Astros Suffering Extreme Power Outage After Brutal Offseason Mistakes

The Houston Astros could really use Kyle Tucker and Alex Bregman right about now.

Apr 8, 2025; Seattle, Washington, USA; Houston Astros shortstop Jeremy Peña (3) hits a single against the Seattle Mariners during the fourth inning at T-Mobile Park. | Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

Just a few weeks into the 2025 MLB season, many baseball fans are wondering the same question: Where has the Houston Astros' power gone?

Last year, the Astros had one of the most potent lineups in baseball. They ranked 10th in MLB in home runs (190) and eighth in slugging percentage (.418), powering their way to the 11th-most runs in baseball (740).

Houston had power up and down its lineup. Eight players clubbed double-digit homers, including four who topped 20.

This year has been a completely different story, however, as the Astros' pop has gone totally missing.

Entering play on Wednesday, Houston had just seven homers through its first 11 games — tied for the second-fewest in baseball. The Astros also rank dead last in isolated power (.088) and slugging percentage (.290) below light-hitting clubs like the Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago White Sox.

We all know about the strong correlation between slugging percentage and scoring runs. There is no great mystery there.

I also know it is only 11 games into their season, but yikes Astros. pic.twitter.com/op7WAdLM4q

— Astros Stats 📈 (@astro_numbers) April 9, 2025

One major issue for Houston is that two of its best hitters last year — Alex Bregman and Kyle Tucker — are no longer with the team.

Bregman and Tucker, who combined for 49 home runs last year (25.8% of the team's total), both departed over the offseason. Tucker was traded to the Chicago Cubs and Bregman signed with the Boston Red Sox in free agency.

Both are off to terrific starts this year, winning AL and NL Player of the Week with their new teams last week. In fact, they have as many home runs combined (seven) as the Astros' entire roster.

With the exception of Jose Altuve (.924 OPS), Houston's lineup has not performed up to par. Altuve and Jeremy Pena are the only players with multiple home runs so far, as the rest of the team has just two long balls combined.

Slow starts from virtually everyone haven't helped, especially newcomers Christian Walker, Isaac Paredes and Cam Smith. The trio acquired to replace Bregman and Tucker has failed to make much of an impact so far, combining for just one home run and six RBI between them.

They also have more strikeouts (37) than total bases (26), which obviously isn't ideal.

The Astros are too talented to keep performing like this all season, and they'll heat up eventually. They started last year slowly as well, averaging just 3.9 runs per game through their first 26 games before turning things around.

But that was a different group. Bregman and Tucker have been sorely missed, and concerns about Houston's lineup getting worse over the winter may prove correct if the newcomers don't start pulling their weight.