Isaac

Paredes

Paredes has homered in three straight games and is now at .241/.333/.415 with nine homers and 32 RBI in 59 games for the season. He still figures to get at least a little better from here on in, and while he’s not a good enough bet in average, runs scored and steals to rate as a top-10 third baseman, he is fairly underrated at this point.

Paredes finally got the Astros on the board in the sixth inning after Jared Jones exited, blasting a 356-foot (101.3 mph EV) solo shot off of right-hander Carmen Mlodzinski. That would be the extent of their offense in the game. The 27-year-old slugger finished the night 1-for-4 and is now hitting .238/.331/.400 with eight long balls and 28 RBI on the season.

It resulted in just one hit, but Paredes today had probably the best showing anyone has had against Jacob Misiorowski this month, hitting line drives to the outfield at 106 mph, 105 mph and 97 mph. The outs came on 100-mph fastballs, and he doubled off a 92-mph slider.

Paredes has been struggling of late, hitting .164 (9-for-55) with three homers and five RBI over his last 15 games. Astros manager Joe Espada has opted to move him down in the order after mostly hitting second in recent weeks. It’ll be red-hot sluggers Yordan Alvarez and Christian Walker moving up to second and third in the order to pick up a few additional at-bats with Taylor Trammell moving into the cleanup spot.

The Astros wasted no time getting to Nathan Eovaldi in this one. Jeremy Peña tagged him for a solo shot to open the game and then after Yordan Alvarez worked an eight-pitch walk, Paredes ambushed a first-pitch sinker for a 357-foot (101.8 mph EV) two-run blast that made it 3-0 before an out had been recorded. He also drew a walk in the third inning, advanced on a wild pitch and scored on an RBI double by Taylor Trammell. On the season, the 27-year-old slugger is now slashing .241/.333/.380 with six long balls and 22 RBI in 213 plate appearances.

Paredes takes a seat amidst an extended offensive slide where he’s hitting .207 (12-for-58) with two homers and four RBI over his last 15 games. The 27-year-old’s pull-heavy approach hasn’t translated into big-time power numbers in Houston, but he’ll have plenty of opportunities to make noise the rest of the way with Carlos Correa done for the season after undergoing ankle surgery. It’ll be Braden Shewmake getting a look at the hot corner on Wednesday night at Globe Life Field.

Paredes took Zebby Matthews deep in the first inning for what would be the only runs of the day for the Astros. The 27-year-old is up to five home runs and 20 RBI on the season. Now that he’s in a full-time role, he needs to be added in more formats.

Paredes broke a scoreless tie in the third inning when he blasted a solo shot off Jack Leiter to give the Astros a 1-0 lead. It was all the Astros would end up needing, as starter Spencer Arrighetti would pitch 7 1/3 innings of no-hit baseball before having the no-no broken up by Justin Foscue in the eighth inning. It was just the fourth homer of the season for Paredes, who has now hit safely in four of his last six games and is slashing .265/.368/.388 on the month.

With Carlos Correa out for the season, Paredes figures to have third base all to himself in Houston the rest of the way, making him a perfectly fine option as a third baseman or corner infielder in mixed leagues. He’s hitting .271 with three homers right now, and the home run pace still figures to pick up.

Technically, Correa tore the peroneus brevis tendon in his left ankle. The 31-year-old infielder suffered the injury during pregame batting practice last week. His absence means Isaac Paredes will handle the hot corner for the remainder of the year, which is undoubtedly a boost to his fantasy appeal.