Man, Teoscar Hernandez is having a great year. After he bombed last year, he kind of dropped off my radar as another Lancaster fluke, albeit a toolsy one. But a .313/.390./.457 slash line is no joke. More noticeably his K rate has come down a lot (25% to under 18%) while maintaining a very solid 10% walk rate. If he can keep this approach going with his solid power, plus speed and plus arm, we could really have something. He's also scored 47 times in 61 games. He somehow scored 92 runs last year in 121 games despite having a .275 OBP. Throughout the minors he has managed to score a ton with usually pedestrian OBP numbers. There are a lot of uncontrollable factors in scoring, but it's still a very impressive number.
Good sign, finally finding some holes it seems as he has had some bad luck as his BABIP is only 0.296 so far this year. It seems he is getting doubles but quite a bit less homeruns in the last 30 days. He has 11 doubles and 2 HR's and 1 triple in the last 30 days with an OPS of 0.851. Obviously the power is real but he hasn't shown it as much in the way of HR's lately but it will come. I hope to see him get a couple of more multi-hit games with some HR's mixed in and hitting better against lefties and just maybe he will get the call. It is a shame he has struggled so much against lefties so I don't blame the front office for keeping him down for now.
Agreed, I posted an article on the last page about his coaches raving about his approach and that he profiles as a major leaguer at this point which is impressive given his abysmal 2015. I do think we need to give more time to these raw talents in hopes that they turn out to be what you hoped for on the big league club someday. I think Bregman and him are dueling it out for the best average in AA and basically trade off each night on who is in the lead.
I think he would need a full year in triple a, but our 1b options are so weak right now that we may have to push him a little, thats why i wanted Morneau sign this off season.
Morneau, the guy who MAY be ready to play with the White Sox "sometime after the all star break" (White Sox words, not mine)? Had Morneau signed this off-season, the Astros would still be weak at 1B and it would not have changed a thing.
From what I understand, there is a viable first base option for the Astros that would cost them nothing. He has an OPS of .800+ since May 1 and an OBP of around .360. Perhaps they can get that guy. And, if that doesn't work out there is another guy hitting over .300 in June with an OPS of around .760. Perhaps they can get him.
Hernandez is a classic underrated high floor low ceiling prospect. At this point he's proven he is a good defender in the OF based on his athleticism alone; that and his production on the basepaths means his bat doesn't need to be that great to make him a good 4th outfielder and gives him a high floor. His power potential means he still has elite ceiling as a guy that could top out as a good CF who hits 20 HR and steals 40 bases. Unfortunately he's the exact type of prospect (much like Villar) that Houston may not be able to wait on; I just hope that if they trade him that they get fair value for him.
Is this something in the realm of possibility? I thought we had to keep him in the minors for contract shenanigans?
Tri-City roster has been updated on MiLB. This is the roster as of this moment... Pitchers Brett Adcock (LHP) Akeem Bostick Ricardo Castro Enrique Chavez Ryan Hartman (LHP) Nick Hernandez Dustin Hunt Dylan James Sebastian Kessay (LHP) Austin Nicely (LHP) Hector Perez Erasmo Pinales Luis Ramirez (LHP) Edgardo Sandoval Carlos Sierra Ben Smith (LHP) Josue Uribe Framber Valdez (LHP) Catchers Gabriel Bracamonte Kevin Martir Chuckie Robinson Jake Rogers Infielders 3B Marcos Almonte 1B Carmen Benedetti 2B Kolbey Carpenter 3B Randy Cesar SS Alex DeGoti 1B Taylor Jones Outfielders Rodrigo Ayarza Daz Cameron Brauly Mejia Luis Payano Stephen Wrenn
Here's a little side story from the Tri-City roster: Ben Smith was drafted by the Astros in the 17th round in 2014 out of Coastal Carolina. He didn't appear in a game for the Astros organization that year because he was recovering from Tommy John surgery. He was set to make his debut with Greeneville last season before he was diagnosed with Burkitt's lymphoma. A GoFundMe was set up to help pay for his treatment and raised nearly $17,000. Judging by the fact that he's on the active roster, he's received a clean bill of health. To say that he's been through a lot is a bit of an understatement.
Didn't see anyone post this, but in Tri-City's exhibition game Wednesday Daz Cameron went 3-4 with a HR and a double and scored two runs. Their season starts tonight and it would be so nice if Daz started coming around.
Im assuming Ronnie Dawson joins them tomorrow or Monday since he at MMP today taking BP and signing his contract.
Wouldn't be shocked if they sent Dawson to QC, but you're probably right and he will head to NY tomorrow.
That TC roster is strong in the OF and has a pretty good pitching staff. Very weak in that infield though. Hopefully they get some help by signing 2-3 of Birk, Barzilli, Ruiz, and Wolfe.
And here it is: the Tri-City Opening Day lineup. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The <a href="https://twitter.com/ninepincider">@ninepincider</a> starting 9 for <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OpeningNight?src=hash">#OpeningNight</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/VamosGatos?src=hash">#VamosGatos</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/VamosBeisbol?src=hash">#VamosBeisbol</a> <a href="https://t.co/xuhRyKcw7U">pic.twitter.com/xuhRyKcw7U</a></p>— Tri-City ValleyCats (@ValleyCats) <a href="https://twitter.com/ValleyCats/status/743887427660562432">June 17, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Watching interviews, it looks like Ronnie Dawson is going to be extremely easy to root for. He just seems like he has 1 speed and it's "all out". I hope he makes it. https://twitter.com/brianmctaggart/status/743930769349873664
