I defended White all winter, and still think he could be a productive bat. But he has costed us runs so far this season. He could be due for a hot streak, but when hitting is literally your only value to the team you have to do it. The occasional harmless walk isn't gonna cut it. The fact that he came into camp looking like he belongs on a scooter at Wal-Mart certainly doesn't help the optics even if it doesn't actually mean much.
Luis Garcia went five innings and allowed a run on two hits and struck out seven in the first game of Quad Cities' doubleheader. Jeremy Peña went 2-3 with a two-run single and scored twice.
Yordan Alvarez’ updated stats: 361 avg 460 ob% 905. slg% 1365 ops 11 homers and 6 doubles in 72 at bats 15 strikeouts and 12 walks 7 opposite field homers 29 rbi and 20 runs scored He has played LF about 66% of the time. He has thrown out 3 runners with no errors. I did see him take a poor route on a fly ball about 10 days ago but he was able to recover and make the catch. We are still talking about less than 100 plate appearances but he has already been pitched differently and has made adjustments. His wrists are fast, when he came over from Cuba the scouting reports were that he had a slow bat. That isn’t the case. He can get around on pitches inside, even ones that fool him. Opposite field power is a 10 out of 10. I cannot think of anyone in Astros history with his opposite field power. His overall raw power is better than anyone I have seen as an Astros prospect other than Eric Anthony (#1) and Lance Berkman (#2). I would compare his wrists to Moises Alou. He doesn’t have Gary Sheffield or Barry Bonds type wrists but still excellent. Athletically I think he is deceptively good. Similar to Lance Berkman in the minors. No he isn’t Mike Trout, but he also isn’t Rod Deer either. He is deceptive on the field. Sometimes on a ball hit to him on the ground or in the gap, he looks like he is isn’t in a hurry but he gets to the ball well and I think his demeanor makes base runners challenge him for an extra base and he is adept at throwing out runners. So far he hasn’t ran much this season but he isn’t Seth Beer or Tyler White. He can get above average speed once he gets going. He is long and strong and a big man so at times he looks a little out of place sliding or turning a base. I have also noticed he will take a pitch that is hittable early in a game or count and the next time he gets that same pitch, he hits it hard and usually in the air. He has been the Astros best hitting prospect for a couple years. Last year he would go into periods where his power would cool and he would hit the ball on the ground. So far he hasn’t done that. He has always had the ability to work counts and knows how to hit. He is as likely to hit 300 as hit 30 homers. Every level is different and this is not the first exposure to AAA for him. However he looks like ultimately he should be a real plus bat for the Astros after getting used to MLB pitching. Scouting services and even some scouts like guys that don’t have any warning flags and project as long term plus fielders and hitters. That is great but sometimes it gets lost when someone is just a special bat potentially... and that is Alvarez.
If you defended him all winter, a change of opinion in April for a part-time player with an OPS over 0.700 (not great, but nothing to worry about in April even for a fulltime player) is a bit much. Looks like he is being judged on optics than what he's done at the plate. At the plate, he isn't being thrown strikes. Sure he's missed a few good fastballs, but overall he's seeing less pitches per AB to hit than any other Astro. Do you want him swinging at pitches he can't hit well instead of taking a walk? I doubt pitchers will keep throwing him an absurd amount of balls because teams know walks aren't harmless even to players who have bad optics.
Just double checked the stats and I was wrong. Over the last week, pitchers have started throwing him strikes in the heart of the zone such that he's no longer dead last among Astros with strikes in the heart of the zone. White has a slugging of 0.625 over the last week despite no homers. White walks when pitchers throw balls. White slugging goes up when pitchers throw him strikes. Odd how that works out.
Looks like Cody Deason and Matt Ruppenthal are being promoted to Fayetteville (assuming they're not injured). Felipe Tejada and Jonathan Bermudez were called up from EST to QC. Both Deason and Ruppenthal had excellent k rates in QC.
Kruk was a high OBP guy with moderate power. White since his rookie year has basically been Kruk except trading some singles and doubles for walks and homers.
Not that he needs to be in order to justify his roster spot, but White has not been nearly as good of a hitter as Kruk. Kruk was a career 843 ops 134 wRC+ hitter; so far White has been a 772 ops 112 wRC+ hitter. Whites career so far has approximated Kruks worst year. I am a fan of Whites. I think he will be a good #6-7 hitter on a championship caliber team over the next 4-5 years. And I think his defense is underrated (given that most people say he has zero defensive value), because to me while he’s not a good defender, he can play 1B/3B without embarrassing himself and he can even play 2B/SS in an absolute emergency. So I’m a White apologist. But in this day and age there’s no reason for a pro athletes body to look the way his does. You’re making $500k/yr+, eat right and work out. It’s not that hard. Total speculation, but I would guess Whites problem isn’t that he won’t put in the work, it’s that he justifies not getting in better shape because he’s afraid it will mess with his swing/hitting.
Astros took until June 2nd to move Fisher down to AAA last year. That was when he came off the DL from his stomach problem and they sent him down. That's how long of a leash they gave a guy that still had options, had a .174 batting average, .225 OBP, .644 OPS, and was striking out in 45% of his plate appearances. I expect White to have a way longer leash given he's got a .268 BA, 400 OBP, .717 OPS and no options left. Barring injury or trade, I don't expect to see any roster moves regarding the position players or DH anytime soon. I'm more concerned about the pitchers. We need another arm in the bullpen. I was hoping Whitley would dominate in AAA, get called up shortly after the super two deadline, and move Peacock to the pen. However, Whitley has an ERA of 7.71 with a WHIP of 1.42 and 2 of his 4 appearances have been trash. Corbin Martin has been looking good. Maybe he could get a shot before Whitley, or maybe Luhnow makes a trade for a starter or reliever.
White's OPS since his rookie year is 0.859 with a RC+ of 136. Edit: I should say I don't expect White to continue to match Kruk like he has since his rookie year. Kruk was just too good at getting to first. White should be able to match the power output even though he hasn't this year.
A couple of thoughts. Whitley needs to be put in the rotation in AAA and stay there all season. He has missed too much time and could use a season of stability. He has pitched very little over the last four seasons. I agree with you, I suspect White will get a lot of rope based on his play last year and his lack of options. Could that change in 2-3 weeks if Alvarez is still hitting like Barry Bonds? Sure, but as long as we are winning, White likely is safe. I also agree on the bullpen. Thank God Luhnow went out and got Osuna and Pressly to address the issues last season. We really could use one more plus reliever. Barring injury, we likely get that piece at the deadline or the Astros swing a deal for a starter and Peacock is sent back down to the pen again. A lot of potential pieces that could be gone by the deadline.........
Fair enough. I didn’t read your comment to mean exclude Whites rookie year. But yes, excluding those 279 pa, he’s been really, really good.
Yep. As long as the offense is performing well overall and the team is winning, White/Kemp are safe. I also agree about Whitley. He needs to stick in AAA and be viewed only as a last resort for the big league team. I also would like to see another ace reliever added; I expected James to be that 3rd elite RP but he hasn’t done it yet. Not sure who will be available but I would also hope Houston will be involved in any trade discussions related to ToR SP.
I'm aware of this. Tongue in cheek comment. I guess last September got me down on White, and him showing up like he did this year and his production so far hasn't done anything to really change that. I'm ready to see it.
The thing about White for me is that he has been the opposite type of player this year than I expected. I expected a power guys who would struggle with his OBP. Instead, he is tied for 2nd on the team with a OBP of .400, but a lackluster .366 SLG%.
Tejada really quietly had a nice season at Tri-City as a 20 year old, I'm curious what he throws. Idk if it's just me, but it seems like they're really moving pitchers around in the early going.
He might have some long term employment possibilities if he can get that SLG% up 100 points or so and lose a few around the waist.
