The following eleven players have appeared in the outfield at least once for the Astros this season:
- Yordan Alvarez
- Joey Loperfido
- Taylor Trammell
- Cam Smith
- Jake Meyers
- Zach Dezenzo
- Dustin Harris
- Brice Matthews
- Zach Cole
- Daniel Johnson
- Shay Whitcomb
Of this group, only Yordan Alvarez (188 in 40 PA) has a wRC+ above 100, which is league average. And he’s primarily the designated hitter, so you get the point that this outfield isn’t particularly good at the plate during most games. Seven other outfields have produced less offensive value than Houston. Only the Marlins’ outfield (28%) has a higher strikeout rate than the Astros (27.5%). In the field, it actually gets better with Cam Smith, Brice Matthews, and Jake Meyers providing above-average defense, but that aspect by itself only goes so far. If the majority of your outfielders can’t maintain even a league-average offensive profile and strike out at a higher-than-average clip, the overall production will suffer.
The outfield has been constantly churning this season, especially on the fringes of the roster, due to a lack of production and injuries. No offense to these guys, but if Dustin Harris and Daniel Johnson, who were in-season free agent acquisitions, are even on this roster, then it doesn’t speak well about the organizational outfield depth.
I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that Dana Brown was looking to further fortify the outfield depth chart. Enter LaMonte Wade Jr., also a free agent, who will now factor into the outfield calculus.
Does this fulfill Brown’s “we’re not done yet” assertion back in Spring Training?
Signing Wade for just $1 million makes sense, even if it feels uninspiring. The 32-year-old is left-handed and, perhaps more importantly, he doesn’t strike out nearly as often as his new teammates with a 21% career strikeout rate. A low-risk move with some potential upside to bolster a struggling outfield, especially if he can provide anything as a hitter.
Of course, there is a reason why Wade was available in the first place, who has been playing all season within the White Sox organization. While he had a respectable four-season stint with the Giants from 2021 through 2024, producing 115 wRC+ across 1,552 plate appearances and 5.2 fWAR, his 2025 season was a large step back. Splitting time with the Giants and Angels last year, Wade’s power almost entirely evaporated in 242 plate appearances, only hitting two home runs with a .254 slugging percentage.
But, again, for $1 million, it is worth the gamble to see if Wade pans out. I would think left field would be his primary position, although his defensive metrics aren’t encouraging. As long as he hits, though, then any defensive deficiencies will likely be tolerated. But his 2025 hitting woes continue with the Astros, then I don’t see his signing moving the needle for an already struggling outfield.
Feature photo courtesy of Johnmaxmena2 (Wikimedia)
I think Wade is an improvement from a peripherals standpoint. He has always had a good BB%, (career 12.5%), which probably means he is a patient hitter. And also his K rate (18% – 22%) has been better than average, and certainly an improvement over the big K% of most Astros in the OF. So, if you believe that good peripheral numbers could lead to better hitting than his terrible 2025, the signing makes sense to me.
Also, I wouldn’t expect a lot of HRs from Wade. He has always been a line drive hitter, which fit well into the Giants’ ballpark dimensions. So, that seems OK as someone who can provide some protection from the LH side for the middle of the order. To some degree, with the strike zone changes, I think we are seeing more value for contact-oriented batting orders that get on base (e.g., teams like the Brewers).
I assume dezenzo stayed up while Cole and Loperfido went down because they didn’t want there to be too many lefty bats. Astros are short on LHH though so having a lefty dominated outfield wouldn’t be terrible considering the infield is righty dominated. Unfortunate for Loperfido. He’ll be up again before long though I’m sure
The Astros’ pitchers who are weak against LHBs have been forced to face special lefty dominated batting orders from opponents (with generally poor pitching results). One can imagine Dana and Joe thinking, “We should try to do the same thing.” But the Astros’ LHBs (other than Yordan) don’t make enough contact to provide protection. So they look for a lefty who can perform that function.
A .254 slugging percentage? Thats just nasty man, hope he’s bringing a .450 OBP with him then, lol
The hope is that 2025 was an anomaly. His career average SLG is .395.