The Astros have re-signed right-hander Tayler Scott to a minor league deal, reports Chandler Rome of The Athletic. Rome adds that Scott is already with Triple-A Sugar Land. In the past week, he was designated for assignment by the Diamondbacks and then elected free agency.
Scott and the Astros also linked up on a minor league deal going into the 2024 season. That turned out to be quite a successful arrangement. He made the club’s Opening Day roster and went on to make 62 appearances for Houston last year, logging 68 2/3 innings with a 2.23 earned run average. That ERA was at least partially misleading. His 25.2% strikeout rate and 42.4% ground ball rate were fine figures but he walked 12.4% of batters faced. He got a lot of help from a .230 batting average on balls in play and 84.9% strand rate.
His luck turned this year. In 16 2/3 innings with the Astros to start the year, his BABIP jumped to .313 and his strand rate fell to 65.2%. He also didn’t do himself any favors by having his walk rate jump to 15.4% and his strikeout rate fall to 20.5%. Those factors all helped him post a 5.40 ERA through mid-May.
Since he is out of options, the Astros designated him for assignment at that time, which led him to the Diamondbacks. He got into nine games with that club but allowed nine earned runs. He improved his walk rate but struck out fewer opponents. He got bumped off that club’s roster and returned to the open market.
Put together, Scott has an unpleasant 6.66 ERA in 25 2/3 innings on the year. But for the Astros, it’s a guy they are familiar with and there’s no such thing as a bad minor league deal. He’ll provide them with some non-roster bullpen depth and try to get in good form with the Space Cowboys.
Photo courtesy of Thomas Shea, Imagn Images