3 Houston Astros MVP candidates, and 1 player who should be benched

The Houston Astros haven’t gotten off to the hottest start in their World Series defense, but 3 players have been MVP-caliber while 1 has been the opposite.

There are a lot of expectations put on a team the year after they win the World Series, and that’s certainly the case for the Houston Astros entering the 2023 season. Not only did they return the bulk of their roster, but they added Jose Abreu to a loaded lineup. As such, they were circled as one of the favorites to win the Fall Classic this year as well.

Through 19 games, though, things haven’t gone all that smoothly overall for the Astros in their title defense. A win on Wednesday night over the Blue Jays moved Houston to just 9-10 on the season.

Even so, there is good reason that things are going to turn out for the better over the remaining 143 games. And a big part of that is that three Astros players have been looking like early MVP candidates. However, to get to where they want, they might have to make a tough decision and bench one player who’s struggling mightily.

These are the players that fit those billings.

Astros MVP candidate No. 3: Hunter Brown, SP

After getting the call up last season and making two starts and five other relief appearances, there were high expectations for 24-year-old Hunter Brown in his first full year with the Astros. And why not? Brown posted a minuscule 0.89 ERA and 1.08 WHIP in his seven appearances for 2022 over 20.1 innings pitched.

Even after some inauspicious moments in spring training, Brown has lived up to the hype — in fact, you could argue that he’s quickly surpassing it.

Brown has made three starts for Houston this season and has already accrued a 2-0 record with two quality starts as well. He’s averaging more than 6.0 innings pitched in each outing to this point while posting a 1.93 ERA and 1.02 WHIP with a strong 2.8 K/BB ratio and 8.2 K/9 rate.

Given that Brown is a pitcher in his first big-league season, there’s obviously a good chance that we’re going to see these numbers dip and that a bad start or two is coming at some point. At the same time, though, this is a highly touted prospect who’s delivering on that promise. And while it might be a touch outlandish to call him an MVP candidate, that speaks to how damn good he’s been to start the year.