Jacob William Melton (born September 7, 2000) is an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

for the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB). He played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

for the

Oregon State Beavers The Oregon State Beavers are the sport, athletic teams that represent Oregon State University, located in Corvallis, Oregon. The Beavers compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I (NCAA Division I ...

Amateur career

Melton attended

South Medford High School South Medford High School is a public high school in Medford, Oregon, Medford, Oregon, United States. History The South Medford campus was originally built in 1931 as Medford High School. Then in the 1960s, the school was divided between two ca ...

where he played

. In 2017, his junior season, he hit .453 with nine home runs. As a senior in 2018, he batted .513 with eight home runs and 33 stolen bases. He went undrafted in the

2018 Major League Baseball draft The 2018 Major League Baseball draft began on June 4, 2018. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order was determined based on the reverse order of the 2017 MLB season final standings. In addition, compensation pi ...

and enrolled at Linn-Benton Community College. As a freshman at Linn-Benton in 2019, Melton batted .365 with three home runs, 39 RBIs, and 16 stolen bases over 39 games. That summer, he played in the

Western Canadian Baseball League The Western Canadian Baseball League (WCBL) is a collegiate summer baseball league. The league is home to teams based in the Canadian Prairie provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta, and has roots dating back to 1931 in Saskatchewan's Southern Bas ...

with the

Okotoks Dawgs The Okotoks Dawgs are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Okotoks, Alberta, Canada. They play in the Western Canadian Baseball League (WCBL). The Dawgs are eight-time WCBL champions. History The Dawgs were originally based in Calgary wh ...

. He then transferred to

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate degree programs and a variety of graduate and doctor ...

to start the 2020 season. He appeared in seven games in which he batted .091 with six strikeouts over 11

at-bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens upon completion of his turn at bat, b ...

s before the season was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Melton did not open the 2021 season in Oregon State's starting lineup, but eventually became their leadoff hitter, and appeared in 32 games (with 25 starts) before he injured his shoulder in late April, an injury which forced him to having season-ending shoulder surgery. Over those 32 games, he batted .404 with six home runs, 25 RBIs, and eight stolen bases. He returned healthy in 2022 as Oregon State's starting center fielder. Over 63 games played during the season, Melton slashed .360/.424/.671 with 17 home runs, 83 RBIs, 22 doubles, and 21 stolen bases. He was named the Pac-12 Conference Baseball Player of the Year.

Professional career

The

selected Melton in the second round with the 64th overall selection of the

2022 Major League Baseball draft The 2022 Major League Baseball draft took place on July 17–19, 2022, in Los Angeles. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to Major League Baseball (MLB) teams. The draft order was based on the reverse order of the 2021 MLB season standin ...

. He signed with the team for $1 million. Melton made his professional debut with the rookie-level

Florida Complex League Astros The Florida Complex League Astros are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Houston Astros, competing in the Florida Complex League of Minor League Baseball. Prior to the 2021 season, the team was known as the Gulf Coast League Astros. The team plays it ...

and was promoted to the

Fayetteville Woodpeckers The Fayetteville Woodpeckers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League and the Single-A affiliate of the Houston Astros. They are located in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and play their home games at Segra Stadium. From 2017 to 201 ...

after four games. Over 23 games between both affiliates, he batted .261 with four home runs and 13 RBI. To open the 2023 season, Melton was assigned to the

Asheville Tourists The Asheville Tourists are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Houston Astros. It is located in Asheville, North Carolina. Asheville teams have played under the Tourists moniker in different ...

. In late August, Melton was promoted to the Double-A

Corpus Christi Hooks The Corpus Christi Hooks are a Minor League Baseball team of the Texas League and the Double-A affiliate of the Houston Astros. They are located in Corpus Christi, Texas, and are named for the city's association with fishing. The team is owned b ...

. Over 99 games, he

slashed Ash are a Northern Irish rock band formed in Downpatrick, County Down in 1992 by vocalist and guitarist Tim Wheeler, bassist Mark Hamilton and drummer Rick McMurray. As a three-piece, they released mini-album '' Trailer'' in 1994 and full-lengt ...

.245/.334/.467 with 23 home runs, 55 RBI, and 46 stolen bases. Melton was assigned to Corpus Christi to open the 2024 season. In late July, he was promoted to the Triple-A

Sugar Land Space Cowboys The Sugar Land Space Cowboys are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Houston Astros Major League Baseball club. They are located in Sugar Land, Texas, part of the Greater Houston metro ...

. Over 105 games between the two affiliates, Melton batted .253 with 15 home runs, 54 RBI, and thirty stolen bases. Melton began the 2025 season with Triple-A Sugar Land, playing in 17 games and hitting .254 with two home runs, seven RBI, and three stolen bases. On June 1,

2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...

, Melton was selected to the

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, an ...

and promoted to the major leagues for the first time. He made his major league debut that day, starting in center field at

Daikin Park Daikin Park (originally Enron Field and formerly Astros Field and Minute Maid Park) is a retractable roof stadium in Houston, Texas, United States. It opened in 2000 and is the home ballpark of the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball (MLB). ...

, and went 1-for-3 versus the

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in the Tampa Bay area. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. They are one of two major ...

. He legged out an infield single versus

Taj Bradley Taj Ali Bradley (born March 20, 2001) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2023. Career Bradley grew up in Stone Mountain, Georgia, and attended Redan High ...

in the fifth inning for his first major league hit.

References

External links

Linn–Benton CC Roadrunners bioOregon State Beavers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Melton, Jacob 2000 births Living people All-American college baseball players Asheville Tourists players Baseball players from Oregon Corpus Christi Hooks players Fayetteville Woodpeckers players Florida Complex League Astros players Houston Astros players Linn–Benton Roadrunners baseball players Major League Baseball outfielders Oregon State Beavers baseball players Sportspeople from Medford, Oregon Sugar Land Space Cowboys players