Astros Designate Kaleb Ort For Assignment: Roster Implications

The Houston Astros just made a notable roster move, designating reliever Kaleb Ort for assignment. This decision ties directly to the club’s latest free-agent signing.

It’s not exactly headline news like a blockbuster trade, but it does offer a window into how the Astros are shaping their bullpen for next season. The constant roster math that comes with contending every year is never easy.

Astros Create Roster Space for Tatsuya Imai

Houston needed to make a move, so they designated Kaleb Ort for assignment. That opened a spot on the 40-man roster for newly signed right-hander Tatsuya Imai, who just agreed to a three-year free-agent deal.

Contending teams like the Astros run into roster crunches all the time, especially when they want depth and flexibility in the bullpen. Ort just happened to be the odd man out this time.

Ort’s Path to Houston and Initial Success

The Astros picked up Ort on a waiver claim from the Baltimore Orioles early in 2024. It looked like a low-risk, high-upside move at the time.

Ort had just wrapped up a solid run with Baltimore, posting a 2.55 ERA in 22 appearances. He showed he could miss bats and handle middle relief work, which gave Houston some hope he’d stick around for a while.

Regression and Injury Shape Ort’s 2024 Season

As the season went on, Ort’s performance started to slide. His strikeouts stayed strong, but other parts of his game just weren’t holding up.

Manager Joe Espada mostly used Ort in the middle innings. Sometimes, though, injuries and circumstances forced him into bigger moments than anyone planned.

Command Issues and Rising Home Runs

Ort ended up making a career-high 49 appearances, finishing with a 4.89 ERA over 46 innings. The big red flag was his command—his walk rate jumped to nearly 14%, a steep climb from the 4.3% he posted the year before.

He also kept giving up home runs, which has been a problem for him for three straight seasons now. For a team chasing the postseason, that’s just not going to cut it.

• ERA: 4.89 in 46 innings
• Walk rate: nearly 14%
• Above-average strikeout rate

Injuries and Role Changes

Injuries elsewhere in Houston’s bullpen threw Ort into even tougher spots. When Josh Hader and Bennett Sousa went down, Ort sometimes got thrown into higher-leverage situations.

The Astros also bumped Bryan Abreu into the closer’s role to patch things up. Ort’s season ended early after he landed on the injured list with elbow inflammation in September. He missed the rest of the year.

What’s Next for Kaleb Ort?

There’s no indication right now that Ort won’t be ready for Spring Training, even with the elbow issue. But roster limits left him exposed, and he’s out of minor-league options—Houston can’t stash him without putting him through waivers first.

The Astros now have five days to trade Ort or place him on waivers. That’s the business side of baseball, like it or not.

Bullpen Depth Leaves Little Room

Houston’s projected Opening Day bullpen looks crowded. Several near-locks are already penciled in:

• Josh Hader
• Bryan Abreu
• Bennett Sousa
• Steven Okert
• Bryan King
• Enyel De Los Santos
• Nate Pearson

With that group in place, Ort sits right on the roster bubble. If he clears waivers, maybe the Astros keep him around as a non-roster invitee, since he’s got the service time and hasn’t been outrighted before.

At the moment, though, his future probably lies somewhere else. Bullpen arms come and go fast—sometimes even in a club as steady as Houston.

For the Astros, it’s a calculated move. For Kaleb Ort, it’s just another chapter in the wild ride of being a big-league reliever.

 
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