First year manager of the Houston Astros, Joe Espada, has shared some subtle changes that he's going to deploy this season.
He already talked about how they're going to change their offensive philosophy, hoping to result in more runs scored.
Slugger Yordan Alvarez is going to be in a different spot in their lineup, with the idea that one of the game's premier hitters will get more plate appearances.
Espada also has another idea for their superstar slugger.
According to Michael Shapiro of Chron.com, they plan on heavily featuring him in the field.
"Houston now hopes Alvarez will be passable in left field for a larger freight of games in 2024, with Alvarez perhaps nearing or surpassing 100 games in front of the Crawford Boxes," he writes.
That is a ton of games compared to his output in the past.
Normally used as the primary designated hitter, the most games he's ever logged in left field was 56 in 2022. The second-most is 41 in 2021 and third is 40 last year.
100 games would be a major jump.
The Astros are looking to use the DH role for multiple players across the length of the season, and not pigeonhole one player there for the majority of the time.
Alvarez has talked about wanting to play in the field more, and it seems like he'll get his chance in 2024.
Of course, how many games he's actually in left will be dependent upon his defensive ability.
Even with his limited appearances in the outfield, he has a defensive bWAR rating of -3.0.
Still, Espada seems encouraged by what he's seen so far in Spring Training, telling reporters, "He looked really good yesterday in the outfield drills."
Another factor in all of this is that the slugger entered camp healthy for the first time in a few years, allowing him to do more work early instead of focusing on rehab. The knee issues he's been dealing with are apparently non-existent at the moment as well.
Having Alvarez in left field more often and keeping the designated hitter position open in the lineup certainly makes them much more flexible, but it will be interesting to see how it all plays out.
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