This story was excerpted from Brian McTaggart's Astros Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
HOUSTON -- When you hit a home run on the first pitch you see in the big leagues, you’ve set the bar pretty high for the rest of your career. The Astros are confident that Zach Cole’s electric Major League debut last year is the start of a promising career -- so much so that they traded a group of prospects that included outfielder Jacob Melton in December to help clear a path for Cole’s playing time.
Cole will be going to Major League camp for the first time when the Astros report to West Palm Beach, Fla., for Spring Training in two weeks, and he will be squarely in the mix for playing time. He reached the big leagues last September and slashed .255/.327/.553 with four homers and 11 RBIs in 15 games and drew praise from management because of his effort.
“I’m going to embrace the rookie role, just go out there and be a sponge, learn from the guys and [have them show me the ropes],” Cole said. “Just kind of figure out what it means to be a big leaguer and, Lord willing, if I'm able to go out there and put together a good Spring Training, the goal would be to stay healthy and make the big league team.”
Cole, 25, began last season at Double-A Corpus Christi and earned a late-season promotion after posting an .868 OPS with 14 homers in 82 games. He crushed the ball at Triple-A, slashing .353/.459/.745 with five homers and 16 RBIs in 15 games, and was promptly called up to the big leagues to provide an offensive spark.
He did just that on Sept. 12 in Atlanta, becoming the fifth player in club history to homer in his first Major League plate appearance. Cole stepped to the plate in the third inning and walloped Hurston Waldrep’s first-pitch cutter and sent it a Statcast-projected 423 feet into the right-field seats for a two-run homer in front of friends and family.
“I'm very blessed for that and just to celebrate with family and be thankful to my Lord and just reminisce a little bit about finally reaching that goal that everyone reaches out for as a kid,” he said. “And then just get back to training, working with some guys in our organization in the offseason, really trying to hammer out those areas where I struggled in ’25 to try to clean them up in ’26 and put myself in the best position to help our team win.”
Cole’s biggest flaw may be the swing-and-miss in his left-handed bat. He struck out 20 times in 52 big league plate appearances after striking out 146 times in 416 plate appearances in Double-A and Triple-A. But the juice in the bat and the defensive ability have the Astros high on him.
“I think there's just an overall improvement [I need] in multiple areas, just get better and continue to work on defense and put myself in position to play all three [outfield spots] and be versatile,” he said. “And then offensively, just continue to see more big league pitching. These guys are the best pitchers in the world, so the more I see it, I feel like the more comfortable I would get. So just getting as many at-bats and just trying to be the toughest out that I can.”
Cole’s offseason also included a mission trip through the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, teaching baseball at an academy in Hungary. It was his first trip out of the country and provided another unforgettable experience in a year that was full of them.
“Those kids were great,” he said. “We were able to provide them with some equipment, because they really don't have much out there, and it really gives you a lot of perspective on how blessed we are to be where we're at, especially myself. And that's what real success and failure is -- do we impact those people with the positions that we have? And I just hope I get more opportunities to do those things.”