Like others, I've been hoping we keep Tucker and if he's ready move him along quickly to let him be all he can be. Today's HR was a stroke of beauty--I'm hoping we give him a chance to earn the job. However, with that said, there are far more savvy baseball folks on this board than I and keeping him under team control longer may make more sense than potentially rushing him along. I'm voting maybe, but damn this player looks like he could be special.
Keep him. The potential is just too much to give away. I also feel like he will play next year unless a major injury happens in the outfield.
I want him to be AL Rookie of the Year, just start him in LF, Marwin is a utility player plays everywhere everyday.
I'd be skeptical of bringing up a 20 year old who hasn't seen AAA yet. Let's see how he does during half a season at Fresno and then maybe it will make sense for the Astros to add him in the summer. If Fisher's killing it, Tucker can stay the whole year in AAA and no harm done.
True, Altuve did come up without touching AAA, but his first three seasons (2011-2013) were not very inspiring, with OPS figures of .654, .740, and .678. In retrospect, had the Astros had a better 2B available in 2011-2012, it might have been better to keep Altuve in AAA until at least the summer of 2012. I'm concerned that if K Tuck were rushed along like Altuve was, we would see a similar pattern: An initial year or two of performing slightly under the MLB average for his position, followed by some really stellar seasons around 2020-2024.
Most players struggle initially, regardless of level at time of promotion. I, and you, would be thrilled if he had an Altuve-like career. That being said, I see them taking the same approach they did with Correa and Bregs.
Altuve improved a lot at the MLB level in the power department. He feasted on poor defenders in the minors. Tucker is not on the path that he needs to learn to make harder contact.
If he destroys AAA thru June and if Houston has a glaring hole in the lineup (which would mean a LOT of injuries and slumps as Reed, White, Davis, and Kemp would all be given a chance ahead of him), then he should be called up. For now it looks likely he will be ready by mid season, but it doesn’t make sense to start his clock until Houston really needs him, which honestly may not be until 2019 or later.
I voted No. There's no rush given the state of the lineup as currently constructed. You give Fisher the chance to win the job and see what he can do most every day. Worst case is that a platoon with Marwin and others is instituted. Best case, he's our everyday LF'er and we have even more flexibility to make moves mid-season. Tucker will get his shot but there's absolutely no reason to rush him (and his clock).
I agree after Super Two "deadline" is the earliest he gets called up. Things would really have to go completely wrong in his development if he is called up after 2019.
He's certainly not gonna start out as our everyday LF, there's zero chance of that happening. But by mid season if he's killing it and we seem to have a void at the MLB level, there's no real reason to leave him down there. We're in the midst of another World Series push, any player that we believe can help that push should be in Houston.
While I think all of us loved seeing Tucker's HR yesterday, and I think we all realize how sweet of a swing he has, I don't think it's realistic at all to expect him to be our everyday LF this season. We have to remember that it's spring training and the pitcher he was facing isn't quite the type of pitchers he'd be facing in the MLB on a regular basis. Miles Mikolas (the pitcher who gave up the HR) pitched all of 57 innings last season for the Rangers and had an ERA north of 6.50. This isn't meant to diminish what we've seen from Tucker so far, but just more of a reality check. Then again, if Tucker is consistently getting hits and hits a decent amount of dingers the rest of spring training, then I think you can begin to have more of a conversation about his ability to see significant time in LF in the Juice Box this season.
You're mistaken on Mikolas's history. He last played for the Rangers in 2014. He's been in Japan since then and was signed to a decent FA contract with the expectation of being a starter in the Cardinals rotation. You can argue that any isolated performance in a ST game, early or late, doesn't mean much but Mikolas is definitely expected to be a MLB starting pitcher this season.
You're right. Saw the most recent season on baseball reference and didn't realize it was from 2014 and not 2017. Regardless, one HR off a back of the rotation starter (in fairly average rotation) doesn't quite qualify Tucker for everyday LF consideration.
I'll vote maybe for later in the year--because who knows. He might hit .500 through the first 50 games in AAA, the Astros may need hitting for a million different reasons, and the team might hit a rut. But short of that type of scenario, I'd rather keep him in AAA for most of the year
Like any other guy trying to earn a permanent spot on the team, they are going to have to bring it not only in ST, but at least through late May.
