Astros Offensive Struggles Exemplified By These Bottom-of-Order Hitters

The Houston Astros have a slightly better than average offense this season. The number show the Astros with a .242 average and a .728 OPS, good for a 103 OPS+.

These numbers are boosted by the top of the lineup in Yordan Alvarez, Jeremy Pena, Isaac Paredes and Christian Walker all of whom have an OPS over .761 as of July 24. Unfortunately for Houston, the back half of the lineup has become a black hole.

It’s expected to have a weaker bottom half of the order but Houston’s back half struggles have been particularly glaring. The six through nine hitters in the Astros lineup are hitting .216 with a .623 OPS. The major league average for these hitters is a .237 average with a .682 OPS. That kind of difference can really rear its ugly head down the stretch as Houston pushes for a playoff spot.

Cam Smith And Brice Matthews

Brice Matthews and Cam Smith have gotten the bulk of the at bats in the 6-9 spots and have struggled at the plate. Both were highly touted prospects so it makes sense that the Astros would stick with them. Neither have been sent down to Triple A though Brice is currently on the IL.

Matthews has a .197 average and a .582 OPS while Cam is hitting .210 with .646 OPS. Smith is one of six Astros this season who’ve been on the active roster for every game (also Alvarez, AJ Blubaugh, Steven Okert, Christian Vazquez and Walker).

Jake Meyers

To go along with Matthews and Smith, Houston has a handful of outfielders who hit down in the order and have bounced back and forth between the major leagues and Triple A. Jake Meyers has been a mainstay in the Astros roster over the last four seasons but was recently sent down to Sugar Land. He was hitting .206 with a .580 OPS. He has always struggled with slugging but it was worse this season with just a .058 isolated slugging percentage (the difference between slugging percentage and batting average).

The Remaining Outfielders

Joey Loperfido, Zach Dezenzo, Lamonte Wade Jr. and Zach Cole have all come to bat at least 56 times this season and each have hit below a .647 OPS with three home runs or less. If the Astros do decide to buy at the trade deadline, it would be these players who get the bump from the lineup to the bench.

Christian Vazquez

Catcher Christian Vazquez started the season hot with a 1.050 OPS in the team’s first 27 games since then he has been a rough watch for Astros fans. Vazquez has a .174 average with a .471 OPS since that point. He ranks 333 out of 336 hitters in wOBA (weighted on-base average) for players with 100 plate appearances since the beginning of May (Matthews ranks 320 and Meyers comes in at 327).

It’s hard to expect the Astros to be carried by the top half of the lineup during the final two months playoff push and there’s not a hot prospect waiting in the wings to take one of these spots. This puts Houston in an interesting position come trade deadline on Aug. 3. If they do choose to be buyers, most tradable pieces will be a major upgrade over the Astros bottom half of the order.

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