Latest round of Astros spring roster cuts provides clarity to outfield roster battle

The Houston Astros' outfield has gotten a lot of attention this spring. Obviously the biggest storyline is Jose Altuve's move to left field, but there's a lot of pressure on team's outfielders now that Kyle Tucker is no longer in the picture. Chas McCormick and Jake Meyers are both coming off — what we will kindly call less-than-stellar seasons at the plate — and the team should be keeping their eyes open for other options.

The options outside of McCormick and Meyers were already shallow coming into spring training. The Astros brought back Ben Gamel to compete for playing time and prospects such as Jacob Melton, Zach Dezenzo, Pedro Leon, and Kenedy Corona could all factor into the conversation as well. Taylor Trammell was also in the mix, but got hurt almost immediately and is going to be out for a while.

Melton is far and away the most highly-regarded prospect in the group, and there was some hope that he would show enough during camp to force the Astros to consider adding him to the Opening Day roster. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to do so. Melton was among the Astros' spring roster cuts on Monday.

Jacob Melton among latest wave of Astros spring training roster cuts

While there is no shortage of those who believe the Astros should give Melton a shot rather than watch Meyers and/or McCormick flail around, this was always the most likely outcome. Despite his significant raw talent, Melton didn't exactly hit the cover off the ball between Double-A and Triple-A in 2024 (.736 OPS) and never really got a look in spring training this year.

Joining Melton back in minor league camp are Jose Fleury, Miguel Palma, Aaron Brown, and Tommy Sacco Jr. None of these players were realistic candidates for a big league roster spot. It's possible there could be in-season call-ups in the event injury during the season, but even that is a stretch with most of this group.

The Astros seem content to see if McCormick and Meyers can figure something out this season. McCormick was really good in 2023 and it is perhaps worth giving him another shot to see if he can stay healthy and replicate that success again. However, if either of those players struggle early on and Melton is tearing the cover off the ball down in the minors, don't be shocked if the Astros decide to make a change.

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