The Astros are still chasing an answer for one of the same roster problems that has followed them for much of the past year: finding an outfielder who can handle left-handed pitching.
After being linked over the weekend to Austin Hays and Jorge Soler, Houston has gone a different direction and taken a waiver claim on Nelson Velázquez, the former Cubs prospect now coming over from the St. Louis Cardinals.
The move was first reported by Chandler Rome of The Athletic. To clear space on the 40-man roster, the Astros designated Shay Whitcomb for assignment.
Velázquez is a right-handed hitter with real pop, and that was the trait that made him stand out as he climbed through Chicago’s system. The Cubs never had much room for him, which eventually led to a trade to the Kansas City Royals during the 2023 season. He flashed right away in Kansas City, blasting 14 home runs in 40 games, but the consistency never really held in 2024.
His path since then has been a little more familiar than flashy. Velázquez spent the 2025 season split between the Triple-A affiliates of the Royals and Pirates before getting back to the majors this year with St.
Louis. The power showed up again - he hit 4 home runs in 34 games - but so did the swing-and-miss, with a strikeout rate north of 30%.
For Houston, the appeal is obvious enough. Velázquez has a career .739 OPS against left-handed pitching, along with a 105 wRC+. That makes him a plausible bench weapon in a very specific role, and at this stage of the season, the Astros are clearly willing to take that kind of shot.
Still, it’s hard to miss the pattern. Dana Brown has kept circling back to low-cost, high-variance fixes instead of landing a more established answer for the outfield. Velázquez fits that mold exactly: a right-handed bat who might help in a narrow lane, but doesn’t offer much beyond that.
The claim on Velázquez also appears to take Houston out of the mix for Jorge Soler. And if that’s the tradeoff, it says plenty about where the Astros are right now - still looking for temporary solutions, still hoping one of these bets finally sticks.
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