Astros announce ALDS roster, Lance McCullers Jr. Game 1 starter

The Astros revealed their 26-man roster for their AL Division Series matchup against the White Sox, which begins Thursday. Lance McCullers Jr. will get the ball for Game 1, marking the eighth start of the righty’s postseason career. Houston will deploy 12 pitchers and 14 position players against Chicago.

Right-Handed Pitchers

• Luis Garcia
• Yimi Garcia
• Kendall Graveman
• Zack Greinke
• Cristian Javier
• Phil Maton
• Lance McCullers Jr.
• Ryan Pressly
• Ryne Stanek
• Jose Urquidy

Left-Handed Pitchers

• Brooks Raley
• Framber Valdez (Game 2 starter)

Catchers

• Jason Castro
• Martin Maldonado
• Garrett Stubbs

Infielders

• Jose Altuve
• Alex Bregman
• Carlos Correa
• Aledmys Diaz
• Yuli Gurriel

Outfielders

• Yordan Alvarez
• Michael Brantley
• Chas McCormick
• Jake Meyers
• Jose Siri
• Kyle Tucker

Siri and Stubbs are perhaps the most interesting inclusions on Houston’s bench, with Stubbs likely acting as a third catcher and late-game sub for Castro or Maldonado  Siri fractured his pinkie finger just six days ago, but the rookie is apparently healthy enough to play and provide further depth in the outfield.

Some prominent names aren’t in play for the ALDS, including Jake Odorizzi, Marwin Gonzalez and Blake Taylor. While Odorizzi and Gonzalez are on the taxi squad, they’ll only see action in an emergency situation. Gonzalez’s omission isn’t too surprising given his struggles since rejoining the Astros in August (and really since the start of the 2020 season), and Houston figures Diaz can provide enough utility flexibility. The left-handed Taylor had a 3.16 ERA over 42 2/3 innings and 51 appearances this season, but the Astros are opting to just have Raley as their only southpaw reliever against a mostly right-handed Chicago offense.

Odorizzi posted a 4.21 ERA over 104 2/3 innings and 24 appearances, starting 23 of those games but not having a particularly long leash in any of those outings. Odorizzi had some solid outings in late August and early September, yet a late-season foot injury might have cost him valuable audition time to land a spot on the playoff roster.