Houston Astros: Talking Stros Thinks It’s Tony Kemp Time

Who is the Houston Astros TBA player to be promoted soon?

Following the devastating Houston Astros’ loss to the Boston Red Sox, the Astros announced a few roster moves before today’s off day. Erik Kratz has been released/optioned, the outcome has not been announced at the time of writing this post. With Evan Gattis returning and Preston Tucker going down to Triple-A, a corresponding move has to be made. The move I think will happen would require a 40-man roster spot, so Kratz should be a DFA target.

While I’m not going to talk that much about the moves that were made, you can read that here: The Latest Roster Moves. I wanted to focus on what we discussed last night on Talking Stros concerning who this TBA player who would be called up to face the Chicago White Sox Tuesday? Initially, we were choosing between Danny Worth and Tony Kemp with an outside chance of Colin Moran.

The reason we were considering Worth was the fact that Marwin Gonzalez was not able to put pressure on his foot after the foul ball off the top of his foot during Saturday night’s game. If Marwin can’t go with the next few games, you need someone with the ability to play middle infield if the situation presents itself.

More from Climbing Tal's Hill

• Just how much better is the Houston Astros playoff rotation than the rest?
• Houston Astros: A Lineup Change to Spark Offense
• Astros prospect Hunter Brown throws 6 shutout innings in debut
• Always faithful Astros World Series champion Josh Reddick defends the title
• Michael Conforto declines Astros’ 2-year, $30 million offer

However, Brian McTaggart said that he spoke to Marwin after the game today, and he stated that he couldn’t put any pressure on his foot, but the X-Ray results were negative. It is just a bruise, so it’s nothing to be too concerned about. McTaggart did clarify that it will be a position player because they already have 13 pitchers on the 25-roster.

Even thought McTaggart said he spent two hours trying to figure out who was coming, he seemed to believe in my original thought that the player that would come up would be Kemp. While Kemp is not the slugging player that the Astros are used to seeing in the lineup, but he is an on-base run-scoring machine. One year in the minors he scored 121 runs.

Put Kemp as the ninth hitter in the lineup when he plays, he could be the player that Jake Marisnick was supposed to be like the second leadoff guy batting ninth. If Kemp can get on base and get into scoring position in front of Jose Altuve, George Springer, and Carlos Correa.

McTaggart did caution us that we can’t put all the eggs into the Kemp basket and expect him to turn the whole season around. He used the example of Tyler White, if they perform, great, but you can’t rely on them too much. Not every player is like Correa, who can carry a team, but maybe he can give this team an adrenaline shot at the least.

Kemp currently has a slash line .299/ .410/ .410/ .820 with one homer and 17 runs scored with four steals. I think that Kemp’s stolen base numbers are low right now, but offers 20-25 stolen bases ability when he reaches the majors.

It makes the most sense that it would be Kemp, see what he has to offer the Astros with his ability to score runs. While he has been groomed as a second baseman, he has played the outfield the past few seasons. He is not a slouch in the outfield, last year Jeff Luhnow Tweeted two highlight plays by Kemp in the outfield.

Next: Astros: The Latest Roster Moves

The question is, where would Kemp play, the Astros already have Colby Rasmus, Carlos Gomez, and Springer with Marisnick in the background. With Gattis returning as the backup catcher, his everyday status may be done as DH because of the DH rules when the player has to switch to a position, and the team loses the DH. You could see Rasmus or Gomez play a little more at DH. If it is Kemp, he will play two out of three games while he is up.

***Stats from Baseball-Reference***