Did the Houston Astros miss on Dustin Harris? His late-season surge with the San Diego Padres makes that question hard to ignore.
Harris, an outfielder who has already passed through three teams, wrapped up the regular season in San Diego with a .322/.364/.422 line over 28 games and 100 plate appearances. For a player who has bounced around so much, that’s a sharp turn from anonymous depth piece to someone with a much more useful profile.
What stands out now is that Harris has started to look like more than just a bat-on-wheels. His outfield defense has improved to the point that it sits slightly above average, and he’s still an excellent baserunner. That combination gives him a shape teams can actually work with.
Before getting to San Diego, though, Harris had done very little to force that kind of trust. He played only 38 regular-season games across three teams, and this season alone he has already been with three different organizations.
He opened the year with the Chicago White Sox, where he was supposed to fill a backup and utility outfield role, but that didn’t take. Even so, he did post 0.2 bWAR in just six games.
The White Sox designated him for assignment on April 15, and five days later the Houston Astros claimed him off waivers. Houston’s need was tied to injuries, so Harris got a short window to show something.
He didn’t make the most of it. In 11 games, he produced a 64 OPS+ and finished at minus-0.2 bWAR.
That’s where the contrast becomes obvious. In San Diego, Harris found patience.
The Padres also had issues to sort out in left field, and he turned into a useful option there. That doesn’t mean he was ever going to solve Houston’s outfield problem for the long haul, and it may not mean he’s that answer for San Diego either.
But Houston is the club that has already been sent home, still looking for a solution in left field. And Harris, after being let go, has suddenly made that decision look a little more interesting.
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Astros Face A Real Bullpen Decision With Steven Okert
Steven Okert gave the Astros exactly the sort of steady bullpen season they were hoping for, and he did it in a way that made him hard to ignore down the stretch. He finished with a career-best 2.3 bWAR and a 2.13 ERA across 68 appearances, then got even more effective in the second half while proving he could handle both left-handed and right-handed hitters.
Now Houston has to decide how much value to place on that kind of reliability as it sorts through its bullpen plans for the offseason. Okert has positioned himself to remain a key part of the relief mix, but the Astros are also weighing other left-handed options in free agency, which makes this one of the more interesting calls on the roster front. [Read more 🡒]