Three Breakout Players for the Dynamo in 2023

(image via Houston Dynamo FC)

The 2023 MLS season kicks off this weekend as the Houston Dynamo will take on Cincinnati, and everyone is ready for it after a long, busy offseason. Today, we look at 3 players that could have a breakout season in 2023. Full discrepancy, there are plenty of moving parts during the season and there has been a massive turnover in the roster during the off-season. The pool of players that we will be discussing have been picked from players that’ve spent a few years in Houston. Let’s look at who has a big chance at a breakout season.

Corey Baird

Sigh. Look, Corey Baird has hit a rut the last two years. A lot of it was due to injuries holding him out of the team sheet. Last season, he was given the starting job before eventually losing it to other wingers, since he was unable to provide enough offensively for the team. However, after Paulo Nagamura was sacked, interim head coach Kenny Bundy brought Corey back in the starting lineup and he scored a couple goals and added 3 assists in the final games of the season.

This season, Baird looks poised to start the season as the starting right winger. Corey is in the prime of his career and there is no denying the talent that he holds. Luckily for him, he is the only winger on the team with plenty of Major League Soccer experience. Maybe it’s because Sebastian Ferreira has been out taking care of his work visa, but Baird has been given the confidence to take penalty kicks and he didn’t miss any during the preseason. Like Fafa Picault in 2021, Baird is likely to put up career high numbers as he has built good chemistry with Hector Herrera, Coco Carrasquilla, and Sebas.

Ethan Bartlow

Bartlow is entering his third season with the club. It feels like an eternity since he signed a Generation Adidas contract and was drafted 6th overall in the 2021 MLS SuperDraft. Ethan missed his entire rookie season due to a concussion injury that he suffered in the preseason, and the arrival of Teenage Hadebe set him back on the depth chart. Last season, Bartlow appeared in a good number of games, putting in reps in several positions in the defensive group and even played in the defensive midfielder role.

Now with the departure of Tim Parker, the right center back position will be up for grabs between Bartlow and Daniel Steres. In the last preseason match against FC Dallas, Bartlow was the one paired with Teenage while Steres was pushed to the right back position, due to injuries to Franco Escobar and Griffin Dorsey. Sure, the stadium was empty, and it was easy to hear the players communicate with each other, but by far, the loudest voice on the field was Ethan. He kept organizing his teammates and making sure that they were aware of their surroundings during the game. At just 23, he has the traits to be a leader and commands respect. Expect Bartlow to take a big step in 2023.

Adalberto “Coco” Carrasquilla

Carrasquilla is going into year number 3 in Houston and his second full season after joining the club in the summer of 2021. Coco is such a fun player to watch, he has blossomed into a well-rounded midfield maestro. The Panamanian has been asked in the past to play deeper as holding midfielder and as a central midfielder with attacking tendencies. Now in the scheme that head coach Ben Olsen looks to implement, Adalberto will be asked to be the creative midfielder, out of the 3 midfielders in his 4-3-3 formation.

Carrasquilla is not a natural number 10, expect him to fight and defend when the opposition holds possession of the ball. Coco will be more of a box-to-box number 8, but again, he will be given the freedom and full permission to move the team forward more than ever. This will allow for Coco to be more dangerous and create scoring opportunities. Yes, we know about his great qualities, but this season the expectation is that he will put it all together for a breakout year. In 2021, Coco scored 1 goal. In 2022, Coco scored 2 goals and assisted 3. This year, Coco will likely end the season with 6-8 goals and 6-8 assists. That is even with Carrasquilla probably missing 6 regular season matches in the summer, due to a possible called up to represent Panama in the Gold Cup.