The 2025 season was a tough one to swallow for the Houston Astros – and not just because they missed the playoffs for the first time since 2016. This wasn’t a slow fade or a team simply getting outplayed down the stretch; this was a roster riddled with injuries that never quite found its footing.
From the start, Houston couldn’t catch a break. One injury after another chipped away at a core that, when healthy, has consistently been one of the most dangerous in baseball.
The biggest blow? Yordan Alvarez missing a substantial chunk of the season with a right-hand fracture.
When your premier power hitter is out for an extended stretch, it doesn’t just take runs off the board – it reshapes the way pitchers approach your entire lineup.
But Alvarez wasn’t alone on the injury report. Isaac Paredes and Jeremy Peña both missed significant time with ailments of their own, and by the time the season was winding down, the bullpen wasn’t safe either – closer Josh Hader was sidelined late, just another name on a growing list. And that list wasn’t just long – it was full of reinjuries, setbacks, and players never quite looking like themselves after coming back.
The numbers back up what anyone following the Astros already knew: this was a team body-slammed by the injury bug. According to FanGraphs, Houston lost more potential value to injuries than any other club in 2025. And when your depth is constantly being tested – and eventually depleted – your chances of contending nosedive fast.
In response, the Astros decided to make a major change to their medical and performance staff, dismissing head athletic trainer Jeremiah Randall after a decade with the organization. It’s a move that speaks volumes about how the franchise is processing what went wrong in 2025.
Randall joined the Astros back in the 2015 offseason and had been a constant figure during the team’s run of success over the past several years. Before arriving in Houston, he worked with the Pittsburgh Pirates as a Major League rehab coordinator and served as both a physical therapist and assistant athletic trainer – so the résumé and experience were there.
But after a year where health management became a central storyline – and not in a good way – the front office clearly felt it was time for a clean slate. The goal: get back to being the club that’s always a threat come October, not one left watching from home because the stars never got a chance to shine together.
Heading into 2026, the message coming out of Houston is clear. The window isn’t closed, but the margin for error is thinner than it’s been in years.
If the Astros want to remind the league who they are, staying healthy has to be the first step. And that process starts now.
