Ben Gamel and Jason Heyward gave Houston’s offense a late-season shot in the arm.
Throughout the 2024 offseason, I’ll be digging into the 2024 stats of every player to wear Houston’s uniform in this just-past season. The methodology for ranking order is simple: OPS+ or ERA+ times BF or PA, respectively. All players are then ordered on the product of their two respective variables. Here’s what has already been over:
55. Grae Kessinger
54. Cooper Hummel
53. Pedro Leon
52. Aledmys Diaz
51. Jacob Ayama
50. Wander Suero
49. Miguel Diaz
48. Dylan Coleman
47. Forrest Whitley
46. Blair Henley
45. Joel Kuhnel
44. Jose Abréu
43. Alex Speas
42. Luis Contreras
41. Nick Hernandez
40. Parker Mushinski
39. Jake Bloss
38. Shay Whitcomb
37. Cesar Salazar
36. Zach Dezenzo
35. Héctor Neris
34. Brandon Bielak
33. Trey Cabbage
32. J.P. France
31. Jason Heyward
Coming in at number 30 is late-season Houston addition Ben Gamel.
Gamel is a five-foot-10, 180 lb. left-handed throwing and hitting outfielder from Neptune Beach, FL. Born on May 17, 1992, he was initially drafted in the 10th round of the 2010 draft by the New York Yankees. He played six games for the Bombers in 2016 in his major league debut, and has since played in a total of 703 games between them, the Seattle Mariners, the Milwaukee Brewers, the Cleveland Indians, the Pittsburgh Pirates, the San Diego Padres, and the New York Mets. On August 20, the Astros claimed Ben off waivers from the Mets.
The Astros needed Gamel’s services due to injury and performance issues from Houston’s stable of outfielders, including a three-month hiatus of Kyle Tucker, Chas McCormick treading the Mendoza line for the majority of the campaign, and Jake Meyers hot-and-cold disappearing act.
Between August 22 and September 14, Gamel appeared in 20 of Houston’s 22 contests, He had his biggest positive impact in his debut against the Baltimore Orioles on August 22, when he was two-for-three with a walk, a run, and a pair of RBI in a 6-0 Houston win.
Gamel went on to collect multiple hits in three of his first seven Houston games, going 10-for-23. On August 30, Gamel led off the third inning against the Kansas City Royals with a solo shot to open the scoring in an eventual 3-2 Houston victory, to date his only Astros home run.
In total, Gamel was 15-for-58 with three doubles and a homer. He scored 13 runs and drove in four, drawing bases on balls 11 times while striking out 17 times. He did not attempt a steal, and played 155 innings between the two corners of the outfield without an error, making 32 putouts but no assists.
According to Baseball Savant, Gamel’s expected statline of .263/.347/.376 was within shouting distance of his actual .247/.384/.333 line. Ben ranks in the 73rd percentile in terms of outfield arm strength, with a mark of 87.7 MPH. Gamel’s also a dead-red fastball hitter, with an expected slash of .307/.348/.430 against assorted opposing fastballs.
On September 15, Gamel was placed on the injured list after hurting his left leg, and was eventually diagnosed with a broken leg. Houston granted his free agency on Halloween, but Gamel was just the shot in the arm that the Astros needed, when they needed it. They could do far worse than offering him a Spring Training invitation as an NRI at the very least.