They need a consistent DH, especially in the playoffs where they won't be using the DH to give off days to guys. I'm all for one of the prospects filling that role... but I'm guessing Luhnow should secure a backup option in case he's not happy with the chances of the prospects making an impact this year.
I'm thinking a vet backup catcher might be added. As is right now, if Chirinos were to go down in August this team would be screwed. Also a top tier SP wouldn't hurt a thing.
Our elite prospects don't play 1B well. That said, upgrading 1B is probably 3rd or fourth on the list behind a SP, RP, and C.
If Brantley can't get PT at 1B over White, how do you expect him to get PT at first base when Diaz and Gurriel can play it?
Better look out, he's almost got that SLG% over .300. Before we know it, he might even get his average higher than his (conservatively listed) weight.
If the goal is to hit his weight then he needs to pork up to 350. (Yeah, I know...he's probably already there)
3 singles in 6 ABs is a respectable .500 SLG (and AVG) Let's see if White has turned the corner and can keep it up. For perspective, Yordan Alvarez has a .740 SLG in AAA.
Gurriel is dropping off, but he has had a ton of bad luck this year. He will be our starting 1B when everybody gets back. Sooner or later he'll go on a tear. White is gone and the way Straw is playing probably Kemp at some point. Have no idea how they are going to make room for Alvarez and/or Tucker unless Diaz comes back and stinks.
Alvarez is simple, when they are ready to bring him up White is gone Tucker situation is tougher to figure out, by all accounts he seems ready
Gurriel's quality of contact is slightly better than White's by about as much as their hitting numbers are apart. Whatever bad luck Gurriel has had, White probably has had just as much. It seems like Gurriel's slumping is two weeks behind White. He keeps getting worse, but White keeps finding a way to stay even worse. I've becoem a big Diaz fan. If Gurriel doesn't come out of this slump quickly, I expect Diaz gets a shot at 1B.
Yuli's a difficult case. People keep saying he's lost some pop. I don't care, because he's not a guy that needs pop. (In fact, many of the Astros are showing a lot of warning track power lately.) His unique swing necessarily trades power for contact probability. The thing is that he's basically made his mark by being a RISP freak. This is a rare guy who would actually adjust his at-bat and swing with RISP to get hits, particularly last year. That's very hard to do. It's certainly a cerebral thing, and the swing with the long time in the contact zone allows it to manifest. This year, not so much. And I think it's a mental thing. It would be interesting to go look at his plate discipline last year vs. this year. He's always more itchy to swing than most, but this year it seems like his judgement on when to swing is way worse. He's got multiple layers going on in his swings, and even a slight perturbation in any aspect of it is enough to really make the whole thing fall apart. I kind of feel like his swing and at-bat approach is too hard for a normal coach to work on. He needs some sort of specialist to work with and get everything physically and mentally aligned again.
