I know this is kind of premature, but I am really liking what he is doing. I was never super enamored with pence since he wasn't drawing a ton of walks. I don't know if Martinez has the same hitting ability, but he has more patience and is getting on base more. In fact the Astros have the 6th best onbase percentage (2nd in walks) as a team which is crazy considering the lack of walks they had last year. If things continue the way the are I see this as a faster turn around. The only bad thing about next year is the AL west.
JD is the one out of the current kids on the roster that I feel like has the best long term potential. I'm honestly excited about a potential 3-4 with JD and Singleton...probably as early as next season.
Depends I guess on how you define superstar. I think he's absolutely going to be as good as Pence was, if not better.
Very premature. Hard to analyze on so few major league at bats. For his career he has a .284/.349/.444 slash line. That's not very good. That's weighted heavily of course by his rookie year where he showed none of this patience (13 walks in 226 PA). So is the player he has been for 67 at bats this year who he will be going forward? Would be nice of course. (I think he's definitely better than his rookie year obviously). Just too early to tell. Let's see where he is after 300 or so at bats this year.
Those career numbers to this point are similar to Pence (Pence has a better SLG%). What he did last year was right in line with what happened when he went from Lexington to CC in 2010. This year is in line with what he did at CC in 2011. Certainly the positive signs are there.
Why is the AL west bad..YOu've texass who is good no doubt the rest of league blows.. We currently have a better record than the Halo's I think being in the AL west will helps us get better faster.
So far this year J.D.'s been working virtually every count full which is a huge difference from Pence. I see a couple of All-Star nods in his future. He definitely brings hope that the Stros haven't had in awhile!
He's promising. If there's an ever-so-slight concern, it's his age. At 25, he's a wee-tad old for a rookie prospect and thus, on the tail-end(ish) of his development, meaning he might already be close to his ceiling, with less room to grow. I think solid Major Leaguer; but superstar? We would have seen evidence of that earlier.
Well if he continues but up 300/400/500 consistently he would be one of the 10 best hitters in baseball.
He's 24, turns 25 in August. He joined the Astros 3 weeks before he turned 24. For comparisons sake, Pence was called up 2 weeks after his 24th birthday. Lance Berkman the greatest Astro of the past decade had only played 34 games before his 24th birthday. J.D. is on a normal progression. I don't know why people expect everybody to be in the majors at such a young age. For college players it is hardly unusual.
Pence's speed never translated that great to the field and he was a pretty average defensive player. J.D. has been better defensively than I expected, especially throwing. Neither player is going to be confused for Michael Bourn.
The Astros are notoriously slow at calling up players. The question is "will he be a superstar." Here are some "superstars" and their debut ages (no Astros to take out their FO) Todd Helton: (you can argue him because of Coors) 24 Derek Jeter: 21/22 Ken Jr: 19 A-Rod: 18/19 Joe Mauer: 21 Pujols: 21 Bruan: 23 Fielder: 21/22 Hamilton: 26 (odd case because of substance abuse) Longoria: 22 List goes on. Superstars normally push their way onto a team in the early 20s. That said, this is the Astros. I won't hold it against a player that he is establishing himself on the ASTROS at 24/25. On another team perhaps he is called up a year or two earlier.
They weren't that slow with Martinez. He essentially had 2 full minor league seasons (2 partial seasons and 1 full). You can't compare HS or Juco players who got drafted at younger ages. Very tall order to compare anybody to the likes of ARod/Pujols/Griffey who could arguably be top 10 all-time in a sport that has been around nearly 150 years. Ryan Howard and Chase Utley were 26 before their first full big league seasons. Joey Votto turned 24 one week after his MLB debut. You are also comparing him to mostly top 10 draft picks. A lot of it depends on what the OP means by superstar. HOF player or occasional all-star.
