Hopefully they are both in the 2026 rotation but both are young and inexperienced. There will be growing pains (the same ones Brown and Arrighetti are dealing with) and the Astros can't afford to start that process over. Hopefully Brown and Arrighetti are close to getting past it. I still have hope.
Blubaugh has run into a lot of problems in AAA. I think he's going to need some seasoning. Bloss, if he has one more stellar outing put him in Sugar Land and let's see.
I hope both of those guys pan out But before anyone gets too excited, remember that Brown was a much more highly touted prospect than either of them and he is having a hard time making it
Chase Jaworsky has driven in two runs for Fayetteville today; the first came on a bases-loaded walk and the other was a solo homer, his second of the season.
He hit another HR, so 2 for the game. Jaworsky is a really good prospect. Power, speed, defensive value, and handling pitchers 2-3 years older than him with healthy bb/k rates.
Agreed, but it couldn't be worse than it is right now. Remember Garcia, also if one of Brown or Arrighetti don't improve and the Stros aren't sellers trading for another starting pitcher is a must even if Garcia and LMJ make it back and are pitching well by July or August it will be too late.
MLB.com updated their top 100 prospects list, mostly just to remove graduates. Jacob Melton checked in at #74. The AL West fared pretty poorly in general, with the Angels having zero on the list, the A’s having just 1 (SS Jacob Wilson #56), the Rangers 2 (OF Wyatt Langford #4 *will graduate soon*, SS Sebastian Walcott #79), and the Mariners topping the division at 4 (SS Cole Young #28, C Harry Ford #29, SS Colt Emerson #51, OF Lazaro Montes #85). P AJ Blubaugh, P Jake Bloss, and SS Chase Jaworsky are having the type of seasons that might put them on such lists later this year, provided they don’t graduate and keep performing. The Astros 2 prospects who entered the season most likely to make that kind of jump were Brice Matthews and Zach Dezenzo, but both have had injuries derail their season so far. I would also keep an eye on Miguel Ullola if he takes a step forward to reduce walks. Luis Baez and Jeron Williams will be on the radar if they move up to AA soon and have success.
OF Anthony Huezo hit his first HR of the season today in the FCL game. The FCL Astros lost again and are 1-6 on the season. I basically treat FCL stats as I do MLB spring training stats; they’re pretty much meaningless because the level of competition varies too much. But the 2 stats that almost always carry some level of meaning are home runs and pitch velocity, but even those have diminished meaning. Mostly I just look at who is getting to play and which positions they’re playing to get an idea of which guys to anticipate getting moved up to full season ball.
Antony Aparicio struck out six over four perfect innings for the FCL squad. Another pitcher who got a late start on his career (signed out of Panama at 20), Aparicio went 2-1 with a 2.84 ERA in 13 appearances (7 starts, 31.2 total IP) for the DSL Orange team. Everyone who came on after he left... did not fare as well.
This is a really encouraging stat filter. Since 2006, only 7 (SEVEN! In 18 seasons!) teenage SS have posted a bb % >10%, k % < 20%, ISO >.170, and wRC+ > 130 in A ball (min 100 pa): Carter Kieboom Wander Franco Corey Seager Jonathan Arauz Jurickson Profar Manny Machado Chase Jaworsky That’s 3 HoF level talents (Machado, Franco, Seager), 1 elite elite prospect who ended up a fringe regular (Profar), and 2 AAAA players (Kieboom and Arauz). What’s really interesting is that Jaworsky has by far the lowest babip of those guys, which could mean his numbers are artificially low due to bad luck (but could also mean he has less power/speed than those guys). I suspect Jaworsky is closer to Arauz/Kieboom than he is Machado/Seager, but the midpoint of Kieboom and Seager is probably a reasonable 90th percentile outcome for him and that’s still a star player, and a AAAA guy is still a prospect with value and that’s probably a reasonable 30th percentile outcome. Jaworsky looks rail thin in the clips I’ve seen of him, so how he develops physically will likely go a long way to determining how good he is. If he puts on 25 pounds of muscle without losing his speed, he could be a monster.
Pedro Leon (8) and Shay Whitcomb (7) with two homers for Sugar Land tonight... in Albuquerque. Well, they count regardless of where they're hit.
