Thanks. I saw a piece in the athletic with quotes from Luhnow that they might try cross-training him at short to see if he can pick it up. Seems crazy given that he’s never played in the infield before.
I know they're all about versatility, but that seems to me like a massive waste of time he could be using to work on other things.
3rd, SS, 2B, C, whatever works. Personally, with his speed, I'd have him drag 50 live bunts a day, and push another 50. Maybe not during the season, but.... eta: in fact, he'd be better off learning to switch hit than learning SS. Both are equally as likely to work.
Keith law mentioned the FO telling him they’d try Straw in the infield in the preseason, and the Athletic article mentions it with the added point that with how shifts work and how often they are being used, SS play more like an OF in some instances. Straw certainly has the arm for SS. Who knows how well it’ll work but I think it’s worth a shot since adding that to his skill set would increase his value tremendously. With no real SS prospects in the upper minors, they may as well. I also like seeing Tyler White get time there; poor range aside, I don’t think he’s that bad there and with Correa ideally only sitting 10 games in a season havin Straw or White play those 10 games isn’t a big deal, especially since Bregman can play SS, as that makes the backup utility guy more of a bench bat who needs to really only be able to play 3B passably.
Considering who's in Fresno once White is sent down, Straw may be the best SS among the players Stros want to play. White, Davis, Reed, Jones play 1B, 2B, 3B, DH (no particular order), Fisher, Marisnick, Alvarez in OF, Stubbs at C. That leaves Straw at SS.
Likely that one or more of those guys are traded but your point is still valid. I could see the lineup like this: RF Marisnick SS/2B Straw CF Fisher LF Alvarez 3B Davis 2B/SS White DH Reed 1B Jones C Stubbs That’s an insanely stacked AAA lineup.
Luis Garcia allowed a hit, walked one, and struck out 10 over five shutout innings for Tri-City yesterday. Garcia has not allowed an earned run in his 16.1 innings with the ValleyCats. He now has 60 strikeouts in 45.1 innings this year.
He has 9 extras base hits and 4 HR's, not sure where you're getting your stats from. He's hitting with a ton of power.
It's 10 games, he's also hitting .412. Neither trend will continue. Seth Beer had 647 AB's at Clemson and he hit 56 HR, I promise you him hitting for power is not in doubt. Him hitting for average is.
After a bit of a lull, Enmanuel Valdez just smacked a two-run homer, his 4th of the year for Tri-City. He and Gilberto Celestino are both 2-2 right now.
