https://www.milb.com/milb/news/hous...or-more/c-305378430?tcid=tw_article_305378430 Some good stuff here. Nova being assigned to QC is really exciting if true.
3 released this morning: 2B Ryne Birk LHP Alex Winkelman RHP Carlos Sierra Birk was a 13th round pick in 2016. He had a great pro debut in 2016, followed by a decent 2017. But he was awful in AA last season, posting a 61 wRC+. He always showed plus contact, never striking out more than 18.9% of the time, but his low walk rate and drop in power as he moved up was his undoing. He is the 2nd highest signed 2016 draftee to be released (after 10th rounder Dustin Hunt). There are now 14 2016 draftees left in Houston’s system. Winkelman was a 21st round pick on 2015. He posted excellent overall numbers from 2015-2017, before struggling in AA last season with 6.72bb/9 and a 5.10 xFIP. His release leaves only 6 2015 draftees in Houston’s system: Bregman, Tucker, Stubbs, Straw, Ferguson, and Garza. Sierra was a big bonus international signee from the Dominican by way of Spain. He also posted good numbers in the lower levels, but failed to generate the necessary results in AA. His release leaves only Cionel Perez, Angel Macuare, and Elian Rodriguez as international pitchers who signed for more than $600k. None of those are surprising. I expect another 10-15 players to be released over the next few weeks. These releases serve as further evidence that AA is the real proving ground in a player’s development.
A little surprised by Hardy and Nunez. Hardy is a 6'7" lefty who put up really good numbers last year, but I can't say I've ever seen a scouting report on him. Nunez could hit 98 in his first taste of pitching in instructs. Both would have been older relievers likely to start in A ball, so they probably just would rather see what the 2018 draft guys can do.
Looks like the Astros really do not place any kind of premium or emphasis on lefty pitchers. QC and Fayetteville might not have a single lefty pitcher on their roster; Mushinski and Bermudez are the only 2 guys I can see being there.
No major surprises. Hardy (18th round) is the 2nd highest signed 2017 draftee to be released so far. Mattix (25th round) is the first 2018 signed draftee to be released. With Nunez gone, only 8 2014 draftees remain in the system. Minor League rosters will probably be released Friday and I still see an extra 10-20 players they won’t have room for.
I was hoping Bukauskas and Bielak would be up in AAA to start, but guessing Astros don't want to create room by demoting someone. Pitching depth looks better than player depth. McKenna is missing. I was hoping to see Nova get a shot at Quad Cities.
Very conservative placements all around. Still 29 guys missing who would be in full season if following a normal progression, and that’s not including super young guys like Nova and Santana. 10 2018 college draftees (Paulino, Dennis, Wielansky, McKenna, Figueroa, Gonzalez, Henderson, Billingsly, Bermudez, Cabral) not placed plus the 3 2017 college pitchers (House, Martin, Serrano). Others who should have graduated from short season by now: Machado, Castro, Canelon, Marquez, J Pineda, Feldmann, Duncan, Saldana, H Paulino, F Tejada.
Oddly enough Tanner Duncan is on there. The rosters don't seem quite right, as Goetzman is still listed for TC, and Nick Hernandez has disappeared altogether.
The rosters never really look too exciting to start, especially for the A clubs. - Hope that Arauz/Sierra can make some legitimate progress offensively. - Machado will probably be the first outfielder going up to QC when the weather warms up a bit. - Freudis is probably gonna get a trial run with QC before heading to Tri-City for the rest of the summer. It would be huge if Luis Santana managed to stick with Quad Cities for an entire season. - Round Rock's roster surely has to be on par with the Orioles. - Expecting Quad Cities' pitchers to put up some obscene strikeout numbers again. Guys I'll be keeping an eye on besides the people we already know: Round Rock Alex De Goti Nick Tanielu Ryan Hartman (hoping he doesn't fall victim to the Peter principle) Corpus Brandon Bailey J.J. Matijevic Kit Scheetz (also hoping that he doesn't fall victim to the Peter principle) Fayetteville Peter Solomon Enoli Paredes - can he finally stay healthy Cristian Javier Quad Cities Mark Moclair Willy Collado - could he be this year's Bryan Abreu? Andy Piñeda Enmanuel Valdez Jeremy Peña Luis Garcia
Just like the last 2-3 years, I'm amazed at the amount of talent left in Extended Spring Training: SS Freudis Nova - #7 prospect in the system RHP Jayson Schroeder - #18 prospect in the system 2B Luis Santana - #21 prospect in the system 3B Joe Perez - 2nd rd 2017 C Nathan Perry - 5th round 2017 IF Yorbin Cueta, RHP Angel Macuare, RHP Elian Rodriguez - each got $700k+ bonuses when signed C Nerio Rodriguez, C Jose Alvarez, SS Deury Carrasco, IF Jeury Castillo, IF Yeuris Ramirez, OF Hector Martinez, OF Franklin Perez, OF Yimmi Cortabarria, OF Yefri Carrillo, OF Juan Ramirez, OF WIlyer Abreu, LHP Julio Robaina, RHP Heitor Tokar, RHP Jose Betances, LHP Ricardo Leon, RHP Jairo Lopez - all got $200k+ bonuses when signed. (Some may stay in the DSL for another year so may not actually be in extended spring in florida.) RHP's Manny Ramirez, Ernesto Jaquez, Jojanse Torres, Franny Cobos, and Alfredi Jimenez all have premium stuff and put up fantastic numbers last season. 1B Victor Mascai and C Carlos Hurtado are coming stateside after great seasons in the DSL last year. 9 other 2018 draftees (in addition to Schroeder): Wielansky (18th), Dennis (20th), Bermudez (23rd), Figueroa (24th), Paulino (27th), Gonzalez (28th), Henderson (30th), Cabral (31st), Billingsly (32nd). 4 other 2017 draftees (in addition to Perez and Perry): Serrano (10th), Martin (20th), House (24th), Santana (29th).
Plausible May debutants for Quad Cities in order of my percieved likelihood: Carlos Machado Manny Ramirez Ernesto Jaquez Jojanse Torres Deury Carrasco Alfredi Jimenez Freudis Nova Jayson Schroeder Kyle Serrano Joe Perez Nathan Perry Angel Macuare If they don't promote any of those young pitchers, they could have 5 spots in the Tri-city rotation already claimed by interesting 19 year olds, which may cause a slight deviation from the typical college pitcher heavy drafts they've typically run.
