ARLINGTON, Texas — On Sept. 6, 2023, the Houston Astros ended a three-day evisceration of their intrastate rivals. The Astros hit a franchise record 16 home runs and outscored the Texas Rangers by 29 runs during the sort of series that spurs drastic action.
The reeling Rangers found themselves in third place and three games back of first place in a division they led for 148 of the season’s first 149 days. Right fielder Adolis García injured his knee in the series finale against the Astros, too, deflating a club already careening toward disaster.
Replacing him on the roster fell to a 20-year-old outfielder without a major-league at-bat. Evan Carter profiled as a piece of Texas’ future, but had played just eight games above Double A. Rosters expanded five days earlier, but the Rangers did not summon him, perhaps signaling an unwillingness to expose Carter to the major leagues so soon.
Rock bottom can prompt radical decisions, so Carter joined the major-league team in García’s place. He hit .306/.413/.645 in his first 75 plate appearances before ascending to stardom in October, offering the sort of spark Texas needed to shake its September swoon.
“Of course he did, there’s no question,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said on Tuesday. “He gave us defense, gave us speed and gave us a bat. He provided power. It was exactly what we needed to help us win a championship.”
To stop a spiral of their own, the Astros took a page from the Rangers’ playbook. Promoting infield prospect Zach Dezenzo on Tuesday underscored an undeniable urgency accompanying this Astros club, one cratering beneath a suddenly strikeout-prone offense showing signs of fatigue.
Zach Dezenzo belted his fourth Triple-A homer of the year on Friday in Round Rock.
Since his promotion to @SLSpaceCowboys, Dezenzo has 15 hits in 9 games and is slashing .415/.512/.833 in that span. pic.twitter.com/WpBQbGR6SQ
— Astros Player Development (@AstrosPlayerDev) August 3, 2024
Injecting new energy felt imperative. Dezenzo arrived in Arlington on Tuesday night to provide it. He does not bring anything close to Carter’s hype or upside, but the parallels between their paths here are unmistakable. Much like the Rangers braced for life without García last September, Houston’s lineup is reeling without Kyle Tucker.
Few other legitimate options were left in the Astros’ barren farm system to supply any sort of invigoration. The team traded Joey Loperfido to Toronto last week, robbing the roster of athleticism and energy that can sometimes go missing. First-year manager Joe Espada played Pedro León for three consecutive days in hopes of harnessing it, but five strikeouts in nine at-bats didn’t allow it.
“I do want to provide that spark as best as I can and be a tool for them to use wherever they need me,” Dezenzo said. “Ultimately, my goal here is to help them win ballgames and finish the season strong. Wherever they need me, I’m going to be available and ready for them to plug me in wherever.”
That Dezenzo did not receive news of his promotion until 12:30 a.m. on Tuesday suggests Monday’s miserable 4-3 loss acted as an impetus for change. Houston struck out 12 times — including five times with the bases loaded — and scored fewer than four runs for the fourth consecutive game.
“We just needed some offense,” general manager Dana Brown said. “He was swinging the bat well and, at this point, he’s 24 years old, swinging it well in Triple A and we felt like this was a good time to bring him up.”
Dezenzo should not be looked at as a savior. Before his debut Tuesday, he had played just 160 professional games and taken 693 plate appearances, across which he had an .882 OPS. Maturity or poise shouldn’t be a question — Dezenzo was drafted after a three-year career at Ohio State — but placing any new prospect into a pennant race is a gamble.
With Carter, it worked.
Dezenzo is a little over two years older than Carter. He played three more Triple A games than Carter before his promotion and, though he’s rarely appeared on outside prospect lists, Houston considers him one of its most prized minor-leaguers. Baseball Prospectus did peg Dezenzo No. 40 in its top 100 before this season, but it pales compared to Carter’s popularity within the prospect community.
Zach Dezenzo will become the first Draft League alum to reach the Major Leagues when he makes his #Astros debut.
Dezenzo’s two seasons in the Draft League with the @FrederickKeys (’21) and @mvscrappers (’22):
• 35 G
• .304/.380/.624
• 10 HR
• 18 XBH
• 33 RBI https://t.co/PEzCPQnkF5— MLB Draft League (@mlbdraftleague) August 6, 2024
Both Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus made Carter the sport’s fourth-best prospect before his debut, but the Rangers did not need him to transform into a superstar. Marcus Semien and Corey Seager make a half-billion dollars combined for that assignment.
“You’re never looking for a guy to carry the day,” Bochy said. “Whenever these young guys come up, they’re talented, gifted and they don’t need to do anything different than what they’ve been doing. That’s why they’re here. You don’t want too much pressure on these guys,
The Astros aren’t paying Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman or Yordan Alvarez that much, but still expect the same sort of impact. Their performances, not Dezenzo’s, will determine Houston’s destiny. Altuve, for instance, entered Tuesday’s game homerless in his last 71 at-bats. Dezenzo could dominate and the Astros still won’t accomplish much with that meager production.
Though Dezenzo did earn a non-roster invitation to spring training, a wrist injury didn’t allow him to take any live at-bats, leaving Espada and the club’s coaching staff somewhat blind to his offensive approach.
Dezenzo’s power is unmistakable — eight of his 18 Triple-A hits fell for extra bases, boosting a career .506 slugging percentage — but he is prone to some swing and miss. He is a college shortstop who has converted to a corner infielder and will see ample time at first base, where Houston still has no surefire solution since José Abreu’s release.
“They can stick me in the lineup wherever — third, first, wherever. I’m willing to do whatever it takes to compete and put together some good at-bats and play good defense and help them win some ballgames,” Dezenzo said.
Espada met with Dezenzo in his office before his debut on Tuesday. The skipper had already called both Triple-A manager Mickey Storey and Double-A manager Joe Thon for a makeup assessment. Everything they told him manifested during their discussion, perhaps a positive sign for a player thrust into a tense time.
One year ago, while Carter confronted this same conundrum, Bochy offered some simple advice: Be yourself. On Tuesday, Espada echoed it.
“Be you in the dugout,” Espada said he told him. “If you’re one of those guys that has a way of being in the dugout, be you. Be you in the clubhouse. If you have a ritual or routine, do it and be you.”
“Our guys are all about that,” Espada added. “Our guys get excited when they see a new face. They sit around and want to see what this guy is like.
“He seems to be OK, but we’ll see once the games start. We’ll make sure we protect him if we have to, but he seems to be in a good place.”
(Photo: Kevin Jairaj / USA Today)
