Playing catch-up on some of the latest roster moves, so bear with me, but on Monday afternoon, a recently cut St. Louis Cardinals player was acquired by the Houston Astros via a waiver claim.
Currently, the Cardinals are taking on the Philadelphia Phillies. St. Louis dropped the series opener on Monday, but will look to even up the series on Tuesday evening.
Before the series began, the Houston Astros swooped in to claim outfielder Nelson Velazquez off waivers from the Cardinals, in a notable roster move.
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Nelson Velazquez Claimed by Astros
Several reports indicated on Monday that Nelson Velazquez has been claimed by the Houston Astros.
He was designated for assignment by the St. Louis Cardinals a few days ago to make room for Everson Pereira on the active roster. Pereira was a waiver claim himself after being DFA’d by the White Sox.
MLBTR.com’s Darragh McDonald detailed Nelson Velazquez’s time on the Cardinals roster:
“In his time on the roster, Velázquez struck out at a 30.1% clip but also hit four home runs, leading to a .216/.289/.432 slash line. Velázquez is considered a poor defender, so he really needs to hit to provide value. His offense this year led to a 98 wRC+, indicating he was 2% below league average. That’s not disastrous in a vacuum but less than ideal for a bat-first guy. Since he’s out of options, he got nudged to the waiver wire.”
The corresponding move that the Astros made was designating Shay Whitcomb for assignment.
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Taking a Glance at Nelson Velázquez’s Career
Nelson Velázquez has played in parts of four MLB seasons with the Chicago Cubs, Kansas City Royals, Cardinals, and now the Houston Astros (once he appears in a game).
With the Cardinals, Velázquez batted .216 across 74 at-bats, and notched four home runs and four doubles.
Across 626 total at-bats, Nelson Velázquez holds an average of .212 with 35 home runs, 25 doubles, and a lifetime OPS+ of 98, which isn’t terrible, but as McDonald noted, his outfield defense isn’t great, so he needs to provide more value with the bat than other players.
However, speaking to the Astros’ side of this claim, they had been seeking right-handed hitting outfield help.
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