3 Astros prospects that could get called up and help Houston in the second half

Justin Dirden

While the Astros were able to add Verlander to bolster their starting rotation and the moves to acquire Kendall Graveman gave them some bullpen depth, the one thing they weren't able to address is adding a real bat to their outfield ranks (preferably a left-handed one). The primary issue there was that there weren't many bats of note that even fit that profile available at the trade deadline to begin with.

Sure, the Astros could have probably pried away some lesser lefty bench outfielder from someone, but Houston needed a quality bat and those were in extremely short supply. However, they could have the answer in their organization already in minor league outfielder Justin Dirden.

Dirden fits the mold as a lefty hitting outfielder with some real power to his pull side. After hitting 15 homers in 83 games during his first season as a pro, Dirden put up 24 big flies between Double-A and Triple-A last year. As an added bonus, he is also a capable outfielder who can play all three outfield positions without any difficulty.

There are some questions with Dirden, though. His hit tool has been exposed a bit in Triple-A as he is hitting just .245 this season. He draws a decent number of walks, but there is a fair amount of swing and miss in his game which could be problematic once he gets to the big leagues.

The way Dirden could work for the Astros in the second half is if he was brought up strictly as a platoon outfield option. While he is often pretty helpless against lefty starters, he mashes righties which is an area that Houston could theoretically need some help with down the stretch. If he gets on a roll here soon, don't be surprised if Houston gives him a look in the big leagues as a platoon option in the outfield.