First Base Continues to Plague Astros Despite Attempts to Improve Position

The Houston Astros continue to play well of late, but still aren’t firing on all cylinders as a team.

Despite being over .500 and right in the mix in the American League West, the Astros have yet to play their best baseball.

After a tumultuous offseason, Houston had plenty of question marks coming into the campaign. However, they have been led by a good pitching staff with a quality starting rotation and the bullpen being one of the best in baseball.

While the pitching staff has done well, it has been the lineup that hasn’t been able to keep up.

Unfortunately, some players who are proven in the league have underachieved so far, resulting in a struggle to score runs at times. Despite trying to upgrade a position of need this winter, it hasn’t quite panned out so far.

Is First Base Cursed in Houston?

Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report recently wrote about the biggest offseason regret for the Astros being the signing of Christian Walker, continuing a tough stretch of players at the position.

“At this point, Houston's first base situation might just be cursed. Yuli Gurriel's final season there in 2022 was brutal. The José Abreu contract was a disaster of the highest order. Jon Singleton was only marginally better than Abreu after taking his spot as the regular last year.”

For the last several years, first base has been an issue for Houston. After the Jose Abreu signing turned out to be a complete failure, the Astros decided to move on from him in favor of Walker.

The slugger has been a great player in recent campaigns for the Arizona Diamondbacks with his ability to hit for power and provide Gold Glove defense.

On paper, he appeared to be a perfect fit for what Houston was looking for. However, his age was a concern after seeing Abreu's sharp decline.

So far this year, he has slashed .198/.270/.339 with five home runs and 19 RBI. These numbers are certainly disappointing to see for the Astros, who continue to struggle to get offensive production from a key position.

Fortunately, it is still early in the year, and the 34-year-old has time to turn things around.

Overall, the offense hasn’t been great for Houston outside of a couple of players, and it has shockingly been some of their proven veterans like Walker, Jose Altuve, and Yordan Alvarez that have struggled.

If these sluggers are able to get it going and perform like they normally do, they could have a strong offensive unit.