Houston Astros Boss Hints at Interesting Decisions for Team’s Batting Order

The Houston Astros will have a reshuffled lineup and batting order on Opening Day, and manager Joe Espada is still looking to determine how best to fit the pieces of the puzzle together.

Mar 5, 2025; West Palm Beach, Florida, USA; Houston Astros third base Isaac Paredes (15) hits a double against the St. Louis Cardinals during the fourth inning at CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches. / Rich Storry-Imagn Images

Houston Astros manager Joe Espada has his hands full in constructing a lineup that will optimize the team's ability to score runs as efficiently as possible.

With the departure of Alex Bregman to the Boston Red Sox and Kyle Tucker to the Chicago Cubs, it will be a largely different look in the top half of Houston's batting order.

Jose Altuve will of course occupy the leadoff spot that has been his ever since George Springer departed years ago, but the questions begin to pile up from there.

Last year, Yordan Alvarez followed Altuve with Tucker in the three-hole and Bregman batting cleanup, but it is not yet clear who will follow Altuve this year.

Writing in The Athletic (paid subscription required), Astros beat writer Chandler Rome reported that Espada is still choosing between Alvarez and Isaac Paredes, one of the players Houston got from the Cubs in return for Tucker.

"During the past week of Grapefruit League play, Espada has experimented with Alvarez hitting third and Paredes in the two-hole behind Altuve," Rome wrote. "The results have intrigued Espada, who hasn’t committed to any order but acknowledged how natural that setup looks."

Paredes, a pull-heavy right-handed power bat who should have no trouble taking advantage of the short porch the Crawford Boxes create in left field at Daikin Park, has struggled for the most part in the spring but has impressed his manager more of late.

“I’ve been liking Paredes’ at-bats in the two-spot," Espada told Rome. "I like that and if I can continue to get that approach from Paredes, I like him in that two-spot. I will continue to tinker with that the next couple days, but I kind of like how those first three hitters are performing in that order.”

Alvarez split time between hitting second and hitting third in 2024, and according to Rome, he does not have a preference between the two but would prefer to remain in one spot with regularity.

In 2024, Alvarez produced a .939 OPS while hitting behind Altuve and a mark of .971 from the three hole. That's not a significant difference, but it speaks to the conundrum as to how best deploy Alvarez, one of the game's most fearsome hitters.

Batting him second would get him more at-bats over the course of the season, but putting him third would make it more likely that he would come up with runners in scoring position more often.

Whatever Espada ultimately decides, Paredes' performance and Altuve and Alvarez's ability to stay healthy will be crucial to the team finding the same success on offense the organization has enjoyed through its decade-long run as contenders.

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