Houston Astros Rumors: Nelson Cruz is the only man to fill the DH role

The Houston Astros haven’t had an above average DH in years. So, they need to target Nelson Cruz to fill that hole, here’s why.

Prior to the 2017 season, the Houston Astros brought back Carlos Beltran to be the team’s primary DH. The first time he was an Astro he was a 27-year-old hot shot in his prime, when the team brought him back for his second go-round they knew he wouldn’t be the same but hoped he would be able to capture some of that magic.

However, he wasn’t able to capture hardly any of it at all. Beltran posted career-worsts across the board, in years where he played entire seasons. He did provide one key thing that isn’t measured by stats and that was his wealth of experience and mentorship of younger players.

Beltran platooned with Evan Gattis for DH in 2017. Gattis was then expected to take over the full-time DH role in 2018 after he had spent the previous years of his time with the Astros split between DH, catcher, and even outfield. Unfortunately, Gattis wasn’t able to hold down the spot in the way the team hoped he’d be able to.

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He was able to deliver the home runs, 25, and RBIs, 78, the team was hoping but beyond that, he was a black hole in the lineup. If Gattis made contact, there was a good chance the ball was going to travel a long, long way, however, the issue was making contact. He posted a .226 average and a .286 OBP to pair with over 100 strikeouts.

Needless to say, the Houston Astros haven’t quite gotten the production out of the DH spot that they were hoping to. Tyler White got quite a bit of playing time down the stretch, including some significant at-bats at the DH spot. But, with Yuli Gurriel slated to take on more of a utility role in 2019, White may be playing more first base, leaving a hole at the DH spot.

So, with a huge hole at the DH position and a serious lack of overall production at the position for years, why not target one of the best guys to do it in recent years? That man would Nelson Cruz. Cruz has been playing at an elite level for the past five seasons out of the DH spot for Baltimore and Seattle. He did have a slight dip in production in 2018, but nothing to indicate he won’t resume his usual activities this next season.

Over the past five seasons, Cruz has launched over 200 home runs and driven in over 500 RBIs. He’s also posted a near .900 OPS during those five seasons as well. Cruz is just an all-around, professional hitter. He’s the type of guy teams want to have in their DH spot.

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You see, Cruz doesn’t just launch bombs and bring his teammates home, he also gets on base at a really high clip. Over the past five seasons, Cruz has averaged a .281 batting average with a peak average in 2015 at .302. His average batting average would have been good for fourth best on the Houston Astros this past season.

The Astros could have used that kind of production all last year when the offense struggled and especially in the playoffs when the offense was unable to buy a hit. Cruz wields an outstanding bat that is going to improve and elevate any offense he’s a part of. Jeff Luhnow should ensure it’s the Houston Astros‘ that he’s doing it to.

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For his career, Cruz has launched 360 home runs and driven in over 1,000 RBIs. More than half of both of those have come in the past five seasons. Here’s to hoping he continues to add to those numbers as a member of the Houston Astros.

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