Yordan Alvarez Injury Exposes Another Major Flaw in Astros Lineup

The Houston Astros have had a lot of issues to overcome with their lineup thus far in the 2025 MLB regular season.

Expected key contributors, such as first baseman Christian Walker and catcher Yainer Diaz, have fallen woefully short of expectations. They have OPS+ numbers of 75 and 71, respectively, entering play on May 9.

Walker’s struggles have been especially concerning because he has created a massive void in the middle of the team’s lineup. The primary cleanup hitter, he has contributed to the least productive No. 4 spot in the MLB.

The Astros have received only five extra-base hits from that spot in the order, a .263 slugging percentage and five RBI through 36 games. Those are by far the worst numbers in the league, with every other team recording at least 12 RBI from the cleanup spot.

Making problems worse for the Astros when it comes to the No. 4 spot is that Yordan Alvarez has landed on the injured list, meaning Walker will likely assume the spot once again.

With Diaz showing signs of life, he could receive a shot as the cleanup hitter with manager Joe Espada riding a hot hand.

What Losing Yordan Alvarez Exposes

However, the order of which Houston bats in isn’t their most glaring issue that has been exposed with Alvarez heading to the IL.

What they need to find is some balance in their lineup because they currently don’t have a single starter who hits from the left side of the plate, per The Athletic (subscription required).

Alvarez was the only one. Now, the only players who are hit left handed are backup catchers Victor Caratini, who is a switch-hitter, and Cesar Salazar, who was called up to replace Alvarez on the roster.

When the Astros are facing off against a left-handed pitcher, they will have an advantage. But, when there isn’t a southpaw on the mound, they are incredibly easy to game plan against with opponents being able to stack right-handed pitchers against them.

With Kyle Tucker now a member of the Chicago Cubs, Houston has the most unbalanced lineup in the MLB with too many right-handed hitters.

It comes as no surprise the team has a wRC+ of 94, which is 22nd in the league, against right-handed pitching. Their wOBA is .302, which is 24th, per Fangraphs.

Against left-handed pitching, they are 10th in wRC+ with a 106 and 11th with a wOBA of .317.

Until they can find a way to balance things out, the Astros’ offensive production is going to be incredibly inconsistent when they aren’t facing off against southpaws.