Collado made his first AA appearance in the first game of Corpus Christi's doubleheader: 2.2 IP, 2 H, BB
Getting the footwork correct around the bag and coming in or to the right is the hardest thing to teach a new 1B. Yuli played 3B and middle IF for years and it took him a good bit of time to adjust. Yordan's not a total novice though, he played almost exclusively at 1B as a teenager in the Cuban League, and has played there in the minors a bit less than 1/3 of the time he's spent in the OF.
Not Astros related, but I'd be hanging my head down in shame, too, if my team decided to call themselves the Udder Tuggers.
Nobody enjoys minor league goofiness more than I do. I almost always enjoys the outlandish names and tacky gimmicks, I actually dig the stupid hat. That name is a step too far.
There are 20 prospects who were previously on the DSL roster who are no longer there. My guess is the bulk of them will be in the GCL: C Jose Alvarez* 1B Victor Mascai IF Jose Mendoza IF Jeury Castillo* IF Rolando Espinosa IF Javier Bermudez OF Yimmi Cortabarria* OF Yefri Carrillo* OF Abraham Castillo OF Adonis Giron OF Franklin Pinto* P Heitor Tokar* P Franny Cobos P Brayan De Paula P Jairo Lopez* P Yeremi CEballos P Valente Bellozo P Flaer Gonzalez P Antonion Placencia P Diosmerky Taveras * denotes player received a signing bonus of $200k+. With that in mind, here are my Tri-City and GCL opening day roster predictions: Tri-City: C (4): Nathan Perry, Juan Paulino, 2 draft picks IF (8): Yorbin Cueta, Deury Carrasco, Ronaldo Urdaneta, Sean Mendoza, 4 draft picks OF (5): Juan Ramirez, Andres Santana, 3 draft picks SP (9): Ernesto Jaquez, Angel Macuare, Alfredi Jiminez, Elian Rodriguez, Juan Pablo Lopez, 4 draftees RP (9): Luis De Paula, Fredy Medina, Christian Mejias, Jervic Chavez, Bryan Solano, Daniel Bello, Gerardo Bojorquez, 2 draftees GCL: C (4): Nerio Rodriguez, Jose Alvarez, 2 draft picks IF (8): Victor Mascai, Jeury Castillo, Jose Mendoza, Rolando Espinosa, Javier Bermudez, Joe Perez, Yeuris Ramirez, 1 draft pick OF (5): Yimmi Cortabarria, Yefri Carrillo, Abraham Castillo, Adonis Giron, Franklin Pinto P (13): Heitor Tokar, Franny Cobos, Jairo Lopez, Valente Bellozo, Flaer Gonzalez, Antonio Placencia, Diosmerky Taveras, Freylin Garcia, 5 draft picks Injured/Released: Rhandall Sanchez, Gerry Castillo, Alex House, Kyle Serrano I think Houston will sign ~30 draft picks, so a handful will go straight to full season ball, like last year. There will be a rotating group of players (mostly pitchers) filling in for injuries on other rosters moving in and out of the GCL roster (hence I only listed 30 guys there instead of 35).
Any possibility of teaching Brantley/Tucker 1B? I know Brantley played a little first in the minors a looong time ago (in the MIL/CLE systems), and it was rumored he'd get the chance to at least fill in at first, but apparently Hinch later shot that down (it's now been said that Reddick would be the first OF to be moved to 1B). And he did get some RF reps in Spring Training, right? I know he's never played RF in an MLB game, but if he could learn RF that would be nice, too, to clear the LF logjam for Alvarez (since it looks like he's no longer a 1B). Tucker from what I've seen may be able to learn the "bending" moves of 1B, and flexibility would be nice, but it would take time and may not work. Beer does look like he'll be the eventual 1B based on where he's played in AAA.
Miguel Palma, a Venezuelan catcher who was one of the Astros' $300K signings from last year's IFA period, hit his first career home run down in the DSL today.
I seriously can't imagine that Brantley "couldn't" play first if it came down to it going into next season. Hell, he might even like it as a way to extend his career- his bat obviously carries him, not his defense, so it's not like adding another tool to his tool belt in his walk year would hurt him. It's not hard to play first base. Brad Pitt was correct on that one. AJ Reed can do it. Tyler White can do it. John Kruk did it. Jeff Bagwell did it with one arm. I'm fairly confident Michael Bradley could do it.
Playing Tucker at first would be a waste of his speed. I do think playing Reddick or Brantley at 1B (possibly forming a platoon with Gurriel) might be a good idea since it would open up a corner OF spot for Tucker (leaving DH for Alvarez), but that would probably be best implemented in the offseason. The Astros best position player roster (both now and probably next season) looks like this for me: CF Springer LF Brantley 3B Bregman 2B Altuve DH Alvarez SS Correa RF Tucker 1B Gurriel/Reddick platoon C Chirinos/Stubbs platoon Bench: Diaz, Marisnick Of course that leaves no room for Kemp or White.
That was one of my favorite ongoing bits from the big freight train, aka orangewhoopass, aka spikesnstars or whatever they are calling themselves now if they still even exist.
Yep. I'd rather the money be off the books altogether, but if you wanted to platoon Gurriel and Reddick for 1 season at 22 million it probably gets you to above average 1b. Which is a waste, but then you could do this Springer Altuve Bregman Brantley Correa Yordan Tucker YULI/Reddick Chirinos/Stubbs next year with Diaz, and Marisnick on the bench- specifically Jake to come in after Brantley or Bregman has their last plate appearance in the 7th or 8th inning as it makes sense. Yordan and Brantley could flip back and forth between LF and DH to get them both playing in the field to keep those skills up. I mean, I'd rather just move on from Yuli and Reddick and replace them with Straw and Tucker, but if you wanted to go full death star lineup with guys currently in the organization that would be the configuration. If Altuve doesn't get his **** together and/or the injury lingers I'd seriously consider swapping him and Tucker to break up the left handednes of the lineup, and to give Tucker about the easiest possible spot in the lineup- hitting between Springer and Bregman.
