Down in the complex leagues, Yorbin Ceuta (GCL) and Tomás Ramirez (DSL) have gone deep. Both of them now have two home runs on the season.
Yes. There's a reason there are so few catchers drafted in the 1st/2nd rounds out of high school... so much projection involved because none of them are remotely polished.
So a couple fun Seth Beer facts I noticed today: Seth Beer has a better wrc+ on the season that Alvarez did in the minors (175 vs 171) Steamer projects him to be an above average major league hitter if he was promoted today (103 WRC+) which is tied for the 2nd best projection for a player with no MLB time. First is weirdly Jon Kemmer (114!), but I suspect there's a error with how they weigh Mexican league stats involved there.
I've noticed Beer's Steamer being pretty great for a guy with only 200 or PAs in AA. Beer is slightly older than Alvarez and pounded on A+ ball pitching some so I wouldn't take the higher wRC+ to mean too much. He is showing good power, and love a good BABIP in the minors.
I wasn't trying to suggest Beer was better or more impressive than Alvarez, just in a league-adjusted context, he was more dominant. The age and level considerations certainly makes Alvarez's year more impressive.
Everyone sees the performance and physical tools and thinks it is easy. Couple that with him coming from a "good family" and the assumption is that it is easy. The reality is that a lot of people would not be emotionally ready to be a big league pitcher at 20-21 years old, especially when everyone tells you that you are great. The positive drug test showed the maturity issues, and his excuse is what a teenager would come up with - because he was a teenager. Ideally he would have gone a level a year and be ready. With the drug issue, he pitched very little in the minors and suddenly is on the cusp of the big leagues. Let's see how he does next year. I view this as a miscalculation by the front office and Whitley and not doom and gloom.
Few prospects are a sure thing but I like Beer's hit tool quite a bit and he has the potential to be a good fielding first baseman. He is very slow, but a very good athlete with strong reaction times, soft hands and good coordination. At 6'3" he is also a solid sized target. He doesn't just ooze "special" like the first time I really saw Alvarez in A ball, but he really knows how to hit, he can turn on inside pitches, he has a relatively small strike zone because of his positioning in the box and he makes hard contact. He strikes out a lot, but walks enough to keep his OB% high.
How does CC rate among Texas League parks? wRC+ is league adjusted in the minors, but it isn't park adjusted to my knowledge. A lot of CC players seem to have high wRC+'s.
Quick Google search suggests its maybe slightly above average. Good for HRs, but suppress hits enough it isn't super hitter friendly. I have heard the radio guys suggest it's worse for LHH as the wind usually blows in from RF.
Without seeing Beer in CC, this is basically what I expect from his stats. Thanks. I didn't mean for you to do a goodle search. Thought you might know offhand.
The DSL Astros game was suspended due to rain. As mentioned earlier, Tomás Ramirez hit a two-run homer, his second of the year. And a shocker as Yohander Martinez is currently 2-2 before play was stopped.
Ronnie Dawson hit his 15th homer of the year for Corpus. And... oh, he's probably going to strike out 150 times this year.
Chad Donato, in his second start for Corpus: 7 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 7 K, 88 pitches (58 strikes) The two runs he allowed came on a home run.
The sky must be falling because a starting pitcher actually had a dominant performance in AAA. Sneed: 7IP, 5H, 0R, 1BB, 7K. Given his recent outings in the show, and how putrid everyone else has been, he seems to be a lock to start w/ the parent club next week. Good to see Riley Ferrell re-promoted to AAA and not walk anyone, or allow any hits in his first inning up. He’s a dark horse for shoring up our bullpen, after he used to be billed as a future closer. Ultra small sample size, but it’s all we can ask for this year with AAA pitching. Hopefully it’s the beginning of a new trend.
Sneed and Armenteros both should get turns in the big league rotation next week. At this point they have to reward performance.
Fangraphs chat today: fangraphs reader 12:26 Do you think any of Enoli Paredes, Brandon Bailey, or Cristian Javier could factor into the Astros bullpen down the stretch, since they'll all be Rule 5 eligible this offseason? Eric A Longenhagen 12:27 I do. I don't know which of those three the org prefers and so I don't know which of them is most likely to get the first big league look should they need someone, but your logic is sound and those guys all have big stuff. fangraphs reader 12:36 How likely is it that the Astros had the Dodgers sign Yordan Alvarez to get around international restrictions so they could trade for him 6 weeks later? Eric A Longenhagen 12:38 there are people in baseball who believe this is what happened, but peole say all kinds of stuff about Houston and not all of it is true. Also, if this is what happened, I'm fine with it. As long as the player knew he'd eventually be an Astro and wasn't being lied to when signing with LAD