Patience At Plate is Primary Goal as Astros Seek to Control Game

Throughout the first few Grapefruit league games during spring training, the Houston Astros prioritize one major thing that has been a forgotten tactic to win ballgames ahead of the regular season: Being patient at the plate.

After four spring training games so far, Houston's drawn 36 walks, averaging nine walks a game. While drawing nine base on balls isn't likely to maintain in the regular season, it's a solid impression in attempt to work counts more commonly in order to get Houston back to a fearsome offense.

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Striking out wasn't necessarily a major issue for the Astros, being 24th in the league last year. However, they were 26th in walks, resulting in taking less pitches per at bat. More often times they focused on putting balls in play. This translated to a Top 10 in hits last season, but were often easy outs on quick at-bats.

A Top 10 team in hitting is all well and good, but it often keeps opposing pitchers less fatigued if they result in outs. Working counts is extremely important in winning. The goal for a team is to wear an opposing starting pitcher out, starting with pitch selection and plate discipline. This is something the Astros have performed with since 2022, taking the least amount of pitches thrown per at-bat in 2022 and 2024 and third least in 2023 and 2025.

Espada Encouraging Patience To His Hitters

Entering his third year as manager, Joe Espada is adamant toward tweaking the Astros at-bats and bring a more calculated approach at the plate, much like the powerhouse offense that was the 2019 and 2022 Astros. While these World Series contenders slotted dead last and/or near the bottom 30 in pitches per at-bat, both of these teams led the league in least swinging strike percentage. That stat line climbed up, nearly scratching Top top 10 worst last year, which Espada is looking to improve.

Per Brian McTaggart of MLB.com, Espada mentioned how "we [the Astros] are trying to get back to our identity. That's who we are. We are a really good when we see a ton of pitches and we control the at-bats and we control the tempo of the game."

Isaac Paredes, who went down with a hamstring tear that had him sit for two months of the season, would've been third in the league in pitches seen per at-bat behind notable All-Star Mike Trout and Aaron Judge, if he was healthy. 2024 saw Paredes lead the league in pitches seen per at-bat in a full season.

The next couple of Astros in seeing pitches per at-bat isn't close to where Paredes would have placed in 2025, which is Christian Walker and Carlos Correa, both ranked at 58th and 61st, respectively.

Long time Astro Jose Altuve is notorious for nabbing at the first pitch. Throughout his career, this didn't translate poorly in his overall stats. However, he is getting older, and will be 36 this season.

Last year was statistically his worst full season as a big leaguer, batting a career-low .265 and a .329 OBP. Since 2024, Altuve has struck out over 100 times per season, something he wasn't known for doing. This translated to poorer plate discipline, and a drop in batting average when balls are in play.

It's not just a few players leading the league in spring training walks for Houston. Patience has been a collective effort, with notables in Cam Smith, Zach Cole, Shay Whitcomb, Zach Dezenzo, and Joey Loperfido each combining for 10 walks in across a few games. Smith, in particular, looks to improve his plate discipline. His rookie year resulted in striking out 137 times and drew just 43 walks in 134 regular season games.

It's a welcome presence to see the rising young core of the Astros take more patience at the plate during spring training as a primary goal for the following season. Should this identity percolate through the starting lineup for 2026, expect Houston to give fits to opposing pitchers.