3 Astros players who've struggled in Spring Training so far

The Houston Astros are off to a solid start in Spring Training, but a few players have struggled to get going. That's not unexpected, as it's the time to get warmed up and ready for the regular season. Even after nine games, it's not unreasonable for some players to not have found their footing.

However, some Astros are doing very poorly, and two of them are veterans who should be able to get things going against spring pitching.

Note: These are incredibly small sample sizes and do not mean that these players won't turn it around quickly.

Three Astros players who have limped out to cold starts at Spring Training

#1 Yainer Diaz

The young catcher was expected to take a big leap this year. He hit .282 last year and had 3.1 fWAR, but one would never know it after watching him this spring. He's hitting a dreadful .083 with two strikeouts in 12 at-bats.

He at least has the excuse of being a very young player in this league, but one hit (a double admittedly) is not exciting.

#2 Jose Altuve

Jose Altuve is the leader of the Astros team and the recipient of a recent, massive extension.

It's, therefore, a bit disappointing that he's off to such a slow start. He's an older player, which means his athleticism isn't what it used to be. That makes a .125 batting average through the first portion of the spring a tough swallow for Astros fans.

#3 Alex Bregman

Alex Bregman has limped through the first few spring sessions. While that eventually won't matter for the regular season, one can imagine that Bregman does not want to start his contract year off on such a sour note.

Hitting .100 will do that. He hasn't had an extra-base hit, and he has struck out twice. It has been far from ideal for the veteran 3B.