Zach Cole #16

A native of Ozark, Mo., which is suburb of Springfield, Mo., Cole grew up an avid baseball fan and would go to Springfield Cardinals games as a child...when he was 10 years old, Cole remembers being at a Cardinals game in which Matt Carpenter hit a two-run homer, which was a year before Carpenter began his 14-year Major League career...the two would eventually train together in the offseason prior to the 2024 season...Cole graduated from Springfield Catholic HS in Springfield, Mo...he considers himself a late bloomer and didn’t get collegiate looks until the summer prior to his junior year...he attended three baseball camps that summer, at Missouri, Oklahoma State and Arkansas...all three showed interest, but didn’t offer any type of scholarships...he continued playing travel ball throughout high school and started getting calls from teams all over the country...one of those schools was Ball State, which Cole had never heard of at the time...after doing some research on their program, Cole signed his letter of intent and went on to attend Ball State for three years (2020-22)...At Ball State, Cole sparsely played in 2020 and 2021, but had a huge junior year in 2022, hitting .361 (66-for-183) with 10 doubles, nine triples, 13 homers and 47 RBI in 55 games...was on the 2022 First Team All-MAC, MAC All-Defensive Team and MAC All-Tournament Teams...set a Ball State record and led all of NCAA Division I with nine triples in 2022...Selected by the Astros in the 10th round of the 2022 draft...signed by Astros scout Scott Oberhelman...Since being drafted by the Astros, has been recognized as one of the best athletes in the organization...per MLB Pipeline, Cole combines plus raw power with plus speed and double-plus arm strength, giving him all the physical tools to be a star...Had a huge debut, homering on the first pitch of his first Major League at-bat on Sept. 12, 2025 at ATL... in the stands were his parents, Bob and Cassandra... watching far away were the Double A Corpus Christi Hooks, where Cole spent the majority of his 2025 season...when Cole went deep, the Hooks were filming their clubhouse, which erupted with cheers as soon as Cole made contact...that wholesome video now lives on the Hooks social media channels...Added to the Astros MLB roster in September 2025 and accrued 17 days of Major League service... is signed to a one-year contract for the 2026 season.

2025

Was selected to the Major League roster on Sept. 12 and recorded a great month at the Major League Level to conclude the 2025 season...in the Majors, he batted .255 (12-for-47) with two doubles, four home runs, 11 RBI, five walks, three stolen bases and an .880 OPS in 15 games, including 13 starts...Made five Major League starts in right field, five starts in left field and three starts in center field...Was named the Astros Minor League Player of the Year...batted .279 (100-for-358) with 63 runs, 22 doubles, seven triples, 19 home runs, 65 RBI, 18 stolen bases and a .916 OPS in 97 games between Double A Corpus Christi (82 games) and Triple A Sugar Land (15 games)...played the first 82 games of his season at Corpus Christi before being promoted to Sugar Land on Aug. 25...Ranked first in OPS, first in slugging percentage (.539), tied for first in RBI, second in home runs and second in on-base percentage (.377) in the Astros minor league system, according to FanGraphs. Made his MLB debut on Sept. 12 at ATL, going 3-for-4 with a homer and four RBI...became the fifth player in club history to record a homer in his first career plate appearance, joining Mark Saccomanno (Sept. 8, 2008), Charlton Jimerson (Sept. 4, 2006), Dave Matranga (June 27, 2003) and Jose Sosa (July 30, 1975)...also became the first player in club history to record four RBI in their debut...On Sept. 15 vs. TEX, went 2-for-3 with a homer and three RBI...became the third player in Astros history with at least two homers and seven RBI within their first four career games, joining Yordan Alvarez (2019) and Tyler White (2016)...became just the second Astros player in club history to have two three-RBI games within their first four career games, joining Tyler White (2016)...Became the second player in club history to record at least four homers, 11 RBI, and three steals within their first 15 Major League games...IF Carlos Correa (four HR, 11 RBI, four SB) was the other on that list.