We already have that side of the infield accounted for with Bregman and Toro. As for Pena, yeah he was one of the 4-5 names mentioned as someone the Astros are quite high on and in fairness, they have been since before he joined the organization. He wasn't supposed to hit according to everyone else...... except the Astros.
Good list. I would only say that I think Cristian Javier has a lot of upside. No he doesn't throw terribly hard, but his pitches fit together perfectly and he is extremely hard to hit as a consequence. He needs slightly better command and needs to master his change up. If he does that, he will be around a long time.
I think Javier has a good chance to have a long career, but I think the odds of him ever posting a season of 2.5+ fWAR are very very low. He is about as good as mix and match guys get but he doesn’t have the heat and it’s tough for those guys to dominate once they get to the majors.
Updated “All 26 and younger” Astros roster: C Lee 1B Matijevic 2B Nova SS Correa 3B Bregman RF Tucker CF Straw LF Barber DH Alvarez MIF Pena C Perry CIF Toro OF Brewer SP: Whitley, Ivey, Urquidy, Javier, Gusto RP: Osuna, Abreu, Henley, Torres, C Perez, Solis, Martes, Armenteros
I agree with you that the margin is smaller, but is really really hard to hit and in an era where strikeouts are common, I don't think that changes in the big leagues IF he has his command and consistency with his change ups. The problem is that it is almost impossible to differentiate his fastball from his change up until it is almost at the plate. His fastball moves up and his change up either breaks slightly downward or floats at the end. His arm angle is identical and his arm speed is the same. His velocity is almost the same as well. Making it even more confusing, his curve ball is really nasty with a strong break into the strike zone and he can spot is in multiple spots. Players cannot lay off it because he has a slider that looks like a curve but trails off. As a result players do not know what he is throwing until it is right on them. If anything his strike out rate has increased as he has progressed up the ladder. The concern with him is that he needs 3 of his 4 pitches in order for him to be successful in any particular game. The change up is so important because it keeps teams from sitting fastball. The change up has improved, but he still needs consistency.
BP ran an article quoting a rival executive who thinks Diosmerky Taveras is a future top of the rotation starter, so he's probably the one to watch of the international group. It's somewhat noteworthy that they gave him a slightly bigger bonus than Manny Ramirez when they signed at the same time. I think the Astros scouting/PD staff has shown enough that I'd hesitate to call most newly drafted players in that 11-20ish round range non prospects. I'm particularly intrigued by Gayle, West, and Cody. Also, I think House got released. For the A/A+ group, I'd keep an eye out for Cesar Rosado. He can hit mid-upper 90s on the FB and i think his curve is pretty good. He needs to make some major strides in his command, but I find that more likely to happen than guys relying deception to make the show like Bravo or Tejada.
It’s gotten pretty exhausting tracking Houston’s pitching prospects. I agree that given the track record, essentially no pitching prospect still in the system should be labeled a non-prospect. I don’t think it would be a stretch to have every Astros pitching prospect in one of these 6 groups: Elite prospects: Whitley Grade 50 prospects in AA/AAA with elite upside: Abreu, Ivey, etc Grade 45/40 prospects in A+/A/A- with elite upside: Ramirez, Bellozo, etc Grade 45/40 High floor guys who lack elite upside: Armenteros, Conine, Deason, Daniels, etc Grade 40 Upper level bullpen arms Grade 40/35 prospects in short season with elite upside Grade 30 Lower level bullpen arms
Free article on the Tricky League at BA....https://www.baseballamerica.com/sto...after-they-sign-explaining-the-tricky-league/ “I was sitting with our Dominican supervisor, Danny Santana, watching (Cabrera) pitch against us,” said Rodriguez, the Rays’ international director.”He was probably 83-85 (mph), throwing a lot of strikes, loose arm with good arm speed—a lot of things you look for. I casually asked Danny, ‘Who’s this guy?’ So Danny looked at him and said, ‘I think he’s a tryout guy.’ I said, ‘How do you know?’ ” Santana pointed to Cabrera’s shoes, which were broken on the sides. The Astros, Santana said, wouldn’t send out one of their signed players wearing spikes in that tattered condition. Good to know Astros don't send out there minor leaguers with tattered spikes.
I'd expect Abreu to be an Astro very early if not OD. He may be up and down, but expect he'll get a lot of attempts next season to stick.
It'll be interesting to see if they give up on either of them as starters. Might depend on what pitchers they can add in the offseason.
Cody Deason is listed on the Peoria roster, so it looks like he got the TBD pitcher slot. I was hoping to see Ivey there, but oh well.
