Jon

Singleton

Alvarez’s X-rays didn’t reveal a fracture, but he is dealing with some inflammation following Sunday’s awkward slide. Maybe he’ll make it back, but we wouldn’t want to have to count on him in fantasy leagues this week. Jason Heyward and Jon Singleton could be in line for extra playing time while Alvarez is out.

Singleton came up big with a two-run double with two outs in the eighth to give the Astros the 3-1 lead and ultimately the victory. Singleton has now driven in 41 runs in 2024, and he’s hit well in September with a .913 OPS over 38 at-bats.

Singleton should be considered day-to-day. Victor Caratini gets the start with Singleton unavailable.

Singleton hit a 352-foot shot that had an xBA of .150 and would have only been a home run in eight other stadiums, but it counts just the same. He has nine home runs on the season and is hitting under .200 in 14 games since the All-Star break. Despite mediocre performance, it appears likely Singleton will remain the primary first baseman in Houston.

Singleton brought two of the Astros’ three runs in to score with a two-run blast off Joe Ryan in the fourth inning. Limited to a strong-side platoon against right-handed pitching, the 32-year-old is hitting .285 since the start of June. He’s up to seven homers on the season with a .710 OPS across 229 plate appearances.

Brown also noted that Singleton probably won’t play against most left-handers, in which case Mauricio Dubon would see short-side platoon at-bats there. I don’t know what it’s going to take for Joey Loperfido to get an opportunity to play first base for the Astros, but they seem to be doing everything in their power to avoid putting him there. Singleton is hitting just .213/.316/.333 with five homers and 14 RBI in 174 plate appearances on the season.

José Abreu is starting at first base and Kyle Tucker is at DH with Mauricio Dubon in right field. Interestingly, the Astros will be facing a right-handed pitcher, so this isn’t about pitcher-handedness. Singleton got off to a decent start to the year, but he’s hitting just .212 in May with a 27 percent strikeout rate. Abreu hasn’t been great himself, but it’s looking like Singleton will lose playing time with Abreu back in the fold.

We’re not sure how much we’ll see of this, considering that it means sacrificing some defense by playing Yordan Alvarez in left and sitting two of Mauricio Dubón, Chas McCormick and Jake Meyers (Meyers is the one playing tonight). If Singleton is going to stick in the lineup, it really ought to be over Abreu.

Abreu was deemed ready to return after going 0-for-7 with three strikeouts and one walk in two Triple-A games. Maybe he’ll be OK for the Astros, but it’s hard to see him being much better than that, given how he’s performed since the start of 2023 (.221/.280/.352 in 671 PA). Jon Singleton will head back to the bench for now. In spite of a .333 average during his time in the majors, Joey Loperfido was sent down to make room for Abreu.

It’s possible that Abreu could also play a third game at Triple-A Sugar Land on Sunday, though that has yet to be decided. It sounds like Joey Loperfido will be the odd-man out upon Abreu’s return, but it’ll be interesting to see how the playing time shakes out at first base between him and Jon Singleton who has been holding down the fort for the past few weeks.