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One Clear Thing Held Astros' Offense Back in 2025

Originally posted on Houston Astros on SI | By Brad Wakai | Last updated Oct 13, 2025 4:38 PM ET

Changes were expected to come on some level for the Houston Astros this offseason, and that's exactly what happened.

While both general manager Dana Brown and manager Joe Espada will return for 2026, some major staff changes took place that saw both hitting coaches get dismissed as well as the head athletic trainer.

When it comes to Alex Cintron and Troy Snitker not returning, that isn't a huge shock. While both men authored high-end offenses during their tenures, the cratering of offensive statistics the past two years have been eye-opening. And it ultimately got to the point where the Astros had to make a change.

Much of the contention about Houston's offense was regarding their increased chase rates and how few pitches they saw per at-bat, which was a deviation from how this franchise operated at the plate in the past.

However, there is another glaring issue that stands out regarding the Astros' offense.

Astros Did Not Hit Balls Hard in 2025

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SB Nation's site The Crawfish Boxes did a deep dive into the offense and found the concerning exit velocity issue that plagued Houston all year long. In fact, the Astros finished dead last in average exit velocity (88.4 mph), which is a major concern.

The 12 playoff teams this year largely dominated when it came to owning high exit velocities, as the New York Yankees finished first, the Boston Red Sox finished third, the Los Angeles Dodgers fourth, Philadelphia Phillies fifth and Seattle Mariners eighth.

The biggest outlier was the Milwaukee Brewers, whose exit velocity of 88.6 mph put them 28th, above only the third-seeded Cleveland Guardians and Astros. Meanwhile, the Detroit Tigers finished 15th, the Toronto Blue Jays 16th, Chicago Cubs 22nd, San Diego Padres 23rd and Cincinnati Reds 27th.

While it's clear that exit velocity isn't the only key to having success at the plate in Major League Baseball, Houston having the lowest EV this season is a huge difference from the past.

Astros Need to Find Previous Prowess at Plate

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Without Alex Bregman and Kyle Tucker on the roster and Yordan Alvarez hurt for the majority of the year, it's easy to see why the exit velocity of the group was lower than it's been in the past. But if Alvarez is able to have a healthy season in 2026, that should naturally increase.

However, getting back to what they did in the past will also be important. When just looking at the two World Series-winning years for Houston, they finished those regular seasons ranked sixth in 2017 and 13th in 2022 with EVs of 88.0 and 88.7, respectively.

The new hitting coach -- or hitting coaches -- will probably try to get this Astros group to be more patient at the plate instead of focusing on just hitting the ball hard. But hopefully a lowered chase rate will allow Houston to increase their exit EV and get back to where they ranked in the past.