As fun as Raynel Delgado’s debut has been, the Astros can’t afford to pin their hopes on him

All season long, it's felt like the Houston Astros have been looking for a spark. There have been several players who have looked like they could provide the club the boost it needs, just for the wind to leave their sails as quickly as it came. With ace Hunter Brown returning from the IL, Houston already got one shot in the arm, and newly-acquired infielder Raynel Delgado looked to provide another.

With Brown on the mound for the June 16 matchup against the Detroit Tigers, Delgado came up big with the Astros trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the eighth with a two-run go-ahead single that helped secure the victory.

It's early, but the 26-year-old rookie is 4-for-11 so far and has played with the kind of infectious energy that makes it hard not to root for him. That said, the Tampa Bay Rays rarely lose trades, so while the swap of Delgado for cash considerations comes with very low stakes, it's important to remember that the Rays wouldn't have given away talent for nothing.

Raynel Delgado's Astros debut is likely nothing more than a fun little story

As Houston has struggled to build any kind of consistency this season, fans have looked to grab onto any fleeting glimpse of hope for the future, as much of the aging roster has disappointed.

Unfortunately, the cupboard is pretty bare when it comes to young talent, and the guys who were supposed to be the few youngsters who could provide hope for the future have largely fallen flat.

For example, Brice Matthews looked for a brief moment as if he were turning things around, but after a brief flurry to begin May, he struggled hard again and posted a .550 OPS for the month. So far in June, he's tapped into some more power, slugging .467, but a 29% strikeout rate has led to a .233 batting average and .258 on-base percentage that has muted the improved pop.

Ditto for Cam Smith, who couldn't sustain a brief hot streak and has shown just a modest improvement with a .710 OPS in June.

The failure of those two to be the bright lights of Houston's future has led fans to grab onto any encouraging performance, despite all logic dictating that the surprising signs were merely a mirage. Case in point was Braden Shewmake, whose Astros debut was the talk of the town until he quickly deflated and saw his offensive performance dip to a 79 wRC+ before hitting the IL.

In fact, it was Shewmake's IL stint that paved the way for Delgado in the first place. And while Shewmake has the pedigree of a former top prospect, Delgado does not. The 2018 sixth-round draft pick of the Cleveland Guardians only appeared on a Baseball America top 30 prospects list once, ranking as Cleveland's No. 23 prospect in 2019. Since then, he's toiled in relative obscurity in the minor leagues for the last several years.

Enjoy it while it lasts, but don't get your hopes up. The likely best case scenario for Delgado is as a bench piece, but more than likely, he's organizational depth. He'll have to make the most of every opportunity and produce over a long while to change the opinions of his talent that have been forged over the past eight years.

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