3 Astros Players Who Have a Make-or-Break Season Ahead in 2020

It's an uncertain time for the Astros. In the span of a few months, they lost Game 7 of the World Series at home, watched their best pitcher go to an AL rival, and were implicated and punished in a massive sign-stealing scandal.

In many ways, this entire season is a make-or-break year in Houston. The Astros core aging and other AL contenders rising. They will also want to prove their successes were not just a result of cheating. In particular, three players on the Astros are in a make-or-break point of their careers.

1. Carlos Correa, SS

Carlos Correa was healthy in Spring Training and last year's postseason. / Mark Cunningham/Getty Images

Two years ago, it would've been hard to imagine Carlos Correa being at a crossroads in his career. Coming off postseason heroics and an MVP-caliber season with a .941 OPS, Correa was poised to be one of the game's young stars. However, Correa's last two years have left him hitting seventh in the Astros' lineup. A massage-induced rib injury took him out for much of last season, and he has only played more than 110 games once in his five-year career. There's little doubt that Correa has the raw talent to succeed, but with arbitration looming and free agency not far away, he needs to have a mostly healthy year in 2020.

2. Josh Reddick, OF

Josh Reddick enters his fourth season on the Astros with something to prove. / Rich Schultz/Getty Images

At 33 years old, Josh Reddick has officially graduated to "baseball veteran" status, but his role as the Astros' starting right fielder is coming into question. Reddick has been solid for the Astros, especially in 2017, but his last two seasons saw him hit for an OPS of .718 and .728, respectively. With top prospect Kyle Tucker already on the roster and Reddick on the last year of his contract, he will need to have a better year to keep his spot in the starting lineup. Other than catcher Martin Maldonado, Reddick is the biggest question mark on the Astros' offense, and we will know the long-term answer before the year is out.

3. Chris Devenski, RP

Chris Devenski has not been as effective as he was during 2017. / Michael Reaves/Getty Images

Similar to the other two players on this list, Devenski was fantastic in 2017, but has struggle since. His 4.83 ERA and 1.7 HR/9 made him extremely erratic in 2019. Perhaps a de-juiced ball will help him, but he still has yet to maintain the 11.16 K/9 he had in 2017, which dropped to 9.39 in 2019. Devenski is also hitting arbitration, and he's already been passed in the bullpen pecking order by Ryan Pressly and Joe Smith. Another bad year could leave the 29-year-old as a trade candidate with Bryan Abreu, Framber Valdez, and Austin Pruitt all waiting in the wings.

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Tristan Jung is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Tristan Jung also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username tristan1117. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.