Astros to promote former top prospect despite rough showing in Triple-A

It wasn't that long ago that Kenedy Corona was a hot shot prospect in the Houston Astros farm system. He put together two very solid offensive seasons in 2022 and 2023 and the Astros thought enough of Corona to add him to their 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft. Unfortunately, that hype had seemed like a distant memory lately....until today.

Unfortunately, 2024 was a down year for Corona despite getting the bump to Triple-A anyways and 2025 was not looking much better. In 76 games this season, Corona has only managed a .228/.315/.351 line and sure didn't seem like a big league promotion candidate anytime soon.

However, things have clearly changed and after a pretty strong stretch of play later, it does look like that Corona is finally getting his shot at the big leagues. His spot came about because Christian Walker was just placed on paternity leave.

Astros to promote outfielder Kenedy Corona after rough ride in the high minors

While Corona's numbers the last couple of years have not been great, he did have the inside track of being both healthy as well as already being on the 40-man roster. Despite his struggles at the plate, Corona has continued to be a strong defender in the outfield and should, at minimum, provide real value out in the grass even if his bat continues to lag behind.

However, Corona doesn't really address the Astros' lineup balance problem. The Houston offense will still probably perform fine whether or not he hits, but he is a righty bat and that means the Astros are still going to be on the hunt for a lefty bat or at least hoping that Yordan Alvarez and/or Jacob Meltonget healthy in a hurry.

In short, fans should temper their expectations with Corona especially at the start. While he certainly still has some name recognition, his bat has not kept up with his promotions and he is likely to experience some speed bumps early on in the big leagues.

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