The Houston Astros continue to play well, winning three games in a row. At 7-3 in their last ten games and 5.5 games ahead of the second-place Seattle Mariners in the American League West, the Astros are in a great position with less than a month of the regular season remaining.

Kyle Tucker also returned from a two-month injury on Friday. Arguably the best hitter in the lineup, Tucker has a batting average of .264/.396/.579 with 19 home runs, 11 doubles and 40 RBI in just 216 at-bats.

He quietly had one of the better seasons of his career, which is saying something considering he had an OPS+ of over 140 for years.

Tucker currently has an OPS+ of 175.

While Tucker’s return was great for many reasons, it came at the perfect time. Houston’s offensive performance from the outfielders was largely disappointing.

There are other issues on the roster, but Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report believes this is the Astros’ biggest problem. Miller wrote that Houston “wishes” they could go back to the deadline and trade an outfielder.

“The combined power of Yordan Alvarez, Yainer Diaz, Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman and Jeremy Peña has kept this offense going. But with the exception of games where Alvarez is playing LF instead of DH, Houston’s outfield at bat has been a mess. The good news is that Kyle Tucker is finally back after being out for more than three months with a broken tibia. But will he be able to regain his pre-injury MVP form? Even Tucker’s return doesn’t free them from the perpetual dilemma of whether to start Chas McCormick, Jake Meyers or Mauricio Dubón at center.”

While an outfield bat would be nice, with Tucker returning to the lineup, that area should be addressed. Their issues at first base seem to be the bigger problem, and that’s a problem when everyone is healthy.

As the offseason begins, the Astros must address the following areas of need: a long-term first baseman, an outfielder with above-average hitting ability, and a couple of pitchers on offense.

Given all the areas that needed help this winter, it’s impressive that Houston has not only managed to stay afloat, but is possibly the best team in the American League.

It may be unrealistic to ask management to make improvements in all of these areas, but if they can address two of them, that would be a step in the right direction.