Astros Designate Nelson Velázquez For Assignment

The Astros announced that they have recalled infielder Raynel Delgado from Triple-A Sugar Land. Outfielder Nelson Velázquez has been designated for assignment as the corresponding move.

These moves appear to be related to the status of shortstop Jeremy Peña. Last night, he was hit by a pitch on his hand, as seen in this clip from Baseball Savant. Manager Joe Espada informed reporters today, including Chandler Rome of The Athletic, that an MRI didn’t find any structural damage. Peña is still sore but the club hopes he won’t need a stint on the injured list.

Nick Allen is covering shortstop tonight but the Astros came into today without anyone else on the roster capable of playing the position. If they hadn’t made any roster moves, Allen would have had no cover for as long as Peña was nursing his hand injury, so they have recalled Delgado to put a proper backup on the roster.

Adding an extra infielder has nudged off an outfielder. Velázquez is out of options, so he has been pushed off the 40-man. Houston just claimed him off waivers ten days ago. Since that claim, he has gone hitless in five plate appearances. That’s less than ideal but, as mentioned, this move was surely more about roster maneuvering than that tiny sample of playing time.

Since the trade deadline has passed, Velázquez will have to be placed on waivers. It’s possible he garners interest as a platoon bat, as that was seemingly why the Astros grabbed him. In 88 plate appearances this year, mostly with the Cardinals, he has a subpar .205/.273/.410 line on the whole. However, the righty-swinging Velázquez has four homers on the year, all against lefties. His .186/.269/.441 line against southpaws for the season looks bad but is held down by a tiny .194 batting average on balls in play. Even with that bad luck, the power is enough for a 94 wRC+.

Velázquez doesn’t have huge splits in his career, with a .205/.297/.431 line and 102 wRC+ against lefties compared to a .215/.277/.430 line and 93 wRC+ against righties. He’s a poor defender, so the middling offense has pushed him to fringe roster status. He has exhausted his options and had to settle for a minor league deal with the Cards coming into this year. He has a previous career outright and would have the right to elect free agency if he clears waivers this time.