Brice Matthews Can Solve Astros Infield Logjam with Breakout in 2026

The Houston Astros have a wealth of infielders going into next season. A breakout by Brice Matthews would alleviate it.

Houston Astros second baseman Brice Matthews (28) is greeted by teammates after hitting a home run during the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium. | William Liang-Imagn Images

The Houston Astros have so many infielders that they felt the need to trade Mauricio Dubon for … another infielder, Nick Allen.

That was more about the payroll and arbitration. But it’s easy to see where the glut is on the roster. Even if Jose Altuve does play left field full-time in 2026, which he won’t, Houston has six infielders on its 40-man roster. All have big league experience.

The glut is in the middle where Isaac Paredes, Brice Matthews and Allen will fight for playing time, including second base. Paredes is the subject of trade rumors. He’s valuable because he has two more years of team control. He could back up Christian Walker at first base. For now, he’s not seen as expendable because of his bat. But an emergence by Matthews could clear the field and allow the Astros to trade Paredes.

How Brice Matthews Can Alleviate the Infield Glut

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MLB.com named Matthews the organization’s breakout prospect for 2026. Now ranked among the Top 100 prospects in baseball, injuries forced Houston to promote him late in 2025.

Matthews struggled, as most prospects do. He slashed .167/.222/.452. But, in just 42 at-bats he hit four home runs and drove in nine RBI. He didn’t have a double or a triple, which kept his slugging percentage down. But he showed there was power in the bat, something he showed at Triple-A Sugar Land all season.

In 112 games with the Space Cowboys, he slashed .260/.371/.458 with 17 home runs and 64 RBI. It was his first full season with the Astros’ top affiliate and that performance earned him the promotion on July 11.

How can Matthews help? While he’s listed as a shortstop, he’s played nearly as many minor league games at second base (157) as shortstop (173). He’s not good enough to displace Jeremy Peña at shortstop. But, if he can prove he can share time with Allen at second base and spell Peña, he can turn Paredes into a quality trade chip and save the Astros money since he is a pre-arbitration player with six years of team control.

But it all depends on a breakout, something Matthews showed he’s capable of in the minor leagues.  

For Matthews, playing for the Astros is a dream come true. He was born in Houston and went to Atascocita High School in nearby Humble. That led him to land a scholarship at Nebraska, where he played for the Cornhuskers for three seasons. During his junior year he blew up, as he batted .359 with twenty home runs and 67 RBIs over 54 games.

That helped Matthews land with Houston as a first-round pick in 2023. He struggled in a short stint with the Florida Complex League Astros and the Class-A Fayetteville Woodpeckers, as he slashed .208/.365/.352 with four home runs and 11 RBI in 35 games.

In 2024, he improved in every way, even though he only played 79 games as he dealt with injuries. He played his way to Triple-A Sugar Land, where for the season he slashed .265/.384/.481 with an .865 OPS. He also hit 15 home runs and 44 RBI. He was clearly emerging as a big league option by the end of that season.