Houston Astros: Plugging in the Astros first base/DH Holes

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Option 3: Jon Singleton

Aug 17, 2014; Boston, MA; Houston Astros first baseman Jon Singleton (28) rounds the bases after hitting a home run against the Boston Red Sox during the ninth inning at Fenway Park. The Astros defeated the Red Sox 8-1. Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

3. Jon Singleton

2016 AGE: 24

2016 SALARY: $2M (Signed Through 2018 with Team Options for 2019-2021)

Another lightning rod among the fans, Singleton went down to Fresno out of spring training after a miserable .168/.285/.335 showing across a 95-game rookie season in 2014. Early last season, he was signed to a controversial long-term contract immediately before being recalled, one that was discussed primarily because Singleton took very little guaranteed money ($10M) in exchange for a low baseline of security long-term. The Astros now have six more seasons of control of Singleton, with affordable options through his first year of free-agent eligibility (though now that may work out to be his final year of arbitration after he accumulated very little service time in 2015).

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Singleton has mashed in Triple-A. Mashed. His difficulty with lefties kept his overall 2015 line out of the stratosphere, but he hit .293/.414/.602 in 314 plate appearances vs. RHP. His BB/K of 55/62 also suggests stellar control of the strike zone against opposite-hand pitching.

In a brief stint with the big club, Singleton hit .205/.321/.318 across 53 plate appearances. Hinch seemed reluctant to use him and often hit him eighth in the order when he did. After the Gomez trade, Singleton went to Triple-A and Carter spent August on the bench.

If you believe that those Triple-A numbers have any merit, you have to believe Singleton to be the best 1B/DH option vs. RHP on the current 40-man roster. I subscribe to this notion and am consistently frustrated that he’s been buried. Beyond the team’s current malaise offensively, my fear is Singleton will be shipped out in the off-season as a “change of scenery” guy, only to emerge as a consistent 30 HR player with .350+ on-base percentages for someone else. As a mid-payroll team at best, the Astros need to keep their homegrown talent producing at home throughout their 20s (Domingo Santana is killing it in Milwaukee if anybody has noticed).