Wade Leblanc’s Short Astros Tenure is Over

Earlier today the Astros cut ties with reliever Wade LeBlanc designating him for assignment.

Wade LeBlanc (

-USA TODAY Sports)

LeBlanc had perhaps one of the most useless and uneventful Astros tenures. He was claimed off waivers on June 8th and saw his time in Houston end just about three weeks later.

All the left hander did was take up space while in Houston. Well that and give up five runs (four earned) in 3.2 innings for a 9.82 ERA. The idea of adding a pitcher with the flexibility of Leblanc who could both start and pitch out of the bullpen made sense. Actually, it made sense on paper and it made sense in April when the starting pitchers were lucky to make it into the fifth inning. Quite honestly, all Leblanc did was take away an opportunity from another young player to show what he can do at the major league level.

Now that Leblanc is gone, the question is, who will take his roster spot?

We can see that having an eighth reliever is not necessary, so I am assuming that a position player will be added. Based on who is currently in AAA, Brett Wallace appears to be the likely option. And Wallace certainly deserves it.

The first baseman did have a brutal start to the season batting .042 in seven games, which earned him the trip to Oklahoma City. However all he has done since arriving there, is hit. Wallace has a .323 average to go with 11 HR and 37 RBI. It makes sense to give Wallace another chance at the major league level, and this is as good a time as any.

Before you know it Jonathan Singleton and George Springer will be here. So while Singleton gets a little more seasoning in AAA, I think Wallace deserves one more chance. Unless of course he just thinks Singleton is ready now.