After posting a .551 ops in July in AA, 3B Joe Perez has a .1013 ops in August. Excellent sign for a guy with very high upside. There is a group of younger Astros prospects that won’t show up on any Top 100 lists this offseason, but will have a very good chance to get that kind of hype with a good 2022 season: Perez, OF Colin Barber, P Alex Santos, OF Tyler Whitaker, P Jaime Melendez, and P Angel Macuare.
MLB dot com updated their Astros Top 30 Noteworthy: - Tyler Whitaker #6 - Yainer Diaz #14 - Cristian Gonzalez enters at #15 - Jaime Melendez #20 - Misael Tamarez and Jimmy Endersby enter at #27 and #28 respectively
Pretty big shakeup and super aggressive on Gonzalez and Whitcomb. Surprised Macuare isn’t in their Top 30. Lately been viewing Houston’s system in groups rather than rankings: Elite prospects (5): Lee, Leon, Brown, Pena, Whitley Elite prospects with high risk (4): Whitaker, Santos, Barber, Perez High floor arms (4): Solomon, Dubin, Ivey, McDermott Athletic OF (4): Barefoot, McKenna, Brewer, Daniels International lotto positions players (4): Diaz, Gonzalez, Nova, Lorenzo International lotto arms (4): Melendez, Tavarez, Rivera, Torres
I had been wondering what was to become of Martes. He appeared to have the goods for a stretch, but he has struggled mightily for a while. He went from one of the top pitching prospects in all of baseball, to being released at the age of 25. I must say I had hoped he would have figured it out. He may still, but it will be with another team, but odds aren’t great of that. Life in the minor leagues, where elite prospects flounder and non prospects can become all stars at the MLB.
One interesting thing is the turnover we’ve seen over the last few years on the mlb.com list. Here are all the position players currently in the minor league system who have been in mlb.com’s Astros top 30 at one point: C: Lee, Manea, C Stubbs, Perry, Diaz IF: Leon, Perez, Pena, Sierra, Kessinger, Nova, Whitcomb, Santana, Carrasco, Martinez, Gonzalez, Lorenzo OF: Adolph, Matijevic, Dawson, Barefoot, McKenna, Daniels, Barber, Whitaker, Brewer There may be a few others who’ve shown up before (Berryhill, Papierski, De Goti, Julks, Valdez, etc.?). Some may say that speaks to how often prospects bust but I think it speaks to the depth in Houston’s system.
Jose Urquidy allowed a hit and struck out six in three innings in a rehab start down in the FCL today.
Jeremy Peña played six innings at shortstop during the FCL game and he went 1-3 with a double. Roilan Machandy, who is normally an outfielder, replaced him for the final three innings and he hit a three-run homer (2). Machandy has made three other appearances at shortstop this season. Ian Foggo, who signed a couple of weeks ago, walked one and struck out two in the 9th inning in his pro debut.
If I recall, Machandy was touted as a very good athlete (albeit obviously raw and hence not much of a prospect). One area I am hoping to see Houston improve is more flexibility developed among their fringe prospects.
Omar Diaz has emerged as a highlight for the FCL squad offensively... he went 2-3 with a pair of doubles and scored twice. In 21 games, he's now hitting .373/.515/.510 with a homer and 6 RBI... with the usual small-sample size disclaimer (51 at-bats, 66 plate appearances). Diaz, a 19-year-old who signed for $85,000 out of the Dominican Republic in 2018, more or less held his own in the DSL as an everyday player, slashing .230/.343/.305 with 1 HR and 15 RBI in 56 games (208 plate appearances). Could be a super-deep sleeper, or he could crash in Fayetteville.
After seeing him play in person a few weeks ago it is hard for me to envision him as a major leaguer, but C Cesar Salazar has crossed the 50 pa threshold and his AA numbers are extremely good: 9% bb, 13% k, 138 wRC+, all on top of a low .209 babip. The .333 ISO isn’t sustainable, but otherwise, he’s worthy of some attention. We will know a ton more by the first month or two of next season.
Justin Dirden also smacked a three-run home run (14) for Asheville. He's been quite the find for the Astros... as mentioned before, he's got work to do on his strikeouts (just over 29% in 295 plate appearances entering tonight) but he might be viable if he can get the strikeout rate down even into the mid-20s. I think Dirden has done well enough at the A levels to possibly warrant an audition for a spot in Corpus, where he'll definitely get a big test.
Gaby Nieves (Hector Nieves... his middle name is Gabrielle) hit his first pro home run today in a game that began August 10, but was suspended. That game resumed in the 2nd inning; he homered in the 5th.
Corey Julks just hit another HR (11th). He has been on fire since 7/1 and looks more than ready for AAA. He still probably projects as a 4th OF (in a huge group of Astros prospects with that projection), but the last 2 months have maybe opened the door for a fringe everyday ceiling.
