Astros have turned Chas McCormick’s situation into a frustrating mess

The Houston Astros have done Chas McCormick no favors this season. Since the calendar flipped to May, the Astros' outfielder has appeared in eight games with seven total plate appearances and zero hits. Does Houston even have a plan here?

McCormick may not be a starting-caliber outfielder at this time, but treating him like a Quadruple-A player is downright insulting. No player, regardless of how good (or bad) they are, is going to find any semblance of of rhythm if they're given the type of playing time McCormick is receiving right now.

Houston needs to either find more opportunities to get McCormick's bat into the lineup or send him down to Triple-A Sugar Land. If they want to take an even more extreme position — which some Astros fans might celebrate — they could just designate McCormick for assignment and move on altogether. Regardless of which route they choose, it has to be better than what the Astros are doing right now.

Astros have turned Chas McCormick’s situation into a frustrating mess

Houston has been giving Cam Smith on-the-job training in right field while at the same time riding the hot-hand of Jake Meyers and attempting to turn Jose Altuve into a left fielder. Houston also has rookie Zach Dezenzo attempting to prove himself this season with a .250/.372/.444 slash line during the month of May.

All the while, McCormick has appeared in a total of 29 games for the Astros this season and has 30 at-bats. Are you serious? That's the type of role that should be reserved for middling prospect on a September call-up. If Joe Espada doesn't have enough confidence in Smith's defense in the eighth or ninth inning, holding onto McCormick for those minuscule moments is a waste of a roster spot.

Espada gave McCormick a vote of confidence during spring training, but that faith disappeared quicker than a kid eating a cupcake. And whlie Astros fans may be frustrated with McCormick's performance this season, he's been given no chance to succeed.

Perhaps when Yordan Alvarez returns from the injured list, the Astros can do the right thing and option McCormick to Triple-A where he can receive some meaningful at-bats. The smart move, however, would be to option Smith to Triple-A and allow him to work on pitch recognition while allowing McCormick to share outfield duties with Dezenzo. That, however, seems unlikely.

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