Inside the Astros

Houston Astros Boss Reveals Injury Timeline for Rookie Outfielder

Houston's general manager announced that rookie outfielder Jacob Melton is going to miss significant time due to injury.
Maddy Dickens|
Feb 20, 2025; West Palm Beach, FL, USA; Houston Astros outfielder Jacob Melton poses for a photo at the Houston Astros media day.
Feb 20, 2025; West Palm Beach, FL, USA; Houston Astros outfielder Jacob Melton poses for a photo at the Houston Astros media day. | Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images

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Dana Brown had an unfortunate update on the timeline for rookie outfielder Jacob Melton's sprained ankle.

Brown told the Astros' pre-game radio show, in a report filed by The Athletic's Chandler Rome, that Melton's injury would sideline him for about four weeks.

Melton was called up from the minor leagues on June 1 from Triple-A Sugar Land. In 11 MLB games the top outfield prospect in the organization slashed .241/.290/.310. 

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Melton was injured in a 10-3 win against the Minnesota Twins earlier this week. The outfielder had a triple and three RBIs in this game, but suffered the injury while trying to track down a baseball in the outfield.

Melton made the majority of his starts in left field, but also saw time in center field and right field.

The Astros originally selected him in the second round of the 2022 MLB draft out of Oregon State, where he was a three-year standout with a career slash of .364/.428/.660. He only had two errors in three seasons with OSU. He also held school records in total bases (175) and RBI (83).

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Melton became the organization's No. 1 prospect in 2023 and remained in that spot for 2024. He is No. 2 behind shorstop Brice Matthews, per MLB Pipeline.

He progressed quickly through the minors and he racked up 44 home runs and 129 RBIs in 244 games before joining the Astros.

HIs injury comes at an unfortunate time, as Houston has other outfielders on the injured list, including Chas McCormick, Zach Dezenzo and Yordan Alvarez, the last of which is primarily a designated hitter.

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Maddy Dickens
MADDY DICKENS

Maddy Dickens resides in Loveland, Colorado. She grew up with two older brothers, where their lives revolved around sports. She earned a master's degree in business management from Tarleton State University while simultaneously playing basketball and competing in rodeo at the collegiate level. She successfully parlayed a reserve national championship into a professional rodeo career and now stays involved in upper-level athletics by writing for On SI on several different MLB teams' pages, along with some NCAA sites.

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