At 5’10” and 165 lbs, Alex De Goti is not the strapping, “sexy” shortstop star that will lead anyone to mistake him for the Houston Astros’ own Carlos Correa, whose 6’4″, 215-pound shadow led scouts to drool and compare him to Alex Rodriguez.

Instead, the right-hand hitting De Goti’s stature might put many in the mind of Roger Metzger (now 70), the 165-lb, six-foot light-hitting shortstop who covered the Astrodome infield through the 1970s.

De Goti (that’s a long “o”) has three things, though, that Metzger, with all respect, was missing, at least in abundance: grit, determination, and muscles.

August 4, three weeks before his 24th birthday, De Goti was promoted to Houston’s AAA Fresno Grizzlies after dazzling the front office with 11 home runs, a .282 BA, and 50 RBIs in 98 games for Double-A Corpus Christi this season. He ranked second on the Hooks in hits with 101 and total bases (161) and was one of eight Hooks players to represent the South Division in the Texas League All-Star Game, June 26.

De Goti got his first Triple-A homer for Fresno August 31.

Myles Straw was named to the team, but could not play because of his AAA promotion, so De Goti was named as a replacement to the South team.

Also representing the Hooks were Taylor Jones (also with Fresno now), Randy Cesar, Josh Rojas, Cionel Perez (now with the Astros), Ryan Hartman, Corbin Martin and Framber Valdez.

Mostly a shortstop, Houston’s organizational appreciation of player flexibility has led De Goti to log significant playing time at second and third base, as well, thereby increasing his shot at The Show.

Native Floridian

Born in Miami in 1994, Alexander De Goti attended Belen Jesuit Prep becoming a pillar for the Wolverines’ varsity infield as early as 2009, his freshman year.

This led to De Goti playing his first three seasons of college baseball clear across the country at Long Beach State, filling a reserve role but wanting more.

“I knew that if I wanted to have any chance to play pro ball, I had to find a place where I could play every day,” De Goti told the QCTimes in 2017. “I have to find an opportunity or it wasn’t going to happen for me. It was a decision I had to make for my career.”

“One Set of Eyes”

That determination led him back home to Barry University, an NCAA Division II program in Miami Shores (just north of Miami) which provided De Goti with an opportunity to play in all 49 of the Bucs’ games in 2016. He hit .404 and earned Division II All-American honors, understandably catching the attention of Astros’ senior scouting advisor Charlie Gonzalez.

“All it takes is one set of eyes and I was fortunate that Charlie liked what he saw in me,” De Goti said. “That gave me the chance to play pro ball.”

The Astros, on Gonzalez’ recommendation, drafted De Goti in the 15th round of the 2016 draft.

De Goti spent his first year at Houston’s short-season Class A Tri-City ValleyCats, batting just .228 in 63 games, but he clearly was getting acclimated to the pro game.

Gaining Traction

“I left there understanding what I needed to do,” De Goti said. “It wasn’t 140 games like the [full season level], but it was 76 in 80 days and that experience taught me a lot about my body and how I needed to take care of it, from my diet to rest to strength, all of the things that go into being ready to compete at the highest level.”

That work continued into the offseason, when he trained, somewhat unpredictably, under the guidance of Barry pitching coach Alex Gonzalez, whose experience in sports performance training helped De Goti improve his strength, speed, and mobility. Again, an example of De Goti’s dogged perseverance, looking for ways to improve his game.

“I’ve learned to make moves that I couldn’t make before. It was extremely beneficial and it’s helping me compete now,” De Goti explained. “I’m coming to the ballpark ready to work and ready to improve every day. That’s the goal.”

From Class A to a Bizarre Fresno Layover

For his 2017, De Goti is probably in the record books for making it to Triple-A for a week while completely skipping Double-A, and after only a week at the Class A level. What may have been a clerical mix-up was likely merely a needed fill-in situation.

His five Fresno games were insignificant, stat-wise, but his two hits included a double and gave De Goti a brief glimpse into AAA life, and a reunion, now, with his new team. His six strikeouts, though, in 11 at-bats proved he wasn’t ready at the time, something no one can say now.

Putting together his 2017, though (34 games with full-season Class A Quad Cities, 70 with A+ Buies Creek), saw De Goti compiling a .236 average, 18 doubles, a triple, and eight homers, with a .697 OPS and 53 walks against 100 strikeouts.

It Might As Well Be Spring (Training)

De Goti spent the Spring Trainings of 2017 and 2018 learning whatever he could from Astros who were generous of their time.

“To get that chance was pretty amazing,” De Goti said. “I tried to soak it up, learn everything I could. Now, it’s motivation.

“The entire spring was a chance for me to learn, to get to know everybody in the system, and to have a chance to go up for a couple big league games was great,” De Goti recalled the spring of 2017. “To have a chance to talk with (Astros’ perennial All-Star hit king) Jose Altuve was good. I asked plenty of questions and tried to soak up as much as I could.”

One Spring Training at-bat stood out for De Goti, reports What The Heck Bobby’s Jayne Hansen. It was against the Mets. “I was facing the closer, AJ Ramos. I got to watch him growing up because I’m from Miami, and he was with the Marlins before. He hung me a slider and I took him deep.

“It’s kind of funny because then I found out a couple weeks later that AJ Ramos is friends with one of my brother’s high school buddies, and I guess after I hit that home run, he texted him, ‘Hey, my buddy just hit a home run off you.’ And [Ramos] started laughing, ‘Yeah, I hung him a slider.'”

Will De Goti be promoted to Houston during the September roster expansion? It’ll be worth staying tuned.