By Last Word On Sports,Maanav Gupta
Copyright yardbarker
There was little expectation for him to return among fans. Paredes suffered a severe hamstring strain and even contemplated season-ending surgery. The consensus was that the third baseman would be out for the rest of the year, which is why the Astros made the blockbuster trade for Carlos Correa, who now occupies that position.
Instead of undergoing surgery, Paredes chose rehab in hopes of a late-season return. It seemed a long shot, but it looks like his rehab was quite successful, as his hamstring has apparently healed much faster than anticipated and is already able to play with nine games left in the regular season.
Paredes had been working out in West Palm Beach, Fla., over the past two weeks on a variety of activities, including taking at-bats, fielding ground balls, and even running the bases.
How to Organize the New Lineup
The Astros have stated previously that if Paredes returns, he will serve as the designated hitter. The team wants to limit his running to avoid or reaggravate another hamstring injury. That means Jose Altuve will now permanently play at either second base or left field.
Houston now has a wide variety of options to deploy, with Mauricio Dubon and Ramón UrÃas playing an excellent second base as well. If Altuve plays in the outfield, that moves Jesús Sánchez to right field with Cam Smith as another option.
This gives the Astros flexibility but forces tough decisions on where to play everyone. Either way, the Astros’ offense is now looking quite strong as they get a great home run hitter and someone who is very productive at the plate. Houston has missed that home run power and Paredes’ ability to put baseballs in the Crawford Boxes.
It becomes even more interesting if Alvarez returns at some point. That is unlikely to happen during the regular season, but a postseason comeback would force tough yet welcome decisions.
Will Alvarez become the DH at that point, and Paredes slide to second? For now, the Astros first have to take care of business over the Mariners to even begin talking about that, and they have a better chance to do so with Paredes now back.
