Pitchers and catchers reported last week; today is the first full-squad workout for your world champion Houston Astros. How does the 2018 team compare to the champs?
There's no greater Astros expert than Sportstalk 790's Matt Thomas.
"The great thing about this baseball team is they haven't had to endure a lot of losses -- in fact they went and got better with the starting rotation with the Gerrit Cole trade from Pittsburgh a couple of months ago, so if you loved the 2017 Astros I think you're gonna love 2018 even more."
Aging slugger Carlos Beltran is gone and Thomas says there's a battle to see who'll take over in left field; Derek Fisher is the favorite.
"The most interesting battle might be whether or not Derek Fisher can take over left field; last year was a combination of Marwin Gonzalez, a little bit of Carlos Beltran -- that really is just a very minor storyline. I think a minor storyline is who will replace Joe Musgrove as one of the long relievers."
Thomas says with the addition of Gerrit Cole and the return of so many starters, including Justin Verlander, there's no reason the Astros can't repeat. The Yankees, Astros and Dodgers are favored by Vegas odds makers.