The Astros have released right-hander Dylan Coleman after designating him for assignment last week, as indicated on the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. He’s now a free agent.
Coleman, 28 next month, was acquired from the Royals in a small December swap and has spent the bulk of the season in Triple-A Sugar Land. He pitched one scoreless big league frame for Houston back on April 3 but has limped to a more problematic 6.50 earned run average in 36 Triple-A frames. He’s been on a particularly rocky run of late, yielding 12 runs (11 earned) on eight hits and nine walks over his past 5 2/3 innings. That recent slide surely played into the decision to designate the former fourth-rounder (Padres, 2018) for assignment.
As recently as 2022, Coleman looked well on his way to establishing himself in the Royals’ big league bullpen. He made his MLB debut late in the 2021 season and in 2022 piled up 68 innings of work. In a total of 74 1/3 innings from ’21-’22, he notched a very sharp 2.66 ERA while fanning 24.8% of his opponents. His 12.1% walk rate was in need of improvement, but Coleman sat 97.7 mph with his heater, picked up swinging strikes at an impressive 13% clip, avoided hard contact (86.4 mph average exit velocity, 6.3% barrel rate, 35.9% hard-hit rate) and did a good job keeping the ball in the yard (0.61 HR/9).
That success deteriorated quickly in 2023, however. Coleman was rocked for an 8.84 ERA in 18 1/3 big league innings and walked 19 batters in that time. The command troubles continued in Triple-A Omaha, where he issued a free pass to a calamitous 21.8% of his opponents. The right-hander’s average fastball also plummeted from the prior season’s 97.5 mph to 95.2 mph in the majors (and 96.1 mph down the stretch in Triple-A).
All of those problems have persisted, if not worsened, following the change of scenery. Coleman walked 23.9% of his opponents with Sugar Land in the Astros organization, and Statcast measured his average heater in Triple-A this season at 95.7 mph — well shy of his 2021-22 levels. Whatever the reason for the downturn in command and velocity, the 2023-24 version of Coleman looks like a decidedly different pitcher than the reliever who showed quite a bit of promise from 2021-22.
Coleman’s prior track record, minimal acquisition cost — he’ll very likely require only a minor league deal to sign — and remaining club control (under two years of MLB service) should be enough to spark interest from a new club, whether that’s in the coming days/weeks or in the offseason.
I guess they thought it was another project like what they did with Ort. Shame it went the opposite direction. Hope he finds it. That walk rate is Karcher-esque.
Also please stop promoting BetterHelp, a company that’s been exposed for, and hit with fines because of, shady business practices as recently as last year. The money is not worth your integrity.
The therapist my ex had for better help ghosted her mid session. Definitely don’t recommend text sessions anyways. But nah this is about baseball, and man I was hopeful for Coleman. Astros figured their bullpen out for sure tho.
I think the Royals could use him again if he can return to 2022 form.
Booooo Better Help. Terrible service that has a poor track record with quality, cost, and user privacy.
Time to learn the knuckleball.
If you can’t figure it out with the help of the Astros pitching factory, it might be time to look for a new career.
Calamitous huh? I like it!