Astros Star Slugger Has Not Performed in High-Leverage Situations This Season

The Houston Astros have surprised a lot of people with their level of performance during the 2025 MLB regular season.

Despite several injuries and some healthy players not performing up to expectations, the Astros are leading the American League West by 5.5 games over the Seattle Mariners with a 47-33 record.

That is despite losing third baseman Alex Bregman and starting pitchers Justin Verlander and Yusei Kikuchi in free agency, while right fielder Kyle Tucker and relief pitcher Ryan Pressly were traded to the Chicago Cubs.

More News: Astros May Have Lost Chance to Extend Star Shortstop Due to Scott Boras

Losing that amount of talent is never an easy thing to overcome, but Houston has found a way to keep chugging along, remaining one of the best teams in the AL.

It will be interesting to see how they handle the trade deadline.

There are some needs to address, but do they have the means to get a deal done to acquire upgrades?

More News: Fast-Rising Astros Prospect Shows Value of Hidden MLB Draft Gems

The Astros' deadline plan could just be getting healthy and hoping there is some positive regression to the mean for players who are struggling.

One of the players they are hoping can start to turn things around is catcher Yainer Diaz.

He got off to a brutal start in March/April, but looked to have turned things around in May. However, his numbers have dipped again in June, resulting in a .237/.269/.380 slash line through 69 games and 279 plate appearances with an OPS+ of 81.

More News: Two Astros Hitters Named Team's 'Most Improved' as Lineup Finds Stride

Diaz has provided a little bit of pop with nine home runs, nine doubles and one triple, but the team was expecting a lot more production from him based on the numbers he put up over the last two campaigns.

In addition to his overall struggles, the slugging backstop has come up woefully short in another area: high-leverage situations.

As shared by Thomas Nestico on X, Diaz is amongst the least productive players in baseball this season in clutch moments.

More News: Astros Veteran Locked in Tight All-Star Voting Battle with Young Star