Oops! All Astros: Carlos Espinosa & Marco Marcelino

Through the current offseason, we’re going to recap all 316 players to appear at any level of Astros baseball.

Carlos Espinosa

Carlos Espinosa is a six-foot-two, 188 lb. right-handed pitcher from Najasa, Cuba. Born on August 8, 2001, he signed with the Houston Astros through free agency for $450,000 on January 15 of this year. On June 6, Houston assigned him to the FCL Astros Orange, the stateside counterpart to the Dominican Summer League.

Espinosa started out his professional career very well, and didn’t allow a hit until his fourth appearance. His first three appearances yielded four walks and six strikeouts through five innings of work. On July 30, he struck out four over two perfect innings in a 7-6 win against the FCL Marlins. On his next appearance a week later, he gave up one hit and struck out three in 3 ¹⁄₃ relief innings to earn his first career victory, an 8-1 win against the FCL Cardinals.

All told, opponents slashed .200/.273/.280 through 11 contests against Espinosa. He went 1-2 with a 2.60 ERA and 28 strikeouts in 27 ²⁄₃ innings. His 1.084 WHIP and 6.5 H/9 are also encouraging, as is his 2.8 K/W. Look for Espinosa to begin the 2023 season with the Low-A Fayetteville Woodpeckers.

Marco Marcelino

Marco Marcelino is a five-foot-nine, 190 lb. corner outfielder from Dajabon, DR. Born on October 30, 2004, Marcelino has still yet to turn 18. Houston signed him the same day as they inked Espinosa.

Marcelino was assigned to the DSL Houston Blue squad on June 4, and played in 18 games through the month. His best appearance was on June 23 against the DSL KC Stewart, against whom he went two-for-three with a walk and a pair of runs scored in a 12-4 victory. It was the only multi-hit game for him through the month.

In total, Marcelino slashed a line of .184/.318/.184, with nine singles in 49 at bats. On the positive side, he also drew 11 walks, a heartening total when weighed against his hit total, albeit in a violently small sample size. His final appearance was on June 30. On July 12 he was placed on the 60-day injured list, and didn’t play again through the campaign.

Marcelino didn’t get enough reps at the rookie level for Houston to consider bumping him up just yet. Look for him to start a second season with the Dominican outfit in 2023.