Houston’s offseason plan centers on preserving core stability while addressing two free-agent questions. Framber Valdez and Victor Caratini are the only consequential free agents from the current roster, with Valdez anchoring the rotation and Caratini handling catching. The rest of the star core—Altuve, Alvarez, Peña, and Brown among others—remains under team control for the near term, creating room to balance extensions, arbitration, and payroll without a full rebuild.

Beyond Valdez and Caratini, the horizon features a mix of arbitration-eligible depth and aging or longer-term contracts. Key decisions will revolve around how aggressively Houston retains or replaces pieces like Abreu, Dubón, Urías, and McCullers, while mapping out long-term commitments for a championship window that runs through the late 2020s and into 2030s via extensions and option structure.

Ort and Sousa land on the 15-day IL for Houston, leaving the bullpen thinner as the playoff push looms. Best-case returns for Ort and Sousa are set around the playoffs, while closer Josh Hader also being sidelined magnifies late-inning pressure. Enyel De Los Santos has stepped into leverage work and Jayden Murray was called up after a major-league debut last week. Houston carries a 3.5-game lead in the AL West with 19 games left.

With Hader, Sousa, and Ort out, the Astros lean on De Los Santos in high-leverage spots and will monitor Murray’s innings as they navigate the final stretch. The club’s standing and bullpen health will heavily influence fantasy value for Houston arms and late-inning roles as the season winds down.

Bennett Sousa's elbow strain lands him on the IL with a two-week throwing shutdown, clouding his rest-of-season availability as Houston navigates without Hader for likely the end of the season. Sousa provided leverage while Hader was out, and the bullpen now leans on Abreu and Ort for late innings. Houston signed Kimbrel, but he didn't pitch in the 10-7 win over Baltimore.

Kaleb Ort started the eighth; Bryan Abreu closed with a four-out save, highlighting a bullpen in transition. Fantasy managers should monitor Abreu, Ort, and Kimbrel as the late-season calls rise in importance and Sousa's ramp-up timeline remains uncertain.

Detroit grabbed a 1-0 walk-off win over Houston in 10 innings, denying the Astros after a tense pitchers’ duel with Tarik Skubal and Hunter Brown; the Tigers finally broke through when Gleyber Torres drew a bases-loaded walk off Kaleb Ort with two outs in the 10th. Houston has been held scoreless for three straight games, the drought stretching 28 innings, while Detroit’s bullpen and opportunistic approach kept the pressure on the AL West leaders.

Skubal spun seven scoreless for Detroit, fanning 10 and yielding three hits, while Brown matched him through six before the game’s decisive frame. The Astros’ offense managed only four hits, with few chances in scoring position, despite a late plate appearance review at the plate that went Detroit’s way. The win preserves Detroit’s slim playoff chatter and keeps Houston probing for timely hits as the stretch run approaches.

Fantasy angles lean toward pitching: Skubal’s elite strikeouts and efficiency make him a clear streaming target, while Brown’s latest outing reinforces Houston’s lineup as a potential slate target limited by recent slump. For Detroit, Torres’ walk-off moment and Carpenter’s steady bat add upside, particularly in daily formats, as the Tigers lean on a compact, high-leverage bullpen and a reshaped lineup that’s finding a way in tight games.