WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- With Opening Day a little more than one week away, the five MLB.com beat writers who cover the American League West clubs each shared thoughts on their teams in a roundtable format. We'll have that for you on Wednesday, but here's a sneak peek at my thoughts on the Astros camp: What is your team's biggest takeaway from camp so far? The offseason goal of adding pitching depth has worked out well so far, leaving the Astros with some tough decisions to make when it comes to the back end of their rotation and bullpen. Newcomers Tatsuya Imai and Mike Burrows had terrific springs, and they will bolster a rotation headlined by Hunter Brown, with fellow newcomers Ryan Weiss and Kai-Wei Teng providing options for starting or pitching in relief. Even non-roster arms like Peter Lambert and Christian Roa have put themselves in position to perhaps make the club. Which new player has made the biggest impact? The Astros gave up promising prospects Jacob Melton and Anderson Brito to get Burrows from the Pirates in a three-team trade in December, and the early returns have been terrific. Burrows has thrown 12 2/3 scoreless innings in Grapefruit League play with six hits and six walks allowed and 15 strikeouts. He pounds the strike zone and works at a quick pace and has Houston eager to see what he can do in the regular season. What's the most concerning development of camp? Closer Josh Hader finished last season on the injured list and will begin this season on the IL, thanks to biceps tendinitis suffered just before the start of camp. Hader resumed throwing in the bullpen last week and is beginning his build-up for the regular season, so there's hope for the Astros he can return in April. Still, having their All-Star closer dealing with arm injuries to begin the year isn't ideal. |
Give us one bold prediction Yordan Alvarez breaks Jeff Bagwell's franchise home run record. Bagwell set the mark with 47 in 2000, and only one Astros player has hit 40 homers in a season since (Alex Bregman with 41 in 2019), which is surprising considering Alvarez is eighth on the team's all-time list with 170 and is one of the game's premier sluggers. Alvarez's career high in homers is 37 in '22, but Bagwell believes it's about time his record is broken. Who will win the division? The Astros are back. Despite having a devastating amount of injuries, they still led the division for most of the 2025 season and were in first place with 10 games remaining. Adding pitchers Imai and Burrows to a rotation anchored by Brown and having a healthy Alvarez, along with Isaac Paredes and Jeremy Peña in the lineup for an entire season, makes this a more formidable club than it was last year. |
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MLB MORNING LINEUP PODCAST |
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HOUSTON OPEN TICKETS ON SALE |
Tickets for the 2026 Texas Children's Houston Open, which will take place at Memorial Park Golf Course in Houston from March 26-29, are on sale now. PGA Tour stars Brooks Koepka, Rickie Fowler and defending champion Min Woo Lee headline the field. There are a variety of ticket options, including general admission tickets, venue hopper, venue hopper plus, public and private hospitality and a new VIP ticket offering, First Class Pass. There are also special ticket offerings for kids 15 and under, college students and military. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit tchouopen.com/tickets. |
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• Jose Altuve made the trip to Miami to cheer on Venezuela in the WBC semifinals and finals. • Here's a look at three Astros prospects who could soon crack the MLB Pipeline Top 100 list. • Yordan Alvarez is impressed with top prospect Kevin Alvarez. |
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Few things energize a Spring Training clubhouse like March Madness, with players participating in pools for fun and supporting their teams. A handful of Astros players attended colleges who have teams competing in the NCAA men's basketball tournament, so we polled them to get their thoughts on the road to the Final Four. Bryan King (McNeese State): "I hope they put up a fight. It's awesome for them to be in the tournament and hopefully they can make a run and come out from an underdog position." Joey Loperfido (Duke): "The time is now. Nobody will have this group better prepared than coach [Jon] Scheyer. The Blue Devils are battle tested." Jake Meyers (Nebraska): "This is the year [for the Huskers to win their first NCAA Tournament game]. I'm putting my foot down and getting behind them. I'm really excited. Thursday, 12:40 [p.m.] here. I'll be locked in on it as much as I can be, because I think we have a night game." César Salazar (Arizona): "This is the year for Arizona. We're going to win it. Bear down!" Bennett Sousa (Virginia): "I like where they're set up, at least to get to the Sweet 16. ... Virginia kept it close with Duke. I know Duke is missing some players, but they're still pretty good. We'll see." Ryan Weiss (Wright State): "They were the 1 seed in the Horizon League and won the tournament, so they've got momentum going. Obviously, once the tournament comes, you're not playing guys in the Horizon League anymore. They play Virginia and that's going to be a tough game. They're really good defensively, but I hope we can pull it out. It's March Madness. Anything can happen." |
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