You probably haven’t heard of Collin Price. That’s okay. As of Wednesday night, neither had most of the Houston Astros fan base.
By Thursday night, he was behind the plate at Daikin Park.
Price is 26, from Suwanee, Georgia, about an hour outside of Atlanta. He grew up watching Brian McCann catch for the Braves, and when McCann was traded to Houston in 2016, the Price family started following the Astros. He went undrafted out of high school, played four years at Mercer University in Macon—where the coaching staff converted him from an outfielder to a catcher—went undrafted again after his junior year, came back for one more season, hit .315 with 18 home runs and more walks than strikeouts, and finally heard his name in the sixth round of the 2022 draft.
The Astros were calling.
Four years in the minors followed. He played 335 games, worked his way to Triple-A Sugar Land, and hit .235 with 10 home runs there this season. Not a top prospect. Not a household name. Just a catcher who kept getting better.
Wednesday night, after a Sugar Land win in El Paso, Triple-A manager Mickey Storey called him into the office. Price thought it was about his hitting. It was not.
“Mickey asked me a few things about what I changed hitting-wise,” Price said. “And he was like, ‘How do you feel about doing that in the big leagues?'”
“I was like, you serious?”
His flight to Houston the next morning was delayed five hours. When he landed and checked his phone, there was a text with the starting lineup. He was in it.
“So that was another wave of nerves,” Price said.
He walked in his first major league plate appearance Thursday night and called a game that produced four scoreless innings from the bullpen in a 5-1 loss to Pittsburgh. Manager Joe Espada said he “looked comfortable” and “called a really good game.”
Price is here as a backup while Yainer Diaz recovers from an oblique strain. César Salazar was designated for assignment to make room for him on the roster. Price’s time could be brief—Diaz is on track to begin a rehab assignment early next week—but for a kid from Georgia who grew up watching an Astros catcher and ended up becoming one himself, Thursday night was a long time coming.
“I’m going to take the opportunity that I’m here to just soak it in,” Price said. “And then we’ll just see.”
Heading to Daikin Park soon? Check the Astros promotions schedule before your next game.
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