I find it a bit odd that they haven’t moved him to 1B already. I actually think that’s evidence they don’t think he will be any better at 1B than LF.
He'll either hit his way into the lineup this year or he'll sink/swim next year replacing Reddick. From the little I saw I got serious Carlos Lee vibes in LF (not a bad thing, just an adequate thing), very much looking forward to seeing him in person in RR. Can he do it? Sure. Should he do it? That's up to the FO.
Myles Straw just hit a 2-run homer to put the Express up 4-0 against the New Orleans Baby Cakes. The New Orleans announcers with some praise for the Express "this Round Rock team has shown some power". EDIT:
Unless a lot has changed in the last 6-8 months, he should be okay in left field. He committed very few errors in the minors and has a knack for throwing out runners. He is a little stiff at times, but he is a good athlete. I know that at the All Star game last year that there were reporters saying he would have to move, and even supposed scouts. However, I watched a lot of him last year and he seemed fine (for now). When the Astros got Alvarez, he was supposedly limited to 1st base based on limited scouting reports from Cuba. The Astros were impressed enough by his outfield ability to move him to left field and see how he would do. I don't think that Carlos Lee is a bad comparison. Just keep in mind that Lee wasn't always the fat guy we saw in Houston. He was an outfielder for the White Sox for years and was passable and at times better.
Crazy how Reed just stopped improving, and even regressed a little, after his age 22 season. Will be exciting to watch the HR race between Tucker and Alvarez. It seems like some fans are sleeping on Tucker a little and maybe forgot how he annihilated the PCL last season after being sent down.
He pitched an exhibition game at MMP just before the season. The Astros traditionally run a 6 man rotation in AAA, so they just have him as the 6th in the order.
Peter Solomon with 11 Ks today for Fayetteville. He's my sleeper pitching prospect for this season, love his pitch mix.
Ehh maybe but I would not jump to that conclusion. They know a transition to first will be easy, so they want to see if the can handle left field. The Astros also have a number of internal options at first and guys like Beer that may end up there as well... so there is a strong motivation to get Alvarez time in left field.
Blummer reminded us on the broadcast a couple of days ago that 1B is sneaky tough to play. It's not just standing on the bag and receiving the ball (like it looks sometimes), you have to bend down to scoop low throws, play balls on hops, jump to catch high throws, running to the bag when you're playing away from the base, and of course the occasional throw. Different skill set from the OF. It doesn't "look" as hard as the other positions, and while it (probably) isn't as difficult to learn as others, it still needs some getting used to. They may just like Alvarez as a LF better.
Bryan Abreu, last year's breakout pitcher, will make his season debut for Fayetteville tonight in the second game of their series against the Frederick Keys.
2017 20th round pick RHP Hunter Martin is on Fayetteville’s roster and appeared in last night’s game. Enoli Paredes was removed from the roster to make room although I suspect it is temporary. Currently only 16 draft picks not on a full season roster: 1 from 2016 (8th rounder RHP Nick Hernandez, who is likely hurt and will appear in AA when healthy) 5 from 2017 (3rd Joe Perez, 5th Nathan Perry, 29th Andres Santana were HS picks likely to be in Tri City, 10th Kyle Serrano and 24th Alex House were college pitchers who are likely injured and will appear in QC or Fayetteville when healthy if not released) 10 from 2017 (HS pitcher 2nd Jayson Schroeder is likely to be in Tri Cit, college draftees 18th Wielansky, 20th Dennis, 23rd Bermudez, 24th Figueroa, 27th Paulino, 28th Gonzalez, 30th Henderson, 31st Cabral, and 32nd Billingsly are waiting for a spot In QC or waiting to be released.
