3:15pm: The Astros have officially selected Cole, per Matt Kawahara of The Houston Chronicle. Salazar has been optioned to Triple-A as the corresponding active roster move. To open a 40-man spot, righty Luis Garcia has been transferred to the 60-day injured list. Garcia just landed on the 15-day IL this week due to elbow discomfort, so his season is over. It was already ominous that he landed on the IL at all since he missed over two years due to elbow issues and just recently returned. This quick move to the 60-day IL doesn’t do anything to improve the outlook.
9:57am: The Astros are calling up outfielder Zach Cole for tonight’s series opener in Atlanta, reports Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. Houston will need to select his contract and make corresponding moves for both the active and 40-man rosters.
Cole was a 10th-round pick out of Ball State in 2022. He had a rare power-speed combination for a hitter selected that late in the draft, especially one out of college. That reflected significant trepidation on the part of scouts about Cole’s pure hitting ability. He has posted alarming whiff rates throughout his minor league career, but his bottom line production has been strong at every stop.
The left-handed hitting Cole has a .249/.357/.469 slash over parts of four minor league seasons. That includes a .279/.377/.539 showing with 19 homers and 18 stolen bases in 97 games this year. Cole has spent the bulk of the year in Double-A. Houston just promoted him to Triple-A two weeks ago. He was then slated to head to the Arizona Fall League but instead forced his way to the majors by hitting .353 with five homers in his first 15 Triple-A contests.
Cole’s breakout season has still come with a strikeout rate above 35%. It’s very difficult to find consistent success with that level of swing-and-miss, which will presumably only increase against big league pitching. Houston won’t need to play him on an everyday basis though. Cole can cover all three outfield positions and brings an intriguing toolset to Joe Espada’s bench.
Houston called up César Salazar a couple weeks ago when Victor Caratini was down with a concussion. Salazar has stuck on the active roster since Caratini returned but isn’t playing much. Cole could provide more speed and pop off the bench. Taylor Trammell hasn’t hit well (.202/.302/.349 in 48 games) as a lefty-hitting fourth outfielder, so the Astros could also swap him out for Cole. They’d need to designate him for assignment to do that, as Trammell is out of minor league options.