Interesting. I'd be fine with either making it. Kemp seems like the safe move while Fisher probably provides a little more upside. Would have to think that Kemp's versatility is what makes him an attractive option as a bench player. Will be interested to see who they decide to put on the Opening Day roster.
Both guys have been pretty damn bad this Spring. If there was actually a competition, Kemmer should have gotten a better look IMO.
I suspect the competition is between Fisher, Marisnick, and Marwin Gonzalez for a starter spot. If Fisher doesn't win the starter spot, Astros probably prefer he gets ABs in AAA. Kemp likely has the edge as the 4th OF if Marisnick or Marwin is starting.
If all that happened, Astros offense probably slips to 3rd or 4th in the league with 3 of Altuve, Correa, Springer, and Bregman hitting, but the rotation still likely plows through the league.
My guess at opening day... CF Springer 3B Bregman 2B Altuve SS Correa RF Reddick DH Gattis 1B Gonzalez C McCann LF Davis BENCH Stassi BENCH Marisnick BENCH Kemp or Fisher Gets interesting when Yuli comes back. Then it becomes a competition between Kemp, Fisher and Davis for the last spot.
I don't think Davis is being considered for left field. Fisher's spring has been alarming. He was a really good trade piece last year. I hope he can turn it around and not lose his value like Reed. Right now I would bet Kemp makes it ahead of him, although he has had a crap spring as well. I would like to see Davis get a real shot at 1b, but being right-handed hurts his chances there.
Stassi's has been just as bad, offensively, not to mention McCann. White and Marisnick not so great either.
Those two players (Stassi and White) have had their spring batting numbers artificially suppressed by some bad BABIP luck (.176 for Stassi and .232 for White). Conservatively, those guys would be expected to have BABIPs of at least .280 over a large regular season sample size. So Stassi's spring OPS of .706 really "ought" to be closer to .900 and White's, closer to 1.000. If they get a good amount of big league ABs this season, they'd of course be facing tougher pitching than what they see in the spring but I still think Stassi posts a season OPS of around .800 and White around .850. If they can pull that off, it probably puts them in the top half of Astros hitters by OPS. White has managed to contribute quite a lot offensively this spring in spite of not getting a whole lot of hits. He's drawn a lot of walks and hit 3 sac flies, which requires a certain degree of plate discipline and contact skills, and puts runs on the board for the team even though it doesn't boost batting average. As long as White keeps elevating the ball, he will get a substantial number of doubles and HRs this year as he tends to hit the ball quite far compared with other Astros hitters. Stassi is a lot stronger than many fans realize. Assuming he gets a lot of playing time this year, I'm pretty sure the fan base will recognize that by July. His HRs last year were not many (2 in, I think it was 13 ABs) but they were Springer-esque monster shots that hinted of what's to come in 2018.
The stat sheet I was looking at only showed BA. Your right, his OPS is good. His .235 BA, not so much. Add to this is my fear that when the regular season starts, where ever he is in the lineup, the opposing pitching is going to go after him. Meaning, there are so many guys in our lineup that opposing pitchers would like to pitch around, White wont be one of them. His walk rate could plummet.
Yeah, I'm afraid catcher will be a black hole in the batting order this year. I really wanted them to make a run at Realmuto. I'm not as worried about left field batting wise, because I think Gonzalez is going to see a significant amount of time in left.
Average distance on fly balls and line drives, 2017 season: Max Stassi, 324ft. Tyler White, 318ft. Cameron Maybin, 314ft. J.D. Davis, 311ft. Jake Marisnick, 307ft. Tony Kemp, 304ft. George Springer, 301ft. Yuli Gurriel, 299ft. Carlos Correa, 299ft. Brian McCann, 298ft. Stassi's HRs last year travelled 442ft and 428ft, well above the league average which I think is closer to 400ft. Maybe this was flukey, but Stassi has already had 2 HRs this spring and nearly had a third that was barely foul.
If you were in charge, why would you take White over Davis? Or vice-versa? LF capability vs middle IF capability? Both can play 1st and 3rd. Both have hit this spring. I sure don't know.
What does the coin say and who called what? My gut gives a slight edge to White, but that could change after I have a beer tonight.
I'd go with White. He seems better at getting on base. White has 300+AB in the show compared to JD's zero and this to me is the biggest factor. JD can go tear up AAA and get a call up or be a trade chip. White has time with the guys on the club and should be more relaxed on his 3rd go round. I like JD"s power but I think we might be ok in the power department. After 6 weeks if JD is on fire and White looks like he's not progressing then make a move. I really wish they were left-handed.
I've been seeing this sentiment a lot lately. Besides for Marisnick, there isn't a RHB that struggles against RHPs. Reddick, McCann, Fisher, and Gonzalez all for their careers have struggled against LHPs. Seems to me, Astros should be able to find more PT for a RHB off the bench than a LHB.
This may seem like the duh duh response but whoever they pick should be the person they think is best long term, not just whoever will produce the best right away. 6 weeks is too small a sample size to make any conclusions. Bregman is the classic example.