When the Houston Astros signed third baseman Yulieski Gurriel to a five-year, $47.5 million deal in July, the plan was to let the Cuba native adjust to American baseball before calling him up the big leagues. Despite their recent offensive woes and the struggles of prized prospect Alex Bregman, the Astros are sticking with their plan to call up Gurriel in mid-August.

Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle reports that the Astros "will not expedite" the process with Gurriel, according to GM Jeff Luhnow, and that August 16 remains the target day to call up the 32-year-old. Gurriel took another step toward the majors Monday, getting promoted to Double-A Corpus Christi after six games across Rookie League and high-A.

The Astros signed Gurriel on July 16 after a long and prestigious international career, playing professionally both in Cuba and Japan. Gurriel was a star member of all three of Cuba's World Baseball Classic squads and won Olympic gold and silver in 2004 and 2008, respectively.

Gurriel could be a needed boost for an Astros team that is quickly fading out of the playoff picture. Houston is 2-8 in its last ten games and has slipped to third in the AL West behind the Seattle Mariners.