Grae Kessinger #79

Married to Lindsey...Originally drafted in the 26th round of the 2016 First-Year Player Draft out of Oxford High School (Miss.) by the Padres, but chose to attend Ole Miss...Attended Ole Miss from 2017-19...Is the fourth member of his family to play baseball at Ole Miss…His grandfather, Don (SS), dad, Kevin (OF) and uncle, Keith (SS), were standouts for the Rebels during their collegiate careers…Don also served as the head coach for the Rebels from 1991-96...With his home run on July 4, 2023 vs. Rockies, he became the third generation Kessinger to homer in the Majors…His grandfather, Don, hit his first homer in 1966 with the Cubs and his uncle, Keith, hit his lone homer in 1993 with the Reds...His grandfather, Don Kessinger, played 16 seasons in the Majors with the Cubs (1964-75), Cardinals (1976-77) and White Sox (1977-79)…Don was a six-time All-Star with the Cubs and won two Gold Gloves at shortstop (1969, '70)…Don served as the last player/manager in the AL in 1979 with the White Sox...Grae's dad, Kevin, was an 11th-round pick by the Cubs in 1992 but did not make it to the Majors…Uncle, Keith, was a first-round pick by the Orioles (1989) and went on to appear in 11 career games with the Reds in 1993...Grae was traded from the Astros to the D-backs for RHP Matthew Linskey on Jan. 7, 2025.

2024

Made his first Opening Day roster with Houston...Appeared in 23 games (four starts) in his second season with the Astros...Made seven appearances at third base, six at second, three at shortstop, two at DH, one at first and one at pitcher...Made his first pitching appearance on April 11 at Royals and worked a perfect eighth inning...Placed on the 10-day injured list (right shoulder inflammation) from April 28-May 9...Optioned to Triple-A Sugar Land on June 4…Received two more call-ups to finish the season with Houston...In 67 games with Sugar Land, hit .262 (69-for-263)/.725 OPS with 13 doubles, one triple, six homers and 22 RBI.

POSTSEASON: Made the Wild Card roster but did not make an appearance in the series.

2023

Rookie infielder turned an early-season promotion into a utility role off the bench for the Astros down the stretch...The 26-year-old batted .200 (8x40) with a home run, RBI and two doubles in 26 games...Made starts at four positions: SS (4), 1B (2), 3B (1), 2B (1)...Made his first three career starts at three different positions, becoming the first Astro to do so since Jason Lane (RF, CF, LF) in ‘02 (excluding DH)...Opened the season with Triple-A Sugar Land and batted .283 (52x184) with six home runs, 32 RBI and 10 doubles through 54 games...Was selected to the Astros 40-man roster from Triple-A Sugar Land on June 5 and remained part of the MLB roster for the remainder of the season...Hit his first career homer on July 4 vs. COL...Became the third generation of his family to homer in an MLB game, joining grandfather, Don Kessinger (1964-79) and uncle, Keith Kessinger (1993)...Was placed on the 10-day injured list on Aug. 19 (Health and Safety Protocols) and missed 12 games before being reinstated on Sept. 1...Made two appearances this postseason, being utilized as a pinch-runner and defensive replacement...Made a leaping, game-saving catch at SS in Game 5 of the ALCS at TEX to preserve a one-run lead en route to the victory...Was his first career postseason appearance.

2022

Spent the entire 2022 season with Double A Corpus Christi (121g)...notched a .211 batting average (89x421) with 72 runs, 13 doubles, two triples, 16 home runs, 58 RBI, 23 stolen bases and a .693 OPS.

2021

Played his entire 2021 season at Double-A Corpus Christi, appearing in 86 games for the Hooks... hit .209 (62x297) with nine doubles, nine homers, 26 RBI and 12 stolen bases...started games at shortstop (40g), second base (33g) and third base (13g)...following the regular season, had a strong Winter League campaign with Glendale in the Arizona Fall League...hit .277 (18x65) with two doubles, a triple, two homers, 12 RBI and an .821 OPS (.390 OBP/.431 SLG) in 20 games...walked 11 times against 10 strikeouts.

2020

Did not play in an official game in 2020 due to the COVID-19 shutdown...returned to the field for Instructional Camp in October.

2019

Spent 2019 between Class A Short Season Tri City (12g) and Class A Quad Cities (50g), batting .232 (49x211) with 10 doubles, 20 RBI, 29 walks and a .641 OPS (.333 OBP / .308 SLG) in 62 games.

draft

Scouting grades: Hit: 55 | Power: 40 | Run: 40 | Arm: 50 | Field: 50 | Overall: 45

Though he was one of the better high school shortstop prospects in the 2016 Draft, Kessinger lasted until the Padres took him in the 26th round because he was all but destined to play at Mississippi. His grandfather Don was an All-American for the Rebels in baseball and basketball before playing in six All-Star Games with the Cubs, and his father, Kevin and uncle Keith (another big leaguer) also played for Ole Miss. Scouts appreciated Grae's steady play but were underwhelmed by his package of tools -- though now they're reconsidering him after he hit .405 in Southeastern Conference play as a junior.

Kessinger was a career .248 hitter before league play began this spring, but as one evaluator said, "You don't hit .400 in the SEC by accident." He has a history of making contact with a controlled right-handed swing and line-drive approach, and he has hit the ball harder than ever in 2019. He draws walks and plays quicker on the bases than his below-average speed out of the box, though he has modest home run power at best.

Kessinger makes plays at shortstop despite lacking classic tools for the position. He's not twitchy or flashy and his arm is merely average, yet he compensates with instincts and positioning. He likely will move to second base in pro ball and may be more of a utilityman than a regular, though his strong makeup and surprising junior season may foreshadow him exceeding expectations.