3 Astros players who've struggled so far in Opening Week ft. Yordan Alvarez
The Houston Astros endured a shocking four-game sweep at the hands of their extradivisional rival, the New York Yankees.
They led in all but one game, blowing each one and failing to capitalize in clutch scenarios all weekend. They're winless, an astonishing fact, as they were playing at home against a foe who didn't make the postseason last year.
Several players have had bad starts to the season, which cost the team. They will need to turn things around if they're to get back to winning series.
Note: This is a small sample size and does not mean that any of these players can't or won't get going.
Houston Astros players who struggled in four-game sweep
3) Bryan Abreu
Bryan Abreu served a two-game suspension, so he only appeared in the final two games of the series. One was an excellent showing, where he had hitters looking foolish at the plate.
The other involved two long balls in an outing, where the batters blasted everything he threw at them. There was certainly some rust involved, but the performance was shocking from one of the game's best late-inning relievers.
2) Kyle Tucker
Last year, Kyle Tucker was phenomenal. This year, he has had an up and down start. He did have a key RBI in Houston's failed comeback attempt in the series finale against the New York Yankees but has overall been slow to get going.
He has a team-high six strikeouts in four games and is slugging a measly .353. His other stats are pretty solid, which illustrates how good he is and how great his metrics will be once he cuts down on the strikeouts.
1) Yordan Alvarez
It's true that Yordan Alvarez did have some poor luck, as his final two batted balls of the series were well struck and could have been game-tying or game-winning hits.
Unfortunately, that doesn't change the fact that he has had a rough start to the season. He's batting just .118 after the four games and has as many strikeouts as hits.
He will rebound but a .329 OPS is absurdly low for one of the best hitters in the entire game. There's no doubt that he will get better, but the Yankees are fortunate that they were able to keep him in check all weekend.