The Astros today have selected the contract of infielder Zack Short. He takes the active roster spot of fellow infielder Luis Guillorme, who has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a right hamstring strain. Outfielder/designated hitter Yordan Alvarez has been transferred to the 60-day IL to open a 40-man spot for Short. Chandler Rome of The Athletic was among those to relay the moves.
Short, 30, signed a minor league deal with the Astros in the offseason. He didn’t make the club out of camp and has been playing for Triple-A Sugar Land this year. He has stepped to the plate 320 times for the Space Cowboys with a strong 17.5% walk rate and 12 home runs. He’s been held back by a .239 batting average on balls in play, however, leading to a .211/.356/.402 line and 103 wRC+.
In the past few weeks, the Astros have lost infielders Jeremy Peña, Brendan Rodgers and Zach Dezenzo to the injured list. That got Guillorme called up to the majors to serve a depth infielder role. Now that Guillorme is following those others to the IL, Short will get a return to the big leagues.
Short has appeared in 221 major league games in his career, mostly with the Tigers. He bounced around to the three infield positions to the left of first base and also had some brief time in the outfield, but hit just .167/.269/.287. He has hit better on the farm, with a .222/.360/.388 line and 105 wRC+ since the minors were cancelled in 2020.
As for Alvarez, his move is simply procedural and doesn’t change anything about his timeline. He was placed on the 10-day IL on May 3rd due to right hand inflammation. His 60-day count is retroactive to that date, so it’s already been 60 days. In other words, he’s eligible for reinstatement at any point. It’s unclear when he will realistically be able to return, however. It was eventually discovered that he has a fracture in his ring finger. It was reported yesterday that he’s still experiencing soreness and will be seeing a specialist to determine his next steps.
Photo courtesy of Reinhold Matay, Imagn Images