Who Could Make Final Spots on Houston Astros' Opening Day Roster?

These players are still in the mix for the Houston Astros when it comes to an Opening Day roster spot.

Feb 27, 2025; Port St. Lucie, Florida, USA; Houston Astros third baseman Cam Smith (90) plays his position against the New York Mets during the second inning at Clover Park / Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Spring training for the Houston Astros was different this year than it has been in the past.

While the franchise has allowed star players to depart previously, the sheer number of impact pitchers and batters who are no longer on this team created a situation in camp where there were multiple position battles taking place.

The Astros knew who the majority of them would be.

The rotation was set with Framber Valdez up top, followed by Hunter Brown, Spencer Arrighetti, Ronel Blanco and Hayden Wesneski. High-priced offseason signing Christian Walker will be recovered from his oblique injury to man first base. Jeremy Pena will be at shortstop and Isaac Paredes at third.

But the outfield was a major question mark.

Without Kyle Tucker in right, that pushed Chas McCormick to fill that spot, leaving an opening in left since they are trying to avoid playing Yordan Alvarez in the field as much as possible.

Jose Altuve then switched positions -- albeit not without struggles -- and will be the starting left fielder for the 2025 season barring injury or becoming unplayable when the games begin to matter.

Bench spots and second base now remain as the positional battles, and after a wave of camp cuts that resulted in some releases, the picture is starting to become more clear.

So, who is left?

Six players are still in camp vying for three of the roster openings; superstar prospect Cam Smith and fifth-ranked prospect Zach Dezenzo, Zack Short, Brendan Rodgers, Jon Singleton and Cooper Hummel.

It feels like Singleton will get a spot.

He's a left-handed hitter who can fill in at first base after pinch-hitting and spell Walker when he needs days off. And even though Singleton didn't necessarily turn heads with a slash line of .234/.321/.386 last year, he did hit 13 homers and drove in 42 runs in 119 games and 405 plate appearances, making him a solid bench option.

Second base will come down to Short versus Rodgers.

The latter of the two is the higher-upside player, with a Gold Glove Award to his name and better career offensive numbers.

Rodgers seems to be the logical choice to not only earn a spot on the Opening Day roster, but also be the starting second baseman for the first game of the season.

That leaves a battle between Smith, Dezenzo, Short and Hummel for the final spot.

With Mauricio Dubon still operating in the super utility role, carrying Short seems like a long shot. Same with Hummel, whose career slash line of .159/.255/.275 makes it hard for him to stand out as someone who would get a place on the bench.

However, Chandler Rome of The Athletic reports Houston won't carry Smith or Dezenzo if they aren't going to get everyday at-bats, and since their positions of third base and outfield are full on paper, that could cause the team to start them both at Triple-A.

But, that would also be a hard choice.

Both Smith and Dezenzo are hitting the cover off the ball this spring, so not carrying them on the Opening Roster might be a questionable decision when looking at the other options.

There isn't a lot of time left for the Astros to decide before they face the New York Mets on March 27 and get their season underway.

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