The Houston Astros are down but not out.
At 30-37, the AL West club is just three games back from the Texas Rangers for the third and final American League Wild Card spot.
There’s next to no chance the Astros would be in this position without slugger Yordan Alvarez, who is leading the Majors in multiple offensive categories.
For the Astros to reach the postseason, they may need to make an uncomfortable roster decision on who may be the organization’s most reliable reliever over the past five seasons.
“This would’ve been an unthinkable proposal three months ago, as [Bryan] Abreu had been maybe the best set-up man in all of baseball from 2022-25,” wrote Bleacher Report’s Kerry Miller. “But something is clearly not right.”
The Astros could designate Abreu for assignment if his performance on the mound does not improve during June or July. He has allowed four earned runs in his last five appearances, and his 7.17 ERA would easily be the worst of his career.
“Abreu was much more effective in May than he had been in April, but he still hasn’t looked like his old self, striking out only seven of 39 batters faced that month,” Miller added. “And at six games below .500, Houston can’t afford many more late-inning missteps.”
Abreu will become a free agent at the end of the season, but the Astros could decide his time in Houston is over much earlier than that.
