At around 1 AM on August 16th, KPRC anchor and sport reporter Ari Alexander took to X to announce that the Astros had called up one of their top prospects, infielder Shay Whitcomb. The corresponding move was not announced but a player will be sent down to give him a spot today in preparation for today’s game. A 5th round draft pick in the 2020 draft, Whitcomb is coming up in the midst of his best year in the bigs yet.
He started the 2023 season in Double-A, where he was hitting .273, before getting called up to Triple-A to finish out the season. It was there where he saw a spike in power but a dip in contact. In his 87 games for the Space Cowboys, he hit .224 and struck out 122 times, but hit 23 bombs and drove in 66.
This year, he started back in Triple-A and put it all together. Currently .293 with 25 bombs, 19 doubles and 91 RBIs in 108 games, his bat is one of the strongest in Triple-A this year after coming off a season where he led all Astros minor leaguers in homers with 35.
There is no clear spot that he is thought to come up and fill. He has played at least 10 games in four different defensive positions, and six games at first, so there is no position he is coming up for exactly.