Billy Hamilton followed it up with 5 years as a starter with 2 being very good seasons and 3 being bad seasons as a starter. He didn't hit in any of them, but defense carried him while he was young. Considering most teams have about 3 bad starters, Straw would be a starter in orange for a few seasons if he's as good as Hamilton was in his 5 seasons as a starter while Astros spend money at other positions on someone like Lindor. I expect Straw will hit better than Hamilton, but play defense not as well. Straw's value as a starter likely will depend on him playing great defense and hitting just enough.
Hamilton had his "best" offensive season at 25 and his last season as a starter at 27. Straw is 26 already. A couple of effective seasons are still possible, but speed and defense tend to peak young.
I don't disagree with this. Straw is likely a better hitter which should help him age slightly better. I tend to put Straw's overall value at about Hamilton's bad years as a starter. Someone that you would like to replace, but not the end of the world if he's your worst starter.
Straw has a .773 career OPS in the minors and that is with a .394 OBP. If he is even in the ballpark of a .750 OPS this season I would consider that a pretty large success.
Over a week with no update on Valdez is a little odd. That should be plenty of time to get a second opinion or undergo surgery. Maybe they are going with a wait-and-see approach before committing to season-ending surgery.
https://apnews.com/article/mlb-hous...uston-astros-240953b03a69ffa1282e92b49df656b7 Houston Astros top prospect right-hander Forrest Whitley will have Tommy John surgery. Whitley was diagnosed with a sprained ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow on Sunday after experiencing discomfort during a batting practice session last week. He received a second opinion before opting for the surgery this week. “He’s a talent that’s been on and off the off the injured list,” manager Dusty Baker said Wednesday. “And so hopefully we can go do the operation and then his career can skyrocket from there once he’s ready.”
