Bunch of roster moves over the weekend: AAA: OF Drew Ferguson to DL RHP Tanner Duncan from AA AA: RHP Jose Bravo from Tri-City, then reassigned after 1 appearance RHP Brett Daniels from Quad Cities RHP Brendan Feldmann from Fayetteville RHP Justin Ferrell to DL High A: IF Alfredo Angarita to DL RHP Joey Gonzalez from Tri-City A: C Oscar Campos to DL IF Austin Dennis from Tri-City RHP Jojanse Torres from DSL Interesting that Daniels went to AA; 17th rounder last year doesn’t seem like the type they’d use as a fill-in, but that’s a very aggressive promotion after just 1 appearance in A ball. Torres threw 100 last year, definitely a huge sleeper. I have high hopes for Austin Dennis. With Gonzalez and Dennis being promoted, just 8 2018 draftees remain in EST: Schroeder (2), Wielansky (18), Bermudez (23), Figueroa (24), Paulino (27), Henderson (30), Cabral (31), and Billingsly (32).
Love what we’ve seen out of Rojas, Wrenn, Duarte, and McCormick in the early going in AA. All 4 of those guys have fairly high ceilings, with speed, defensive ability, and at least some combo of power and on base skill.
Rojas is my bet on the guy that makes an MLB roster and annoys the crap out of division opponents while not being a good player.
Miguelangel Sierra has hit a grand slam for Fayetteville. They're still young, but this is a fairly important year for both him and Jonathan Arauz. One of them has to have somewhat of a breakout season offensively.
Whitley got smacked around pretty good today, out of the game already with RR trailing 5-1 in the 2nd.
As long as he’s healthy, those kinds of outings in the minors can be a good thing. Jack Mayfield hit another HR in the 1st. 6 more weeks of him hitting like that and some team is bound to give him a shot.
That's going to be super interesting to follow this year. Obviously they need to limit his innings if he's going to pitch into October, and he certainly has the stuff, but it's not an insignificant journey from 21 years old to #3 pitcher in the playoffs. If he can be that guy that I'm penciling in then that takes care of concerns at the trade deadline and need for 2020 rotation (assuming Cole is gone which I do), but if he's not trending on that path by June or July you have to think a move is in the offing. I'm excited to see how this all plays out. What's going on there in RR for the first 3 months of the season has more long term impact than anything happening in Houston the next 2 or 3 months...
Watched a RR game last week. I observed Tucker’s AB’s, as he went 0-4. There were 17 scouts in attendance in my section who seemed to be interested in Tucker and Guduan. He took a lot of pitches, and never really hit the ball hard all night. But what really stuck out to me was his demeanor. He seemed to always be looking at the ground - especially on his walks back to the dugout. I sure hope he gets his bat going soon.
Early, but Enmanuel Valdez in Quad Cities is starting to pique my interest. He has a two-run homer for the River Bandits tonight.
The Astros need to get Tucker hot and dump him. I’ve heard rumblings from a few people that he is really low energy and doesn’t really want to play baseball. Get a #2 starter under contract for a few years in exchange for Tucker. Pence drove me crazy because he was an absolute moron, but at least he wanted to play baseball. Tucker can change his attitude or go sell insurance in Florida with his brother.... who wants to play baseball but has limited tools.
Other highlights so far: - Shawn Dubin, last year's 13th-round pick, allowed one hit and struck out seven over six shutout innings for Quad Cities. - Bryan Abreu allowed one hit (a solo homer), walked three, and struck out 10 in 4.2 innings for Fayetteville. - Seth Beer's first extra-base hit of the season is a two-run homer. - Ronnie Dawson is currently 3-3 with a solo homer, his 2nd home run of the season.
Tucker not providing a very high value (either as an above average everyday OF or as the primary trade chip for a star player under 3+ years of control) would be a HUGE blow to Houston’s chances of continuing to win long term. I’ve felt for the last 18 months that there is a TON riding on Tucker and Whitley to keep the window open past 2022.
I've always hoped Tucker could live up to his god given abilities. Now we know why. I sure do wish they would've drafted Bennentindi.
There is a ton riding on them, and that is why I question a long term window. Teams cannot count on their top prospects panning out. Some do and some do not. Tucker can be somewhat mitigated by Alvarez and an unforeseen player emerging.
While I expect a drop off in the Astros over the next 5 seasons (including 2019), I'm not sold on the rest of the AL West long term. A's have some prospects and young talent, but I take the Astros MLB talent and financial resources. Angels have Trout and Ohtani, but don't have the prospects. Rangers and Mariners look to be headed for hard times. Win the division and you get about 8-12 percent chance at winning the World Series. I expect Altuve and Bregman help mitigate a lot of risk. I expect Kemp and White are cost controlled MLB players, even if they aren't great players, that will help keep salaries down to help afford free agents. I'm not too worried about individual prospects. Some will fail, but Astros have enough that it shouldn't matter regarding being a division contender (which is basically the same thing as World Series contender). I expect the AL to head towards parity in a couple of years with maybe the exception of the Yankees (good thing Tampa is cheap).
Most prospects are approaching the 50 PA threshold, some notes/thoughts: 23 hitters with 110 wRC+ or better: Yordan Alvarez (216 wRC+) won't be able to maintain his current walk rate or HR rate, but his performance is legit. He is an elite hitter and his stock is rising. Scott Schreiber may not be in QC long. HIs BABIP is inflated but he's dropped his k rate from last season. Bryan De La Cruz is a mirage. He hits the ball hard, but until he starts putting some over the fence he is a non-factor. At 22, the time is now for that to show up. Jake Adams is a big breakout candidate. HE seems to have made a huge change in his game and his k rate dropped tremendously. He's already hit 3 HR this season so the power is still there. Could be a guy. Jack Mayfield is crushing the ball in AAA and there's nothing on the surface that says it isn't real. Definitely a candidate for a callup if the need for a middle infielder arises. Enmanuel Valdez, one of the few guys who is young for his league, is just continuing to show what he did at the lower levels. He might have 20 HR power and with his low k rate makes him a potential everyday 2B if all goes perfectly. Josh Rojas won't be able to sustain his walk rate or BABIP, but the fact that he's been able to keep his k rate that low in AA and that he is still stealing bases bodes really well. Definitely a potential superutility guy. Chas McCormick continues to do what hes always done: avoid strikeouts. He is a definite 4th OF candidate with potential for more if he can start getting some time in CF. Jamie Ritchie seems to be flying under the radar but now has a pretty good size sample in AAA where he has been an excellent offensive player. If Straw can play SS he is a really valuable prospect. LIke, Top 100 overall valuable. Beer's power will come and by June he will be in AA. Need more time to draw any predictions: STubbs, Costes, Manea. I think Stephen Wrenn, Colton Shaver, Alfredo Angarita, Chundler Taylor, Chuckie Robinson, and Miguelangel Sierra are due for a fall; same for Jonathan Lacroix. A handful of guys struggling out of the gate (<90wRC+): Guys I think will rebound: Tanielu, Toro, ARauz. Matijevic may be a bust. Really disappointed in his early k rate; same goes for Papierski, Jones, GOetzman, Meyers, DeGoti, Benedetti, and Reed. I wouldn't say I"m really worried about Tucker, but I"m a little worried. Him busting is just something that Houston cannot allow to happen.
The Astros just have to hope that they have a low attrition rate on their prospects, or an average attrition rate. If that is the case, they may not be great but can potentially be good. Also, keep in mind that Altuve and Bregman are not static, but could get injured or regress.
His BABIP of .115 this year and .176 BABIP last year w/ the Astros indicate teams are shifting heavily on him. It will take him a while to adjust, at least a couple of months. I would guess PCL teams weren't shifting on him nearly as much as they are this year now that he's been exposed. This is all part of the development process. So, if he ever starts hitting for average again (ie learning to beat the shift), we can get pretty excited. Until then, expect some serious growing pains, and yes, a lot of 'sky is falling'/'why didn't we trade him'/'trade him when we can' overreactions. We need to develop our prospects though... for every one that excels here, that's a Charlie Morton and Gerrit Cole we can afford to keep. Tucker only hit 22 three months ago, btw.