The Astros placed top prospect and rookie outfielder Jacob Melton on the 10-day injured list due to a right ankle sprain over the weekend, but he’ll apparently be out a fair bit longer than the 10-day minimum. General manager Dana Brown has said since Melton’s IL placement that he expects the 24-year-old to require around four weeks to recover from the sprain (link via Chandler Rome of The Athletic). That could keep Melton out through the All-Star break.
Houston’s second-round pick in 2022, Melton has appeared in 11 big league games so far and batted .241/.290/.310 with a strikeout rate just under 39%. It’s not a good start to what the Astros hope will be a lengthy big league career, but it’s hardly uncommon to see even well-regarded prospects struggle like this in their first exposure to major league pitching. Melton missed some time with a back injury early in the season but played in 17 Triple-A games prior to his promotion, hitting .254/.371/.508 with a huge 15.5% walk rate against a 21.1% strikeout rate (11 walks, 15 punchouts in 71 plate appearances).
With Melton now joining Zach Dezenzo and Yordan Alvarez on the injured list, Houston’s outfield depth is again being tested. The ’Stros have Jose Altuve in left, Jake Meyers in center and Cam Smith in right. Altuve has hit well but struggled with the defensive transition from second base to left field, logging ugly grades from metrics like Outs Above Average (-3) and Defensive Runs Saved (-8). Smith has held his own, producing league-average offense overall (despite a recent slump) and taking nicely to his own move from the infield to the outfield (4 OAA, 9 DRS). Meyers, always a quality defender, is once again playing well in center field while also enjoying a career year at the plate.
So long as that trio holds up, the Astros should be able to weather the injury storm, but the depth options at this point are thin. Cooper Hummel is back in the big leagues in a reserve capacity. Pedro León, Chas McCormick and Taylor Trammell are all on the injured list at the moment. Trammell is currently on a rehab stint in Triple-A and could soon be an option, but León was pulled from his own rehab stint earlier this month due to a knee issue. McCormick landed on the IL at the end of May due to an oblique strain and has not yet been cleared to play in rehab games.
Shay Whitcomb and Kenedy Corona are the only two position players in the minors who are on Houston’s 40-man roster. Both can play in the outfield, but Whitcomb has spent more time in the infield this season and Corona isn’t hitting well at all in Triple-A.
The outfield isn’t the only area of Houston’s roster being put to the test, of course. The Astros’ rotation still has its two stars atop the staff, Hunter Brown and Framber Valdez, but the rest of the group isn’t nearly as accomplished. Ronel Blanco and Hayden Wesneski have already undergone Tommy John surgery. Spencer Arrighetti is working back from a broken thumb on his pitching hand. Cristian Javier (2024 Tommy John surgery), Luis Garcia (2023 Tommy John surgery, plus multiple setbacks) and J.P. France (2024 shoulder surgery) are all still months from being factors.
Lance McCullers Jr.’s return has been a boon. Outside of one awful start, he’s been a steadying presence to held patch things over, but now he’s sidelined by a foot sprain. The Houston Chronicle’s Matt Kawahara writes that manager Joe Espada has expressed hope that McCullers can return after the 15-day minimum, but Kawahara characterized that as nothing more than “initial optimism.” The Astros are notoriously opaque when it comes to health updates on their injured players, so it’s hard to get a clear sense for when McCullers might come back.
In the meantime, rookie Ryan Gusto stepped up with a nice effort yesterday, and (per Kawahara) recently recalled righty Jason Alexander will start today’s game. Alexander is a journeyman waiver claim, but he’s pitched well in Triple-A since the Astros claimed him from the Athletics. If he handles himself well against his former A’s teammates, he could stick around a bit longer, particularly given the lack of healthy depth options. Righty AJ Blubaugh is on the 40-man roster but is sitting on a 7.66 ERA in Triple-A. No other starters are on the Astros’ 40-man in the upper minors; they have several relief arms on the 40-man and could add prospect Miguel Ullola, although his sharp 3.33 ERA in Triple-A belies a more problematic 15.2% walk rate.
The Astros, unsurprisingly, plan to target starting pitching ahead of next month’s trade deadline. For now, they’ll proceed with Valdez, Brown, Gusto, Colton Gordon and Brandon Walter. The latter three are all rookies. Neither Gusto nor Gordon had pitched in the majors prior to 2025. Walter, who’ll turn 29 in September, is a former Red Sox prospect who signed a minor league deal this past offseason and has looked excellent through his first three starts.
And yet they are in first place with a 4 1/2 game lead. Go Astros!
I heard MLB forced them to remove trash cans from the entire stadium. Must be a real mess.
I’m definitely not an Astros fan, but it’s been 8 years now. It’s getting old. Maybe it’s time to move on.
“Time to move on”..Some people need something to look down on, demonize, criticize and be generally unhappy about on a daily basis.
Hence, we now have a group of “fans” that complain when teams spend big and also complain when teams barely spend.
Lloyd if you’re tired of these jokes, might i suggest *deferring* the jokes to the LA Dodgers har har har
Pretty original & creative comment! Nice job.
Oh my. That wouldn’t have even been a “good one” seven years ago.
It may not be a good joke. It may not be the joke anyone asked for or wanted. But by God it was A joke. Poking the bear is fun. No one should still care you are all correct. Thank you, goodnight. I’ll see myself out.
Funny thing is no one that participated in the cheating is left on the Astros, but the co-architect of the whole thing is managing the Red Sox, Mr Boggs
I’m embarrassed for you.
You must be embarrassed quite a lot then.
I think it is hilarious that every year in the off-season it seems like the Rangers will be division winners, the Mariners look like they have a chance and everyone wonders if the Astros will finally start to lose. Then the Rangers implode. Seattle does a Seattle and the Astros win the division again.
Seattle does a Seattle lol
Colton Gordon has pitched well. 4 walks in 30 IP is pretty good especially for a rookie. Plus 30 K in those 30 IP. Not too shabby.
Walter too has pitched well. Both likely due for regression, but could be good enough in the four and the five.
Walter is so unlike almost anyone else pitching in todays game, will be interesting to see how long that lasts
As long as Gordon doesn’t walk people he will be competitive
Unpopular opinion: Cam Smith will go on a tear and win ROY
I personally don’t care about trashcan jokes anymore as that simply means the Astros are still relevant and people hate them for that. They are at a point that rivals the 1920 Yankees in on the field endless success. Call um what you need to feel better about your teams but all I see is AL West champ every year but Covid and a common team in the AL Championship series. Cheers!!
Maybe now an Astros manager will get some consideration for manager of the year. It’s always some small market team that does well for some reason.
It should be “Unsurprisingly, the Astros plan…” not “The Astros, unsurprisingly, plan…” Don’t break up subject and verb for no reason. Unnecessarily makes it choppy by ruining the syntax. Flow is important.