Kemp is slower and a mediocre defensive OFer. Straw can legit handle all 3 OF positions, and has the arm strength.
Josh James @ El Paso: 5 IP, 3 H (2-R HR allowed), 2 ER, 2 BB, 10 K Fresno leads 6-2 as J.D. Davis is currently a home run shy of the cycle. He's driven in four of the Grizzlies' six runs so far.
Josh Rojas went 3-4 and Myles Straw went 2-4 in Corpus Christi's 4-0 win over San Antonio; both of them scored a run and they also stole two bases. Straw now has 25 stolen bases this season, while Rojas has 18.
Totally! Bring down Fisher to give him more seasoning, and bring up my boy JD. I'm a big fan of his, and truly believe he will be a mainstay on our team for years to come.
OK, so then you have Springer, Reddick, Marwin?, Kemp? as your OFers. That doesn't strike me as ideal. You have RH heavy IF and a LH heavy OF. I don't count Marwin as a RHB yet. Damn shame Davis can't play LF, apparently.
Well... Right now (since you don't count Marwin as a RHB) their outfield is still LH heavy since they have Springer and everyone else. So that point is moot. Bringing up Davis for Fisher isn't an all or nothing proposal. They can always change things if it isn't working out.
I'm going to the Hooks game in Frisco tomorrow night...looking forward to seeing Corbin Martin pitching and hopefully an offensive show from Alvarez, Straw, Jones, Rojas, and the gang.
Speaking of moot...are not all these LF discussions? Isn't anyone in LF at this point just a proxy for Tucker?
Over the last 30 days, Correa, Springer, Altuve, Bregman, and Stassi are only ones hitting better than Fisher. Not saying it will continue, but if the Astros wanted to replace an OF with Davis, they would have brought him up instead of Kemp. In other news, Josh James makes Fringe Five again with Josh Rojas getting a honorable mention (https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-fringe-five-baseballs-most-compelling-fringe-prospects-108/). These guys may never be anything, but they are getting closer to at least earning a shot.
The Astros considered calling straw up last year, so a September call up this year is certainly plausible. I believe he's rule 5 eligible this year as well, so it won't be a waste of a 40 man spot, though there's going to be a bit of a crunch this year.
Fisher isn't the guy to cut loose if we're bringing up Davis...Gattis is. Hitting .212 with a .276 OBP. He's your #3 catcher (both McCann and Stassi are hitting significantly better), cant play another field position, is 31 and in the last year of his deal. Real simple here...DFA Gattis and call up Davis. Give Davis a month or two to show if he was the chops to play in the big leagues. He had that awesome spring training, then hits .250 while Gurriel is injured/suspended, then hits .425 down in AAA. If he doesn't work out, then call up White (hitting .372, hit .279 in the majors last year). If neither guy works out, then you trade for a bat, which should be cheap. Fisher is young, a great baserunner, hits for power and he's a lefty. That's a good enough set of tools to justify being patient. If we're in early July and he's still hitting below .200, then you look at Tucker or trade options.
Fine with that. Gattis, yes, he's had a few HR lately, but this could just be a fluke, and he still K's a lot. All or nothing, and more likely nothing. An alternative is DFA Sipp. He's not good at all, our bullpen is fine against lefties, and our rotation (plus Peacock and McHugh in the pen) eliminates the need for an extra reliever.
