Astros Veteran Hitter Must Move Up Lineup For Team to Find True Success

There's a Houston Astros outfielder who needs to move up the lineup, ideally by the end of the month.

Jul 2, 2022; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Astros center fielder Jake Myers (6) hits an RBI single to left field against the Los Angeles Angels during the first inning at Minute Maid Park. | Erik Williams-Imagn Images

For the second year in a row, the Houston Astros can't catch a good break with pitching health.

They placed starting pitcher Hayden Wesneski on IL on Thursday for elbow discomfort, calling up prospect Logan VanWey to replace him. They placed Spencer Arrighetti on IL for a fractured thumb about a month ago.

This all comes after entering the year without Luis Garcia, Christian Javier, and J.P. France. While Lance McCullers was activated from IL last week, there is still much work to be done. And with so many questions at pitching, the Astros' bats will be looked to for answers.

Houston's offense has been relatively average across the board, which many people braced for with the trade of Kyle Tucker and loss of Alex Bregman.

There's been an unexpected bright spot in the lineup: outfielder Jake Myers is providing high contact and bat-to-ball consistency batting .298.

There's one problem: Myers is batting in the middle of the lineup, and many of the guys before him aren't holding up to standard.

Jul 3, 2024; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Houston Astros outfielders Chas McCormick (20) and Jake Myers (6) and Mauricio Dubon (14) celebrate the win over the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. | Gerry Angus-Imagn Images

Christian Walker was one of the big offseason acquisitions for Houston, inking a three-year deal to provide some veteran stability at first base. But he's fallen short in the batter's box, batting just .213 for a .635 OPS and just four homers. The 34-year-old has ten RBIs on the season, a bad look from the cleanup spot.

Catcher Yainer Diaz is also batting ahead of Myers while batting just .231 with a .620 OPS and just three walks in 121 plate appearances.

Myers would ideally be batting third behind Jerema Peña and Jose Altuve, putting three high contact hitters ahead of Isaac Paredes, who would be in four hole. His .391 SLG ranks third amongst players on the team with at least 100 plate appearances, the other two being Peña at .429 and Myers at .423.

Myers moving up in the lineup is not only well deserved, but would be smart strategically.