What was once a promising career has turned into the opposite. The Houston Astros took a chance on former gold glove winner Brendan Rodgers, but that lottery ticket hasn't amounted to much. Rodgers could be demoted or worse any day now, as the Astros have plenty of healthy bodies in the infield, including Jeremy Peña and Jose Altuve. Rodgers, meanwhile is hitting just .204 with a negative WAR. Something has to give.
This story doesn't begin with the Astros, but rather the Colorado Rockies. Rodgers used to be a top prospect in the Colorado system, and when he was promoted, he paid immediate dividends. With the Rockies in 2022, Rodgers appeared in 135 games and hit .267/.314/.407 with 13 homers and 54 RBIs. Those are solid enough numbers to warrant an opportunity in Houston, a place that isn't a candidate to break the MLB losses record for a single season. The Rockies have made a lot of mistakes, but letting Rodgers walk evidently wasn't one of them.
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Astros fans are getting tired of Brendan Rodgers
Rodgers won the second base job out of spring training and has been just fine there defensively. However, he doesn't hit for average or power, and at some point the Astros need to make amends with the black hole in their lineup.
As Drew Koch of Climbing Tal's Hill wrote in a recent column, Altuve spends most of his time in the outfield, meaning Houston would have to consider an external option (or one in the minor leagues) to find a solution at second base.
"Altuve has started just seven games at second base and 24 in left field — it would seem that Houston can now look to upgrade the infield. Of course Dubón can still field the position, but he has a meager .589 OPS and 68 wRC+ this season. Neither he, nor Rodgers, has done much of anything this season to maintain a spot in the everyday lineup," Koch wrote.
As Koch writes, Mauricio Dubon has been dreadful offensively. Shay Whitcomb could replace Rodgers, at least on a short-term basis while the Astros figure out a more permanent solution. Whitcomb was named the Astros uppper-level minor league player of the month for April. That's not nothing, and he should be able to provide more offensively than Rodgers or Dubon, which isn't saying much.