Who is Going to Play Left Field?

In an offseason where so many things have been up in the air, the one thing that was for certain was that Yordan Alvarez was not going to play left field. Or so we thought. Joe Espada said weeks ago that the focus was to keep Yordan in the DH role. Yordan said in his media availability that he never gets hurt playing left field and he wants to play. I know most Astros fans want to wrap Yordan in bubble wrap and carry him everywhere he goes to make sure he doesn’t get hurt, but, frankly, I agree with Yordan. Somewhere we, as fans, have convinced ourselves that Yordan is injury prone. That just isn’t the case. Starting in 2021 he has played 144, 135, 114, 147, and last year, the extreme outlier, 48 games. I fall victim to this as well - he’s not injury prone, he was injured very recently so in our heads as fans we convince ourselves that he’s injury prone. In order to protect our fragile hearts we clamor to keep Yordan away from anything that could possibly hurt him.

I will agree that Yordan shouldn’t come close to playing 50% of his games in left field, but I do think that him being out there is good for him and for the team. Yordan playing the field obviously gives this team a lot more lineup flexibility. I wrote a couple weeks ago about Isaac Paredes (who I still think will be traded), but let’s go to Make Believe Land and say Isaac is still on the team: this allows the Astros to use the DH role to give consistent at-bats. That’s been the biggest question mark of this roster, as currently constructed: how will everyone get at-bats? Answer: Yordan Alvarez gets his way.

But what if they tell Yordan no? Well, then left field is a cast of characters. The most likely scenario is that Zach Cole is going to get the opportunity to be the every-day left fielder. I don’t mind this. Cole got his feet wet with big league experience last season, where he was a bright spot in what was otherwise a sad Astros lineup (and that is me putting it nicely). I think he has earned this opportunity for consistent playing time and I really do hope that things work out. Obviously, the left-handed bat is a huge plus for Cole, but also, defensively, he showed some promise out there.

Besides Zach Cole, you’ll probably see Joey Loperfido, Zach Dezenzo, or even Shay Whitcomb moonlight in left field. Who knows? If we keep Isaac: I am team Yordan and Cole split time. If we trade Isaac: sorry Yordan, unless Zach Cole poops his pants out there, you’re our everyday DH.