Cooper

Hummel

He’s slated to be guaranteed $1 million. Hummel, 31, got into 37 games with the Orioles and Astros last season, hitting .170/.301/.276. Even though he’s mostly excelled in Triple-A, racking up a .920 OPS in 374 games over five seasons, he’s a lifetime .163/.268/.275 hitter in 340 major league plate appearances. With any luck, Japan will work out better for him.

The well-traveled 30-year-old will join yet another team on a minor league deal after he refused an outright assignment from the Astros on Friday and elected free agency. Hummel has hit just .170/.298/.273 with three homers, seven RBI and a 31/14 K/BB ratio over 105 plate appearances at the big league level this season, though he continues to pique the interest of many organizations.

Hummel will hit the market after hitting just .172/.301/.276 over 104 plate appearances with Houston. He should find a market, but there’s a decent if not better chance that he’ll need to sign another minor league contract with whatever club brings him in.

It’s getting tough to count just how many times Hummel has been designated for assignment this season. This time it’s to clear a spot on the Astros’ 40-man roster for the return of Cristian Javier. The 30-year-old appeared in 36 games during his time with the Astros, slashing a woeful .172/.301/.276 with three homers, seven RBI, one stolen base and a 30/14 K/BB ratio over 104 plate appearances. It remains to be seen if another squad will once again take a shot on him on waivers.

It’ll be the first time Altuve doesn’t start for the Astros since June 10. The 35-year-old gets a breather with Cooper Hummel in left field as Houston looks to complete a three-game sweep.

McTaggart adds that both Shay Whitcomb and Jon Singleton are coming up from Triple-A Sugar Land after Paredes left Saturday’s game and will head back to Houston to undergo an MRI this weekend. It’s not assured that both will be added to the active roster, but it seems likely, which could mean that Cooper Hummel will be the odd-man out. Paredes was hurt running out a grounder in Saturday’s game in Seattle. Whitcomb figures to see time filling in for him, at least until Jeremy Peña returns and frees up Mauricio Dubón to play third.

Diaz will get a break with Victor Caratini getting the start behind the plate, Jose Altuve getting a break from the field as the DH and Cooper Hummel getting the start in left.

Hummel has started five of the last eight games for the Astros, including four of the last five. However, he’s also just 3-for-14 with one home run, two runs scored and one RBI in those last five games, so he remains off fantasy radars.

The well-traveled 30-year-old finally produced the game’s first run as he crushed a full-count offering from Ranger Suárez for a 390-foot (103.5 mph EV) solo shot in the eighth inning that proved to be the difference in the ballgame. Hummel also singled in the ballgame, accounting for two of the Astros’ five total hits. With his 2-for-3 night, he’s now hitting .222/.364/.556 with a pair of homers and three RBI in his limited big league action this season.

The well-traveled 30-year-old will get his first opportunity with the Astros with Jacob Melton (ankle) landing on the injured list on Saturday. Hummel has spent the majority of the season at the Triple-A level where he has slashed .273/.382/.473 with two homers, nine RBI and a 13/11 K/BB ratio over 68 plate appearances between three organizations.