Oops! All Astros: Colin McKee

We’re continuing our 316-player review of the Astros 2022 system.

Colin McKee is a six-foot-three, 225 lb. right-handed reliever from Butler, PA. Born on June 21, 1994, he was an 18th-round choice of the Astros in the 2016 draft. Five players taken with the 547th overall selection have made the jump to the big leagues, but only Ed Lynch (6.5 WAR) collected a career-WAR figure above replacement level.

In collegiate play with Mercyhurst, McKee was an 18-5 pitcher with a 2.20 ERA, a 0.987 WHIP, and 12.9 K/9 over 184 ¹⁄₃ innings. Turning professional, he closed out the 2016 season with the Rookie-Level Greenville Astros, and allowed 11 earned runs in 8 ¹⁄₃ innings.

From 2017 through 2019, McKee appeared at every other level of the Astros minor league affiliate feeder system. In 2021, he split the year between the Triple-A Sugar Land Skeeters and the Double-A Corpus Christi Hooks, going 7-2 with a 5.16 ERA, 65 K’s in 45 ¹⁄₃ innings, and a 1.566 WHIP.

McKee opened the 2022 season on the 60-day injured list in recovery from surgery. Near the end of July, he made four rehab appearances with the Astros’ rookie level affiliates in the Florida Coast League. On August 10, he rejoined Sugar Land, now called the Space Cowboys. On September 2, he struck out three over two hitless frames in a 9-2 win against the Albuquerque Isotopes.

McKee made a dozen appearances with Sugar Land through the end of the season, striking out 13 against 14 bases on balls in 14 ¹⁄₃ innings. He held opponents to a .192/.377/.231 slashline and a 1.674 WHIP. Already 28-years-old, the Astros granted McKee free agency in early November. As of now, he hasn’t inked a deal with any other club.