These Two Houston Astros Stars Have Surprisingly Been Net Negatives This Season

The Houston Astros need to be getting more than they have been out of these two players who were supposed to be stars this season.

Apr 12, 2025; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Astros catcher Yainer Diaz (21) bats during the game against the Los Angeles Angels at Daikin Park. | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

The Houston Astros have had a troubling start to the 2025 campaign, currently sitting in last place in the AL West.

It has been a combination of preseason worries coming to fruition and a couple of surprisingly slow starts from players who were supposed to keep them afloat.

MLB data account BrooksGate recently released a graphic showing the top 25 and bottom 25 players for win probability added this year.

WPA factors in the importance of each appearance the player makes in a given game, adding context to their performances.

Two Astros players were in the bottom 25, showing that they have been among the biggest net negative's in the sport this season.

Both players were supposed to be among the best at their respective positions.

Yainer Diaz

Diaz has probably been the most surprising player for Houston this year, and not in a good way.

Through his first 14 games of the campaign, he has posted a slash line of just .130/.175/.222 with a single home run and six RBI.

The 26-year-old has the 16th-worst WPA in the league this year at -0.78.

He has been much more aggressive at the plate this season while also making a bit less contact. When he does make contact, it is nowhere near as good as it was a year ago.

Defensively, he has never been great.

It is just an easier pill to swallow when he is hitting the ball well.

The two seasons prior, he has posted a combined slash line of .293/.318/.478 with an OPS+ of 121. His OPS+ this year is just 16.

The good news is that with a change this drastic, it could just be a very bad cold streak.

Bryan Abreu

Diaz doesn't have the lowest WPA on the team, though.

That would be Abreu at -0.88, which is the 10th-lowest mark in the league.

The 27-year-old reliever was one of baseball's best from 2022-2023 when he had a 1.84 ERA during that time.

This year, he has a 3.52 ERA and has been all over the place with his command with six walks in 7.2 innings of work.

Even though the WPA is lower for him than Diaz, he might be less worrying.

His number is so low because of two bad outings. He recorded two blown saves in a row and picked up a loss in one of them.

His stuff looks good and he has been mostly fine in his other outings.