There are two recent Houston Astros faithful fans recall that specialized in situational hitting at the dish and extreme versatility on the field. A “Swiss Army” knife type player, if you will.
Those players were Marwin Gonzalez the 2017 World Series Game 2 hero who could play six positions with competence and hit for a .303 average.
When Gonzalez left after 2018, the Astros found their next version in Mauricio Dubon. He turned into a two-time Gold Glove utility winner, spending four seasons with Houston, including their 2022 World Series run. Future Hall-of-Famer Justin Verlander coined him as his everyday center fielder. Fans remember his valiant effort in 2023, hitting .278 with a .720 OPS and a career-high 10 homers during the bulk of the regular season games replacing Jose Altuve, who started the season on the IL undergoing thumb surgery.
Nick Allen, The Expected Utility Man
Then, in a move framed as a cost-cutting measure ahead of the 2026 season, the Astros sent Dubon to the Atlanta Braves and received infielder Nick Allen in return. On paper, this was a logical decision. “Dubie” was entering his final year of arbitration and projected to earn around $6 million. Allen, a utility player in his first arbitration year, was expected to make around $1.5 million. As financially frugal as they are, Houston saved money and got three years of team control on a Gold Glove finalist shortstop.
They even told themselves Allen could grow into the next utility role in Houston’s culture. Allen’s career at the dish has been nothing special, hitting a lifetime .214 battting average with a .538 OPS across five seasons.
So far, the California Native has completely missed the mark. Allen missed the early stretch of the 2026 season after landing on the injured list on April 20 with back spasms. Injuries for the Astros have become expected nowadays, and Allen caught it early. He rejoined the roster on May 5, and went 2-for-9 in his first three games back.
In his last seven games, Allen has only mustered 11 at bats with a .182 batting average. He was promptly sat in favor of someone who had been picked up off the scrap heap and is quietly outperforming everyone’s expectations.
The Man Nobody Expected
Enter Braden Shewmake. And for a team in freefall, he has been one of the few genuinely pleasant surprises of 2026.
Shewmake, 28, is a former first-round pick of the Atlanta Braves in 2019 out of Texas A&M, whose path to relevance has been anything but smooth. He bounced from Atlanta to the White Sox to the Yankees’ system, never fully sticking at the Major League level long enough to establish himself. He hit just .125 across 29 games with Chicago in 2024.
He spent 2025 in Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, slashing .243 with four home runs and 15 stolen bases in 85 games. He was quietly cut from the Yankees’ 40-man roster when New York claimed another player off waivers. Based on his draft selection, Shewmake was supposed to be a valuable depth piece. Unfortunately, his career hasn’t reflected as such, and he’s been relegated to the kind of infielder organizations stash in Triple-A for roster emergencies.
The Astros acquired him in a trade with the Yankees just days before calling him up in late April, with both Jeremy Peña (hamstring) and Allen (back) already sidelined. His Astros debut was a silver lining to a 12-3 loss, hitting a 403-foot solo home run against his former organization. With the game already out of reach, Shewmake didn’t need to hit his second career homer, but he did anyway.
In his first real stretch with Houston, Shewmake slashed .291/.491/.782 with three home runs and seven RBIs over 56 plate appearances including a solo homer off four-time NL MVP Shohei Ohtani against the Los Angeles Dodgers that proved to be the winning run in a 2-1 victory.
Across 19 games with the ‘Stros, the Texas native has played shortstop, third base, and second base, picking up the slack from Carlos Correa, who is out for the season, and Jose Altuve, who went down with a Grade 2 oblique strain.
What Makes Shewmake Valuable
The more extended view of his numbers is a bit more complicated. While he has struck out 11 times with zero walks thus far, his approach at the plate is looking to hit. Baseball Savant clocks his average exit velocity at 91.1 mph, with a .397 wOBA during his peak stretch. Currently, he squares up balls 30.1% of the time. This states he is not hitting weak grounders. He is making contact with authority when the bat connects, which is more than can be said for the player in Allen he was brought in to supplement.
What Allen Was Supposed to Be
To be fair to Allen, the bar for what he was supposed to contribute was never offensive. When the Astros acquired him from Atlanta, the pitch was always about his glove. And the glove is genuinely elite. Allen finished 2025 with 47 turned double plays and 12 defensive runs saved in 135 games, numbers that ranked among the best in baseball at his position. He was a Gold Glove finalist for a reason. The problem has always been everything else.
Allen’s career .213 batting average and .535 OPS represent what scouts have long known about him: he is a defensive specialist in a league that has limited tolerance for glove-only players at non-catcher positions.
His 2025 wOBA of .252 and a 0.0% barrel rate in 2026 tell the story of a hitter who rarely makes hard contact when he does make contact at all. The Braves, recognizing this, were happy to swap him for the more versatile Dubon, who is playing well in his new uniform on a team, currently the best in baseball with 34 wins.
Right Player, Wrong Time
The cruel irony is that this version of Shewmake, hitting with pop and covering the infield, arrived on a team too broken to benefit from him fully. A healthy Astros lineup doesn’t need a career journeyman as its utility weapon. But a wounded, 20-31 team staggering through an injury-ravaged first half with sub-par pitching absolutely needs this. And the only reason Shewmake is here at all is because the player Houston actually planned on in Allen couldn’t stay healthy or reliable long enough to fill the role.
One thing is for sure: Shewmake will receive ample playing time opportunities with the injuries dealt to the everydaty Astros players. Let’s see if he can continue capitalizing on them.
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