Houston Astros: September call-ups to join Club Astros

Who got called up?

Jul 10, 2015; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Houston Astros relief pitcher Joe Thatcher (54) throws a pitch during the seventh inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. Tampa Bay Rays defeated the Houston Astros 3-1. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Joe Thatcher

Thatcher was up with the Astros earlier in the season but was put on waivers to get him off of the 40-man roster to make room for Vincent Velasquez earlier in the season. Thatcher clear waivers and became a free agent, but choose to return to the Astros minors once he was well rested. Now he rejoins the Astros at the expense of Jake Buchanan. What does he offer the Astros in September, a third leftie out of the bullpen? Should he out-pitch Oliver Perez in September, maybe he could make the postseason roster.

With Astros 2015: 1-3/ 3.79 ERA/ 22 strikeouts in 19 innings.

With Fresno Grizzles 2015: 0-0/ 1.04 ERA/ ten strikeouts in 8 2/3 innings.

Josh Fields

Josh Fields did not deserve to be sent down by the Astros, but due to an overused bullpen. Fields was the only bullpen member who had options, so he was sent to Fresno for the 10 day minimum and was recalled as a September call-up yesterday. He has been a big part of the team this season, so he has a greater chance of making the postseason roster, but Velasquez might be forcing his way onto the team. Scott Feldman‘s injury could change this, but that is down the road. Ironically, Fields was sent down in favor of Velasquez ten days ago, ten degrees of separation of VV.

With Astros 2015: 4-1/ 2.20 ERA/ 54 strikeouts in 41 innings.

With Fresno Grizzles 2015: 0-0/ 3.00 ERA/ four strikeouts in six innings.

Jonathan Villar

Villar is back Astros fans, so hopefully he can stay focused in critical games down the stretch in September. The good news is that he showed the player that he can potentially be in his time with Fresno with a decent average mixed with extreme speed on the bases. However, Villar has still has struggled with defense, especially at shortstop with 15 errors at Triple-A. Why have Villar on this team, because he could be a speedy player to pinch run for the speedsters such as Evan Gattis, Chris Carter, and Hank Conger late in the game. How much do you see Villar playing shortstop with that Carlos Correa kid there?

With Astros 2015: .263/ 1 HR/ 7 RBI/ 4 SB.

With Fresno Grizzles 2015: .271/ 5 HR/ 32 RBI/ 35 SB.

Next: Who could join the team soon?