Astros Top Prospect Makes Double-A Debut

Houston Astros top prospect Jacob Melton made his Double-A debut on Tuesday as the Corpus Christi Hooks faced the Frisco RoughRiders, the Double-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers.

The Astros promoted Melton from High Class-A Asheville on Monday.

Melton, who recently became the Astros’ No. 1 prospect as rated by MLB.com, batted fifth and played center field for the Hooks.

Melton finished his debut 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.

Melton flew out to center field in the first inning, grounded out in the fourth inning, struck out in the sixth inning and struck out in the ninth inning.

Melton has been at Asheville all season and slashed .244/.338/.453/.791 in 86 games. He hit 16 doubles, one triple, 18 home runs and 42 RBI. He struck out 83 times, walked 48 times and stole 41 bases. He also scored 73 runs.

Melton dealt with some left hamstring discomfort earlier this month and did not play from Aug. 9-21.

He spent 2022 with two different Astros affiliates, starting with the Astros’ Florida Complex League rookie team and then a promotion to Class-A Fayetteville. In 23 combined games he slashed .261/.353/.466/.819 with four home runs and 13 RBI.

Melton was the Astros’ second-round pick last July, selected out of Oregon State University, and paid him a $1 million signing bonus. With the Beavers in 2022, he was the Pac-12 Conference Player of the Year as he slashed .360/.424/.670 with 17 home runs, 22 steals and set school records for total bases (175) and RBI (83).

Before going to Oregon State, Melton started his collegiate career at Linn-Benton Community College in Oregon in 2019. After that, he went to Oregon State and had his 2020 season canceled by the COVID-19 pandemic and his 2021 season cut short by an injury to his non-throwing shoulder.