Now that Jeremy Peña is back and ready, the lineup for the second game of the season looked a little different than on Opening Day. With Peña back at shortstop, what does the starting lineup look like for the Houston Astros?
Here is a look at Friday night’s lineup:
- Jeremy Peña, SS
- Yordan Alvarez, LF
- Isaac Paredes, DH
- José Altuve, 2B
- Carlos Correa, 3B
- Cam Smith, RF
- Christian Walker, 1B
- Yainer Díaz, C
- Brice Matthews, CF
- Mike Burrow, RHP
Putting Peña back where he belongs jumbles things around a bit compared to Opening Day. Aside from Mike Burrow, who didn’t have a great game last night, could this be a solid lineup for the Astros?
Right away, you see Yordan Alvarez playing left field like he wanted. Manager Joe Espada originally said Alvarez would not be seeing much time in left field and that he was primarily going to be the DH. However, Alvarez might be seeing more time in left field than the team initially indicated.
Having Paredes DH is a good solution to give Alvarez the time in left field he wanted, but Paredes is a solid defender, and having him in the infield can be clutch.
As the season progresses and the Astros find their flow, we will likely see a few different lineups to get each player where they should be and where they want to be.
With Peña back in the lineup, the Astros can now field their full-strength roster as they aim for another postseason run.