Astros Select Zach Dezenzo

3:05pm: The Astros have now officially announced that they have selected Dezenzo. In corresponding moves, they optioned outfielder Trey Cabbage to Triple-A Sugar Land and designated right-hander Dylan Coleman for assignment. Coleman was acquired from the Royals in an offseason trade but has just one big league appearance for Houston, having spent the rest of the year on optional assignment. In his 36 Triple-A innings, he has a 6.50 ERA with a 23.9% walk rate.

2:25pm: The Astros are going to call up infielder Zach Dezenzo, reports Chandler Rome of The Athletic on X. They will need to make corresponding moves to open space for him on the active and 40-man rosters.

Dezenzo, 24, gets the major league call for the first time. A 12th-round pick of the Astros in 2022, he has made a quick rise through the farm system. He split his time between High-A and Double-A last year, hitting 18 home runs in 94 games. His 25.9% strikeout rate was a bit high but he also drew walks at a solid 10.2% clip. His combined batting line was .304/.383/.531 for a 141 wRC+, though with an unsustainable .382 batting average on balls in play.

Coming into 2024, Baseball America ranked him #5 in the club’s system. They noted that his bat-to-ball skills are low but he makes good decisions and crushes the pitches that he does make contact with, leading to strong exit velocities.

He began this year on the shelf due to a wrist issue and began a rehab assignment at the Complex League in early June. It was around that time that FanGraphs ranked him #6 in the system, suggesting he could wind up like Eugenio Suárez as a guy who strikes out a lot but puts the ball over the fence enough to still be a useful contributor, though perhaps in streaky fashion.

Once he overcame his wrist issue, Dezenzo returned to Double-A and hit a tepid .222/.308/.370 in 22 games there but was nonetheless promoted to Triple-A and debuted at that level on July 24, less than two weeks ago. He has since been on a massive heater, hitting .391/.472/.739 in his 11 Triple-A games. He won’t maintain a .438 BABIP but it’s encouraging that he has four home runs and an 11.3% walk rate in that time.

It’s an aggressive move for the Astros to promote him despite his lack of a track record, but it reflects how much they have struggled to get production out of their first base slot. José Abreu had an awful time this year, struggling so much that he agreed to be optioned for a time. Around that stint on the farm, he hit .124/.167/.195 in the majors and was released in the middle of June.

Jon Singleton has picked up the bulk of playing time at first base in Abreu’s absence but has hit .230/.311/.354 this year for a 91 wRC+. That’s not disastrous production, only 9% below league average overall, but clubs generally expect first base to be a position where they can count on strong offensive output. He’s also been slumping of late, with a line of .167/.196/.315 dating back to July 13.

Dezenzo has been splitting his time between third base and first base this year but it seems unlikely he’ll see significant time at the hot corner with the presence of Alex Bregman and the struggles at the other end of the diamond. It’s a bold move, with Dezenzo having just 85 Double-A games and 11 Triple-A contests on his ledger but the Astros are in a tight race and didn’t get any first base help prior to the deadline.

Houston started out dreadfully this year but managed to climb back into the race. They are currently five games back of a Wild Card spot but just a game and a half behind the Mariners in the West division. Perhaps Dezenzo can give them a bit of a boost if he can quickly acclimate to big league pitching. It’s also possible that this is a bit of an audition for next year, with Bregman slated for free agency. Prospect reports generally cast some doubt on Dezenzo’s ability to stick at third, which will likely be a long-term question, but the first test will be handling himself at the plate.