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The Houston Astros made a roster move on Monday, but it's probably not the one that most fans wanted to see. Houston recalled Trey Cabbage to the big league roster and optioned top prospect Pedro León back to Triple-A Sugar Land. Unfortunately, that means that Chas McCormick still has a spot on the Astros' active roster.
While the move can certainly be justified with León's 47.6% strikeout rate and .243 OPS through his first seven games in the big leagues, let's not pretend as if McCormick has offered much more over the past month.
While McCormick isn't striking out anywhere close to the frequency of León, the 29-year-old is just 2-for-32 since August 1st, and both hits were singles. If you want to grab an even bigger sample size, McCormick is hitting .149/.232/.189 with a wRC+ of just 27 since July 1st. Frankly, there's no reason for McCormick or León to occupy a spot in the lineup at the moment, but Astros fans would prefer to see the rookie get more opportunities.
The Astros should have optioned Chas McCormick instead of Pedro León
León started the first three games upon his promotion earlier this month. But a lack of understanding of the strike zone and numerous swings and misses led to him occupying a bench spot. There's just too big of a hole in León's swing at the moment to keep him on the big league roster.
TODAY’S ROSTER MOVE:
— Houston Astros (@astros) August 19, 2024
The Astros have recalled OF Trey Cabbage from Triple A Sugar Land. He takes the roster spot of OF Pedro León, who was optioned to Triple A.
And while Astros fans won't like it, until Kyle Tucker returns from the injured list, McCormick is still likely to remain on the roster. Though McCormick's bat has been colder than a penguin's tuxedo, he's at least worth 2 defensive runs saved (DRS) in the outfield this season and 5 outs above average (OAA) according to Baseball Savant.
McCormick may have survived for now, but that doesn't mean that manager Joe Espada needs to put him in the lineup. The 'Stros outfield alignment should consist of Cabbage, Mauricio Dubón, and Jake Meyers until Tucker returns from the IL.