June 1: The Astros today announced Melton’s promotion to the big leagues. In corresponding moves, Dezenzo was placed on the 10-day injured list due to left hand inflammation while right-hander Ronel Blanco was transferred to the 60-day injured list.
May 31: The Astros are poised to select the contract of outfielder Jacob Melton, per a report from Ari Alexander of KPRC2. A corresponding move is not yet known, but Houston will need to create room on both the 40-man and active rosters in order to promote Melton.
Melton, 24, was Houston’s second-round pick in the 2022 draft. He is rated as the club’s #2 prospect by MLB Pipeline and became the club’s top prospect according to Baseball America’s ranking when fellow youngster Cam Smith graduated from prospect status earlier this month. Scouts have typically viewed Melton as a roughly average offensive performer, with above average raw power and solid bat-to-ball skills that are held back by an aggressive approach at the plate that leads to poor swing decisions and struggles identifying certain offspeed pitches.
Those flaws at the plate may restrict Melton’s offensive upside, but he’s universally lauded as a solid contributor both in the field and on the basepaths. Additionally, whatever concerns scouts may have about Melton’s approach haven’t stopped him from succeeding in the minors to this point. In 17 games at the Triple-A level so far this year, Melton has hit an impressive .254/.371/.508. That’s good for a 132 wRC+ even in the inflated offensive environment of the Pacific Coast League. Given those solid numbers, it’s not hard to see why the Astros have decided to give their young outfielder a shot at the big league level.
The timing of Melton’s promotion is especially prudent considering Houston’s current lineup situation. The switch-hitting Victor Caratini has been the club’s only regular hitter who bats from the left side ever since Yordan Alvarez went on the injured list in late April. Meanwhile, center fielder Jake Meyers is the club’s only true outfielder on the roster at the moment; longtime second baseman Jose Altuve has begun to split time between left field, DH, and the keystone this year, while both Smith and Zach Dezenzo have become fixtures in the corner outfield mix as well despite spending the vast majority of their minor league careers at third base.
Chas McCormick was also on the roster as a true outfielder alongside Meyers, but he was placed on the injured list today due to an oblique strain and replaced by infielder Shay Whitcomb on the roster. Altuve, Smith, and Dezenzo may have been enough to handle the outfield corners even without McCormick, but Dezenzo left today’s game with what the organization referred to as “left hand discomfort” and (according to Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle) is scheduled to undergo imagine tomorrow morning. With Dezenzo potentially out as well, it makes plenty of sense for Houston to get a lefty bat back into the lineup and shore up an outfield mix in desperate need of reinforcements by bringing Melton into the fold.
Just had to counter the M’s calling up Young. 🙄
The AL west Cold War has started, who can summon and acquire more pieces than the other side
Astros really want to win the division again for the billionth time but they are the sick man of the division
Power and speed combo guy. Barry Bonds 2.0 incoming!
Even if Aaron judge or ohtani took roids I doubt they would hit as well as bonds power years
He was just that good
If only Griffey got huge then he’d have been able to challenge bonds
If the years of playing on artificial turf between the Kingdome and Riverfront Stadium hadn’t taken their toll on Griffey’s legs he would have challenged Bonds
But Bonds took steroids
Bonds was a great all-around player before ever taking anything. And his pitch recognition and strike-zone judgement were second to none.
Yea, they both still have their hairline and proportionate heads.
Judge vs Ohtani in the race to 80 would be excellent.
In the entirety of Barry Bonds career, he only had one season with 50 or more homers, his 73 season.
Judge has three so far, 52, 58, and 62.
In fact, prior to his San Fran roid adventures, Bonds never hit more then 34 homers in Pittsburgh. He also ‘only’ had a .275 batting average during his Pittsburgh career.
Bonds had a career batting average of .298, in an era where batting average mattered and hitters were focused on that.
Judge has a career batting average of .294, in an era where no one cares or tries for average.
Bonds’ best seasons by OPS+ were 259, 263 and 268.
Judge this season has an OPS+ of 253
My point is, Judge, so far as we know, is clean. He is putting up numbers that are at least in the ball park of Barry’s numbers. If Judge juiced up as much as Barry did, he’d run a lap around Barry’s numbers.
(Again, assuming Judge is currently clean)
Bonds was about more than home runs, though. He was a great offensive player before he started hitting all the home runs.
Wouldn’t surprise me at all if Jr used PEDs. It was just the era.
Almost everyone was taking them. And now certain players like Ortiz and Pettite get a pass, while Bonds, Sosa, McGwire, Clemens, etc. get villified.
If you do admit to using it then you deserve more respect because it shows how you’ve changed as a person
I actually have a little bit of respect for canseco for telling how he thought the PED era worked instead of just staying silent and saying never like bonds and Clemens
Pettitte gets a pass because he never denied it, came forth, admitted it, and was contrite. Baseball forgives when you come clean from the beginning.
Not really sure if it was the beginning because he didn’t come clean until caught. However, he didn’t make excuses after getting caught like so many other players do.
Bonds also finished with over 500 stolen bases so he also had that tool in the bag, at least early on in his career.
Ken Griffey’s grotesquely swollen jaw.
(If you know, you know)
nunzio1749
it’s been so long it’s not head?
Mattingly shave those sideburns
Next rumor should be, White Sox to do absolutely nothing.
If Dezenzo is not put on the injured list, it would not surprise me if Brendan Rodgers is DFA’d. They have plenty of other people who are capable of playing 2B. Rodgers hasn’t exactly lit it up, though he hasn’t been given much of a chance to either. His lack of versatility also makes him a less valuable piece.
Even with Dezenzo on the IL, I’d still heavily consider DFA’ing Rodgers & bringing up Guillorme. I wanted Guillorme on the team out of Spring Training…sure he doesn’t give you as much offensive upside, but he’s a lefty bat, who’s way more versatile in the IF, and he puts together consistent quality ABs! Plus, you’d save $$$ cutting Rodgers, when it appears we’ll need the tax space to pursue a potential trade or two at the deadline.
Dude looked like the next Christian Yelich when he was at Oregon State. Very talented… when healthy.
Not sure why Whitcomb hasn’t been given a better shot.
Because he’s old and committed 4 errors in a game last year?
Any relation to Bill Melton?
Loved Bill Melton and Dick Allan in 1972.