Who Will The Astros Call Up As Rosters Expand?

With roster expansion taking place tomorrow, excitement abounds. Across the big leagues, highly touted prospects will make their debuts after being called up. 

We’ll see two make their debuts this week in Houston, as the Yankees have called up Jason Dominguez and Austin Wells. 

But what do the Astros do? Will they call up one of their prospects that haven’t gotten a shot yet with the big league club, or will we see a few more of the AAAA players that have fluctuated between Houston and Sugar Land all season? 

As exciting as it may be to see the debut of a Spencer Arrighetti, or even a once touted prospect that had gotten hot again in the form of Pedro Leon, the Astros likely won’t make a splash in their moves. 

The Astros are likely to recall Brandon Bielak and Grae Kessinger.

When deciding on what arm to promote, they’ll likely bring up a long arm that can either start or come out of the bullpen in Brandon Bielak, Shawn Dubin or Ronel Blanco. 

Bielak and his 3.83 ERA has been the best of the three this year. Blanco is also complicated because he has already been optioned four times. Were he to be optioned again, he’d be subject to waivers. If Houston calls him up, they have to keep him up. 

Dubin has remaining options and can be sent down again. 

Pedro Leon is the most enticing position player prospect of guys that could contribute right away. He’s no longer one of the Astros highest rated prospects, but appears to have finally put all of his tools together. He’s hitting .252 with an .806 OPS in AAA this season. He can play both infield and outfield, but with a great amount of swing and miss in his game, it’s unlikely he gets the call. 

It’s likely the position player the Astros call up is either Corey Julks or Grae Kessinger. Neither will move a needle, but both could offer at least some semblance of depth. 

With Michael Brantley back, the Astros now have a great deal of depth in the outfield, likely swinging the pendulum in the favor of Kessinger.