This Astros prospect is fumbling very clear path to make Houston’s Opening Day roster

As everything crumbled around the Houston Astros' playoff chase last September, the club seemed to receive a knockout punch when Yordan Alvarez went down with a sprained ankle. With nowhere else to turn, the club called up little-known prospect Zach Cole, hoping to catch lightning in a bottle.

That's exactly what happened. With no viable left-handed threat in the lineup, Cole began doing his best Alvarez impersonation. Over the season's final two weeks, the Ball State product balled out, slashing .255/327/.553 with four homers and three stolen bases over 15 games. It wasn't enough to get Houston over the hump, but none of the blame could be cast in Cole's direction.

That sizzling cup of coffee put him on the map to win a starting job in the Astros' outfield this spring. Somehow, despite the knowledge that it was a glaring flaw, the club failed to acquire a competent left-handed bat all winter. With both corner outfield spots up in the air, it seemed as if the 25-year-old had the inside track.

Cole began the spring with quite a few rockets, turning in impressive exit velocities that unfortunately yielded little in the way of actual results. At the time, it was a race to the bottom with him and fellow left-handed hitter Joey Loperfido, battling promising sophomore Cam Smith, a right-handed hitter, for the two open outfield spots. No one had distinguished themselves, keeping Cole alive in the chase despite the lack of actual production.

Now, less than two weeks from Opening Day, Cole still has nothing to show for the loud contact, and he could be running out of time to prove himself despite what looked like a wide-open lane to the end zone.

Zach Cole's poor spring training is torpedoing any shot of making the Astros roster

Cole has now played in 10 spring contests, logging 29 plate appearances and slashing just .136/.310/.273. He's gone yard once, stolen four bases, and has posted a 17.2% walk rate, but is still struggling to consistently produce despite high exit velocities.

Meanwhile, Loperfido and Smith, both of whom also struggled at the start of camp, are turning it on. Loperfido has hit .259/.355/.407 with a dinger in 11 games as he tries to carve out a role in his second stint in Houston. Smith hasn't quite reached last spring's sensational performance, but he's been plenty good with a .320/.414/.600 line over 10 games.

The biggest issue Cole faces is one that has plagued him his entire pro career. The toolsy outfielder has electric skills, but big holes in his swing that have caused chronic strikeout issues. He's striking out 34.5% of the time during this warmup period, and that comes on the heels of a 35.5% strikeout rate between Corpus Christi and Sugar Land last season, and a 38.5% K-rate during last year's cup of coffee.

The sad truth for Cole is that if he can't figure out how to control his whiffs, his value will be entirely dependent on what happens when he makes contact, and as we've seen, there's only so much control he can exert over the rockets that leave his bat.

The Astros want to contend this season, so they're going to make the best choices to support that goal. While it would be nice for both lefty outfielders to win jobs and provide greater balance to the lineup, that won't happen if Smith (who has a higher ceiling than both) is performing. Meanwhile, if Loperfido is hitting, that takes away the advantage of hitting left-handed from Cole in his bid.

Right now, the most pressing question with Cole isn't whether he can start, but rather whether it is more worthwhile to carry him on the bench or send him down to Sugar Land to continue working through his issues with regular at-bats.

There's still time left for him to change the narrative, but the clock is ticking fast. If he doesn't start hitting immediately, he'll be left out in the cold.