Zach Cole injury just made Astros biggest weakness impossible to ignore

The thought throughout the offseason and early days of spring training was that the Houston Astros were going to give Zach Cole an extended run in the outfield . At one point, it was part of the reason the team was exploring potential trades of Jake Meyers.

Instead, Cole struggled during spring training, the Astros brought back Joey Loperfido, and the two swapped spots on the Opening Day roster. It's going to be some time before Astros fans see Cole back with the big-league club. He suffered a broken toe at Triple-A Sugar Land this weekend, and has been ruled out indefinitely.

Cole is viewed as the Astros' No. 11 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline, but the question has been over the potential of his bat. He had 20 strikeouts in 50 plate appearances during spring training. Not exactly the impressive run he had with the Astros last year, in a small sample size, hitting 4 home runs with a wRC+ of 142 in 52 plate appearances.

The general timeline for a broken toe injury is 4-6 weeks. That would take Cole through May, and for the Astros, the injury is a reminder that their outfield depth is pretty thin at the moment.

Astros' outfield picture looks murky after Zach Cole's injury

Through the opening week of the regular season, Joe Espada has routinely penciled in a lineup that includes Loperfido in left field, Meyers in center field, and Cam Smith in right field. Brice Matthews will also get starts in left field depending on the matchup, but by the end of spring training, it was clear that the Astros were thin in the outfield.

Like Cole, Zach Dezenzo is also on the IL, and veteran Shay Whitcomb is on an option assignment. With Houston preferring to keep Yordan Álvarez as the team's DH, suddenly, the Astros have run out of depth options in the outfield.

The lack of depth is a reminder that the Astros haven't quite addressed the need they have had over the last couple of years. General manager Dana Brown hasn't been shy about suggesting the Astros have been in search of a left-handed hitting outfielder, and that was the case even after the team brought back Loperfido during spring training.

Cole should be back on the field before long, which is important, considering the Astros will need to know what they have in him before the end of the season.