3 prospects who could follow Jacob Melton to the Astros roster very soon

On Sunday, the Houston Astros made the aggressive move to promote top prospect Jacob Melton in large part due to Yordan Alvarez’s hand injury. While somewhat born out of necessity, Melton’s promotion is a good sign that the Astros’ front office is willing to do their part to make sure that they’re going to take advantage of this year’s weakened American League West. 

The Astros may not be done dipping into the minor league ranks for help in the majors. Here are three promotions the Astros should make to help improve their roster as we head into June.

3 prospects who could follow Jacob Melton to Astros roster shortly

INF Brice Matthews

First off is Matthews, who is ranked as the Astros’ No; 1 prospect and is currently playing with Triple-A Sugar Land. The 23-year-old is hitting .264 with six home runs in 45 with Sugar Land, and hit for the cycle earlier this year. 

While he’s not a complete product in the field (he’s mostly played at second base this year) and isn’t a complete hitter (he’s struggled against breaking balls this year), it’s about time for the Astros to give him a chance.

Brendan Rodgers isn’t the answer at second base, and the lineup could use an injection of life after a subpar first two months.

RHP Miguel Ullola

The Astros starting rotation took a huge blow in May when the team announced that Ronel Blanco will undergo season-ending surgery. While Blanco wasn’t setting the world on fire when he was in the rotation, the Astros are simply running out of arms. 

While Framber Valdez and Hunter Brown are both authoring Cy Young-caliber seasons, they’re the only Astros’ starters who have an OPS+ above 100. 

Enter Ullola, who has a 3.08 ERA in 38 innings in the hitter-happy Pacific Coast League. He allowed one run across five innings with seven strikeouts on Wednesday, and has already been named the PCL Pitcher of the Week twice this year. 

Most MLB scouts and industry insiders have made it seem like his MLB future could be in the bullpen because of his profile, but the Astros should give him a shot to see how he holds up in their rotation.

RHP AJ Blubaugh

Blubaugh made his MLB debut with the Astros earlier this year and allowed two earned runs in four innings, and it’s time for him to get another shot with the big league club. 

All of this comes with the caveat that he hasn’t had much success in the minors lately. After posting a 3.96 ERA in April, he had an unsightly 9.28 ERA in 21 1/3 innings in May in Triple-A. 

Still, Blubaugh does have a 97 mile per hour fastball and the build and intangibles that are a pitching coach’s dream. Blubaugh could easily slot into the bullpen and fit into the right-handed low-leverage role currently occupied by Forrest Whitley. 

The Astros are ninth in bullpen ERA this year (3.42 ERA) despite having a revolving door at the end of the ‘pen. Blubaugh could help provide them with some much-needed stability in that regard.