What would a dream Astros starting lineup look like next year?
By Tim Boyle
4. Dream Astros starting lineup: Alex Bregman bats fourth, 3B
Batting fourth in the dream Astros lineup is third baseman Alex Bregman. Another mainstay in the Astros lineup who is still amazingly younger than we might expect, Bregman is someone who the Astros will actually want to ask more from in the coming year.
Bregman has fallen off since his career year in 2019. Missing a large part of 2020-2021 didn’t help.
Nonetheless, Bregman is someone fans in Houston are still rooting for. He makes the most sense batting fourth in this lineup because of his right-handed bat. He’s going to break up the lefties in the middle with Alvarez in front of him and this other slugger right behind.
5. Dream Astros starting lineup: Kyle Tucker bats fifth, RF
Over in right field, we find the number five hitter in this dream lineup. Kyle Tucker returns ready to have another productive season at the plate. He has now swatted 30 home runs in two straight seasons. Can we get more from him in 2023?
Tucker took a little longer to find his big league stroke than some of the other core members of the Astros roster. He’s right there with the rest of them now. Now also a Gold Glove winner, there’s no need to look for any other options at the position.
By this point in the lineup, we now have five guys capable of driving in a lot of runs. They’re all players the Astros will have on their 2023 roster even when we’re awake. Next up, we start to look at some external options. Houston will be active in free agency to some extent. Let’s get greedy.