A.J. Reed Waits For Another Chance In Houston

It’s not a great time to be a Triple-A position player for the Astros.

Consider, for instance, the case of first baseman A.J. Reed.

Entering the 2016 season, Reed ranked as the No. 72 prospect in baseball. Last year, he slugged 34 home runs at Triple-A Fresno to lead the Pacific Coast League.

The 24-year-old Reed has yet to establish himself in the majors and still must cut down on his propensity to swing and miss. But in many organizations, he would have already gotten an extended chance to sink or swim. With the reigning World Series champions, who had the best offense in baseball last year, opportunities are scarce.

Reed’s position with the Astros is blocked by Yuli Gurriel, who’s under contract with the team for three more seasons.

What, then, is Reed’s future with the team?

“He’s obviously put together a good resume in Triple A,” general manager Jeff Luhnow said at the Winter Meetings. “It just wasn’t translating to the big leagues his first couple of times up.

“I’m interested to see how he plays in the spring and going into (the 2018 season). I don’t see a spot for him on the big league team unless someone gets hurt. But I do think the adjustments that we saw him make in the second half of last year give me a lot of optimism about him being successful at the big leagues the next time he gets a shot up there.”

Reed, a lefthanded batter who is listed at 6-foot-4, 275 pounds, had went 0-for-6 with the Astros last season and did not receive a September callup despite being on the 40-man roster. In 2016, he batted a dismal .164 with a .532 OPS with Houston while striking out nearly 35 percent of the time.

A 2014 second-round pick out of Kentucky, Reed truly did finish strong in 2017 by hitting 10 homers in July and 11 in August. Perhaps a strong showing this spring will put him on the radar for DH at-bats, but it appears he needs much to go his way to even get a chance at making an impact.