We are a bit past the halfway point of spring training with 18 days left left to go. Beginning March 26th, the Houston Astros will host the Los Angeles Angels at Daikin Park to kick off the regular season. Just recently, manager Joe Espada reduced the roster spot, optioning a few more arms to reduce the number of non-roster invitees, further shaping out the major league roster.
Some of the arms included Jason Alexander and Colton Gordon, both who received ample playing time last season. Alexander in particular, put up respectable numbers in the back end of the rotation.
According to Espada, Alexander was optioned due to not fitting the six-man rotation and ensuring that he will be called up later in the year to help produce:
If you like our content, choose Sports Illustrated as a preferred source on Google.
“My message to him, was just that — at some point this season, if we need that coverage, we need somebody to give us a start and help us win games, we feel really good about Jason coming up a doing that,” Espada said to MLB.com.
With more of the non-roster arm invitees gradually getting optioned as we get closer to Opening Day, Christian Roa is still making spring training appearances in an Astros uniform. He made an appearance this Sunday afternoon, pitching a scoreless inning with two punchouts, relieving ace Hunter Brown, who pitched four prior shutout innings.
Following Roa’s inning in relief, Espada had promising remarks on his righthander:
“He’s [Roa] got a really good arm,” he said. “Trying to get him to be more consistent in the zone, which he’s always been with his fastball, but secondary pitches. trying to get the hitters to chase more, and he did that today. He continues to throw the ball really well.”
Houston Astros pitcher Christian Roa poses for a photo during media day | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
Roa, a Houston native, signed with the Astros on a minor league deal just before the end of December last year.
Drafted in 2020 by the Cincinnati Reds, he spent a few years in their farm system had a cup of coffee in the big leagues playing for the Miami Marlins last season, pitching three scoreless innings as a September call-up. Following the 2025 season, the Marlins didn’t retain the 26-year-old, leaving Houston to swoop him up on a deal and invited him to spring training.
After Sunday, Roa has pitched well, allowing just an earned run with eight strikeouts across five innings of work in spring training. This gives the Astros another weapon to look at. Considering he still hasn’t been optioned yet is a great sign, possibly citing a future call up to the Majors sometime during the regular season. This gives him more time to iron out his pitching arsenal and continue throwing to frequent Major League level hitters.