Shay Whitcomb DVOA, Advanced Stats, & Fantasy Rankings

Houston Astros infield prospect Shay Whitcomb went 2-for-4 with two solo home runs on Thursday for Triple-A Sugar Land. The two blasts were his first home runs of 2025, now 5-for-25 (.200) on the young season with four of his five hits going for extra bases. The former fifth-round draft pick hit 35 home runs in 2023 and is coming off a 2024 season in which he hit 25 home runs and stole 26 bags at Triple-A, earninghimself an MLB debut late in the year. The major league audition didn't go as well, slashing .220/.304/.293 with no home runs or steals, however, he struck out at a better-than-league-average rate of 17.4 percent and walked at a better-than-league-average rate of 10.9 percent over 46 plate appearances. Fantasy managers should keep the right-handed slugger on their radar as he'lllikely be in the big leagues at some point this season and could provide more meaningful contributions in his second go-round. While he's only eligible at third base on Yahoo, the 26-year-old also played four games at second base for the Astros in '24 and was manning first base on Thursday, so his added versatility provides multiple paths to playing time and potential multi-positional eligibility on Yahoo down the line.

The Houston Astros have optioned infield prospect Shay Whitcomb to minor-league camp. Whitcomb was competing for a spot on the Opening Day roster but fell short. He made a brief MLB debut last season and held a .220/.304/.292 slash line across 20 contests. He tallied three doubles and held a 5:8 BB:K. However, Whitcomb has been very productive at Triple-A and could push for an early return to the big leagues if he enjoys a strong start to the 2025 campaign. Last summer, the 26-year-old posted a .293/.378/.530 slash line with 19 doubles, two triples, and 25 home runs. He swiped 26 bags while holding a 53:95 BB:K. This was significant improvement compared to the .224/.281/.434 line he held across his first 87 games at this level during the 2023 season. Whitcomb is worth monitoring in AL-only leagues as he will have value when he return to the major leagues.