Houston Astros New Slugger Has Added Explosive Element to Offensive Impact

The Houston Astros have struggled mightily to produce runs thus far in the 2025 MLB regular season.

They have a team slash line of .226/.304/.336, which are all in the bottom half of the league. Their 87 OPS+ is also below average as the team is failing to find a groove at the plate.

Essentially the entire team is mired in a slump, scoring three or fewer runs in 15 out of 22 games to begin the campaign. Despite that, they are 11-11 out of the gate, but it is going to be a much tougher task turning things around this year than in years past when they got off to slow starts.

The output at the plate is concerning, but there there is one area of offense that the team has been excelling in, which has made manager Joe Esapada very happy; their base running.

During spring training, it became a priority for the team to be more aggressive on the basepaths. It was something the team wasn’t very good at in 2024 but has shown marked improvement through the first 22 games.

Putting pressure on the opposing defense by being aggressive taking extra bases is a good way for a dormant offense to generate some runs.

As a whole, Houston has embraced what their manager has asked for.

The player who has heeded the urging of Espada the most is one of their newcomers, third baseman Isaac Paredes.

Acquired from the Chicago Cubs in the Kyle Tucker blockbuster trade, he had some gigantic shoes to fill replacing star Alex Bregman, who signed with the Boston Red Sox in free agency.

The Astros were counting on Paredes to provide some pop to their lineup, which he has with a team-high tying three home runs.

But, he has provided a more well-balanced impact than many likely thought he would. He is performing at an incredibly high level defensively, on pace to shatter previous career highs for Total Zone and DRS numbers on Baseball Reference.

His turnaround with the glove isn’t even the most surprising aspect of his game in 2025.

That would be the improvements he has made as a runner, turning himself into a legitimate weapon on the basepaths.

Paredes hasn’t stolen a base this season, and likely won’t steal many with only two in his career. But, he is making an impact in taking extra bases, helping generate offense from an unlikely source.

As shared by Chandler Rome of The Athletic (subscription required), speed has never been a big part of his game. He covers only 25.7 feet per second when he sprints and had a -4.8 BsR for his career.

However, he has turned things around in a major way.

According to Baseball Reference, he has an extra bases taken percentage of 69.2%. That is a massive improvement over the 38.2% he has recorded thus far in his career, which was below the league average of 41.6%.

There isn’t a player on the team who has embodied the philosophy change on the bases as much as Paredes, who has sometimes created something out of nothing with his improved base running.

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