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Last season the Houston Astros surprised everyone and snuck into the postseason before beating the New York Yankees in the one-game playoff. The season ended in the next round as they lost to the eventual World Series Champion Kansas City Royals. If the Astros hope to return to the postseason next year and improve on their finish, they will need Carlos Gomez to revert to the player he was in 2013 and 2014 with the Milwaukee Brewers.
After acquiring Gomez last season the Astros received a much different player than the one that posted a .262/.328/.423 slash line with eight home runs and 20 doubles in 74 games with the Brewers. Gomez slashed just .242/.288/.383 after the trade. While injuries might have had something to do with that drop, the Astros need a healthy Gomez to lead a very young lineup.
Much of the heavy lifting will be done by Carlos Correa, George Springer, Jose Altuve, Evan Gattis, Luis Valbuena and potentially Jonathan Singleton but they will need Gomez to set the table and provide some veteran leadership.
It isn’t out of the question to believe Gomez can revert to the player who posted an 8.4 WAR in 2013 or the one who posted the 4.8 WAR in 2014. He just turned 30 years old in December, so he is still young enough to recapture that form as long as he stays healthy. Injuries limited him to only 115 games last year and health has always been a bit of a concern as he has appeared in 140 games only three times since becoming a full-time player with the Minnesota Twins in 2008.
If Gomez can stay healthy he can produce. If he can produce then the Astros should be favored to return to the postseason and could make some noise there if their young players continue to develop. Gomez will be the x-factor for the Astros and his health could decide whether the Astros make the postseason or are on the outside looking in.
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