Astros Assign Peter Lambert, César Salazar to Triple-A Sugar Land

The Houston Astros roster looks quite a bit different compared to recent years as they try to reach the playoffs in 2026. It was a rough season in 2025 as Houston missed the postseason for the first time since 2016, but they believed in their core enough to stay relatively pat this offseason.

While they have had the star power at the top of the roster all along, with Yordan Alvarez, Hunter Brown and Jeremy Peña, injuries stopped the Astros from making a deep run last season. According to Dan Szymborski of Fangraphs, the Astros lost nearly 18 wins above replacement due to injury in 2025.

On one hand, injury luck is likely to flip from one year to another. Meaning it's pretty unlikely the Astros will suffer that many significant injuries On the other hand, it's best to prepare regardless of that. The Astros have begun cultivating that depth for later in the season with César Salazar and Peter Lambert landing in Triple-A.

Lambert and Salazar Provide Depth at Positions of Need

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— Houston Astros (@astros) March 28, 2026

César Salazar has appeared in the big leagues in the past three seasons as a backup catcher, but prior to the season was designated for assignment. However, after clearing waivers, he has joined Triple-A Sugar Land, according to Max Zepeda of Apollo Media.

The 30-year-old catcher has appeared in 36 big league games, and has hit .232 with a .586 OPS and -0.2 bWAR in his career. He had a rough go of it this spring, going 4-for-22 with an RBI and more walks than strikeouts in 14 games.

Salazar won't provide much offensively, but as a third or fourth catcher option, he's great as a solid defender and switch hitter. Catchers are a hot commodity, so it's never a bad thing to have the depth in the minor leagues.

As for Lambert, who was re-signed and sent to Triple-A, according to the team, he has a great shot to appear in the big leagues at some point this season. Although Houston's bullpen was one of their strengths last season, Lambert had such a great spring that he may wind up forcing the issue.

In 12.1 innings during Spring Training, Lambert allowed four runs for a 2.92 ERA with eight strikeouts. He pitched in five games total, starting two of them.

The right-hander spent his first four seasons with the Colorado Rockies in a ballpark that is famously hard to pitch in. He hasn't pitched in the big leagues since 2024 and has a career 6.28 ERA in 243.2 innings.

As great as the Astros' bullpen is, the nature of pitching suggests there will be some injuries throughout the year. In that case, Lambert could be one of the first options to be called up.