional numbers for a player over a full season — not just 96 contests.

He captained an improved offense in some areas. Carlos Correa hit very well before he suffered a season-ending injury in May. Jeremy Pena also hit very well when healthy, although he, too, has been hit by the injury bug.

Christian Walker hit 20 home runs before the break, looking more like the Walker seen for years with the Diamondbacks.

As for the pitching staff, Hunter Brown pitched very well when healthy. But the real star was ex-Rockie Peter Lambert, who came back to North America after a stint in Japan. From June 1 through the break, Lambert posted a strong 2.43 ERA for the Astros.

The Bad

Yes, pitching was hard to come by for the Houston Astros.

This was somewhat expected. After all, Framber Valdez is now in Detroit, and the Astros spent most of the season hustling to fill out the rotation alongside Hunter Brown. Houston started the year with several pitchers, including Ronel Blanco and Hayden Wesneski, on the IL.

Nate Pearson was one of the plans for the rotation. That didn’t work, and he was ultimately DFA’d after the break. Ryan Weiss, signed out of Korea, also didn’t fill out the rotation as hoped.

But the most notable addition over the winter was Tatsuya Imai, the former Seibu Lion, who was one of the best groundball pitchers in Japan. It’s certainly been an adjustment for Imai, who has picked up a lot of strikeouts in America — but also a lot of walks.

Moving to the bullpen, the Astros had to cycle through multiple options, including Bryan King and Enyel De Los Santos, to replace Josh Hader. Hader missed a healthy chunk of the first half on the IL.

Aside from the pitching staff, it wasn’t the kind of start that we’ve come to expect from Jose Altuve.

Altuve slashed .235/.307/.404 in the first half. And he wasn’t the only one to scuffle before the break. So did Yainer Diaz, and the same can be said for rookie Brice Matthews. Matthews, who performed well in Triple-A last season but always had a problem with adjusting to fastballs, had a ton of swing-and-miss.

Looking Ahead

The clock is ticking for the Astros, a team that is in both the AL Wild Card and AL West races. However, the Astros will need more than just Yordan Alvarez & Hunter Brown to get past the finish line.