So do the Astros still plan to make Cionel Perez into a starter, or is he destined for the pen? People call me crazy, but for me, it's Perez>Martin>Whitley in terms of our top 3 pitching prospects. Really, really, really, really REALLY don't want to see the first two traded.
Just curious, but why do you like Perez and Martin over Whitley? I love them both but mine would go Whitley>Martin>Perez
They probably still see him as a starter, but there's just no spot right now. With Keuchel, Morton, Cole, and Verlander all being FAs after next year, I'd expect to see him at least be given a shot
Pretty cool that he's a local kid as well. Would be neat if a local guy becomes a key member of the Astros in the near future. *it would be extra cool for me. I collect baseball cards and I radomly started to collect him after I was too late on collecting Whitley.
Perez has showed so much maturity and transitioned pretty well from AA to MLB, though sending him to AAA was clearly the right thing as he needs more prep. Filthy stuff, plus he's left handed, and our system is pretty weak on LHP. Martin also has great stuff, has been performing exceptionally well and keeps shooting through the system. Whitley I have injury and mar1juana concerns.
Fangraphs updated their BOARD. Cionel Perez got bumped to a 50 and #103 on their "top 100" Manny Ramirez and Osvaldo Duarte weren't mentioned preseason, but are now 40 FVs. Duarte has 55 projection on his hit tool, which is impressive given his K% was over 30 last year. Carlos Sanabria, Enoli Paredes, and Kit Scheetz all broke into the 35+FV range from obscurity prior to the season. They've become more bullish on Solis' breaking ball giving it a 60 projection, but dropped his command projection to a 45.
It's odd that he doesn't have a top 100 ranking even though he has three projected plus pitches while Cionel only has two. I guess that is due to the 55 vs 60 projected fastball grades.
It’s an odd list, although I’m not entirely sure how it’s compiled. No Myles Straw, and there are a few arms that I would think would easily rate over guys like Manny Ramirez.
A lot of scouts really do not like Beer. They don't think he has good enough bat speed, that his power will not translate to wood and that he cannot play the outfield.
This is written in stone. Scouts never change their opinion much. If a player exceeds their expectation, it is luck and not skill. Expect Beer to be playing everyday in the MLB, before he cracks any top 100 list.
Minor League notes now that July is complete: Pitching: Most promising group of DSL arms in awhile. Cobos, Jimenez, Tokar, Jaquez, Lopez all should be stateside soon. Same can be said for international arms further up the system. Potential breakouts from Humberto Castellanos, Bryan Abreu, Willy Collado, Manny Ramirez, Enoli Paredes, and Felipe Tejada. Mentioned this before, but you could make a dominant High A starting rotation from only members of the 2017 draft class: Martin, Bielak, Ivey, Solomon, Bukauskas all pitching really well, although Bielak has been fairly unremarkable so far in AA (only 21 yo). Brett Conine is the only 2018 pitcher draftee whose had an impressive start Josh James still walks too many guys (3.91/9 in AAA) to project as a starter. But he's going to make a lights out reliever. Jairo Solis walking 6.48 per 9 IP. Ouch. Still only 18 though. Framber Valdez had a fantastic July. He needs to move up to AAA. Dean Deetz has 16.62k/9 in AAA so far. Great comeback for him. I think he is also going to make someone a great late inning reliever. Trent Thornton is underrated. 9k/9, 2bb/9. Being held down by HR/9 which could just be from pitching in the PCL. Expected more out of Angel Macuare and Elian Rodriguez so far. Akeem Bostick had a bad June/July. He's been inconsistent like that since houston acquired him; in May I thought he was breaking out. Position players: Ronnie Dawson has a huge opportunity in AA; if he has 2 good months he'll be shooting up prospect lists. It's a bummer Joe Perez hasn't played much; when he has, he's been fantastic. Celestino was having a real breakout in TC. Sad to see him go. We may see him on a few Top 100 lists next year. It's only be 40 PA, but Jamie Ritchie is doing really well in AAA. I wish I knew more about his defense. Catchers who walk more than they strikeout are virtually guaranteed to play in the majors if they are adequate defensively. Stock falling: Josh Rojas Stock rising: Alex McKenna, Deury Carrasco, Jeremy Pena My Updated Top 30 prospects (MLB.com grading): 1. RHP Forrest Whitley 60 2. OF Kyle Tucker 60 3. OF Yordan Alvarez 60 4. LHP Cionel Perez 55 5. RHP Corbin Martin 55 6. RHP J.B. Bukauskas 55 7. OF Seth Beer 55 8. SS Freudis Nova 50 9. RHP Jayson Schroeder 50 10. 3B Joe Perez 50 11. RHP Josh James 50 12. SS Jonathan Arauz 45 13. OF Myles Straw 45 14. 3B Abraham Toro 45 15. RHP Tyler Ivey 45 16. OF JJ Matijevic 45 17. RHP Dean Deetz 45 18. RHP Trent Thornton 45 19. RHP Jairo Solis 45 20. OF Ronnie Dawson 45 21. LHP Framber Valdez 45 22. OF Alex McKenna 45 23. C Garrett Stubbs 45 24. RHP Rogelio Armenteros 45 25. RHP Brandon Bielak 45 26. LHP Brett Adcock 45 27. RHP Peter Solomon 45 28. RHP Brock Dykxhoorn 40 29. RHP Riley Ferrell 40 30. RHP Cristian Javier 40 Other grade 40 position players: C Nathan Perry, SS Jeremy Pena, SS Miguelangel Sierra, SS Deury Carrasco, IF Josh Rojas, OF Stephen Wrenn, OF Drew Ferguson, OF Jacob Meyers, C Jamie Ritchie, SS Yorbin Cueta, OF Yefri Carrillo, OF Franklin Pinto Other grade 40 pitchers: Manny Ramirez, Ryan Hartman, Brandon Bailey, Akeem Bostick, Heitor Tokar, Ernesto Jaquez, Franny Cobos, Bryan Abreu, Willy Collado, Alfredi Jimenez, Angel Macuare, Jairo Lopez, Elian Rodriguez
They must have gotten some nice reports about Ramirez. He seems very similar to Martes at the same age.
