I will be watching Gonzalez very closely. He was my favorite signee from that international class. From what little I’ve been able to see/read he has a very athletic body type with a lot of upside. He could possibly end up with a body similar to Correa’s (obviously not expecting him to be as good as Correa, just that he will be a pretty high ceiling prospect). A solid 200 pa sample from him in A ball would have him poised as a potential major breakout prospect for next year.
Gonzalez was one of the Astros' $300K signings in the 2018-19 IFA period. Sounds like he's made great progress offensively in Palm Beach. He's probably not quite a top 30 guy yet, but a decent (by which I mean "keeps his head above water") showing in Fayetteville should push him into the back end of the top 30. Would like to see Mascai and his decent left-handed bat get some semi-regular playing time.
Yohander Martinez may seem like he's been overmatched (.214 with just two extra-base hits) through 125 plate appearances in Fayetteville, but I'm encouraged that he's managed to put up a .368 OBP in his first time playing minor league baseball with spectators in the stands.
Justin Dirden hit his 8th home run for Fayetteville tonight. Cristian Gonzalez is in the leadoff spot (starting at SS) for the Woodpeckers and he's 2-4 with a two-run single. Mascai is also in the Fayetteville lineup (7th, starting at 1B) and he has an RBI triple and has also scored two runs.
I wonder if they're struggling defensively. The pitching staff gave up 17 hits yesterday, 13 singles and 4 doubles, plus the team committed 2 errors. On the bright side, Taveras faced 22 hitters without walking anyone. I haven't had the chance to watch him play, but statistically, he looks like he's got a good approach at the plate but without enough strength to hit it very hard. Of the Astros farmhands who have 100 PA, only Dawson and Papierski are swinging and missing less than him. Fangraphs wrote him up as well built whose swing has length and lift, which is about the opposite of what I would expect.
No love for the latest Fangraphs Big Board Updates? Jeremy Pena at 51, 50 FV, Medium Risk Korey Lee at 86, 50 FV High Risk Hunter Brown at 105, 50 FV Medium Risk
I'm not sure they really did much of a deep dive. They just finished their offseason lists on July 7th.
Shay Whitcomb just hit his 13th homer of the year for Asheville. He's now on an 11-game hitting streak.
Reminds me of Ben Sheets. Hopefully the command gets there, seems to have been improving over the last few starts.
Dauri Lorenzo was 3-3 down in Palm Beach before rain halted the FCL Astros' game with the Nationals. The Palm Beach Stros were up 4-3 in the top of the 5th. Also of note: Raider Uceta, who was acquired in the Max Stassi deal back in 2019, made his Astros org debut in this game. He has a single and a sac fly so far.
I would be ecstatic if Hunter Brown gave us some Ben Sheets esque years...who knows, anything is possible with Strommy at the helm. I’m trying not to get my hopes up too high and am resigning myself to Brown being a solid SP3
Alfredi Jimenez allowed two runs on three hits, one of which was a solo homer, and struck out eight in seven innings for Fayetteville. He's the first Fayetteville starter to throw at least six innings this year. Jimenez was a July 2 signing out of the Dominican in 2017 at 17 (he turned 18 that year) and has turned in some nice numbers in the complex leagues.
