Oops! All Astros: Scott Schreiber

This offseason, we’re reviewing the 316 players in the 2022 Houston Astros system.

To educate, the order of this series was determined by lot. Two-hundred-and-fourteen will have been complete after this is written, with 102 to go.

Scott Schreiber is a six-foot-three, 230 lb. first baseman from Appleton, WI. Born on October 13, 1995, he was initially a 26th-round choice of the Tampa Bay Rays in 2017. Deigning to sign, he instead spent another year with the University of Nebraska, setting career-best marks with a .369/.446/.692 slashline and 18 home runs. His patience paid off with a ninth-round selection in 2018 by the Astros, with the 282nd overall choice.

Five players taken 282nd overall have made the majors, led by James Karinchak (2.9 WAR). Meanwhile, 202 players have been drafted out of Nebraska, with 33 going on to play in the major leagues. That group is led by Alex Gordon (34.4 WAR). Schreiber eventually signed with Houston to a deal that included a $10,000 signing bonus.

Schreiber played for the Quad Cities River Bandits in A-Ball in 2018 and for the Bandits and High-A Fayetteville Woodpeckers in 2019. After the year missed due to COVID-19 restrictions, he hit .293/.355/.527 in 80 games in 2021 between the High-A Asheville Tourists and the Double-A Corpus Christi Hooks. He hit 17 home runs with 57 RBI between the two clubs.

An undisclosed injury landed Schreiber on the injured list on August 6, 2021, and he didn’t return to gameplay for almost an entire calendar year. On August 1, 2022, he returned in a rehab appearance with the FCL Astros Orange, and went 0-for-3 with three strikeouts in a 6-5 loss to the Astros Blue squad.

After that, Schreiber hit .464/.583/.607 through 10 more rehab starts between the Blue and Orange squads, with a home run, five RBI, and seven walks to only six strikeouts in 36 PA. On August 20, he was once again promoted up to the Double-A level with the Hooks.

Although Schreiber hit two donks in 12 games this time at double-A, he finished the year up by going six-for-42 with 11 whiffs and only three walks. Defensively, he played 49 innings at first base between the three levels, making one error for a .974 fielding percentage. Aside from that, he played 36 innings in right, 21 in left, and eight in center without an error.

After that poor showing to end the campaign, one could only imagine that Schreiber was happy for the opportunity to compete in the Arizona Fall League with the Surprise Saguaros. In 14 games, he went 17-for-50 with 12 RBI and only nine strikeouts. He was also perfect in 120 defensive innings at first base. Rehab hopefully behind him, the 27-year-old Schreiber should begin the 2023 season back with Corpus Christi to rediscover his hitting stroke.