Pena 2-4 with a double his numbers are on the rise after a slow start for a few games... .278 avg and .772 OPS
https://blogs.fangraphs.com/daily-prospect-notes-9-14-2021/ Excerpt from Hunter Brown segment: "Per Synergy Sports, he’s sitting more in the 92-93 mph range during his Triple-A outings. "
It could also be that he's backing off on velo for more control. He's cut his walk rate 13.4% to 9.5% from AA to AAA.
I'd lean fatigue for now. throwing 90 IP after a year of zero has got to weird as f'. They're not cheap innings either. It's all AA/AAA ball innings this year.
I was at this game tonight. Pena looked like an absolute stud. He had 4 very hard hit balls in 4 pa. I think Willy Adames is a very very good comp for him. Dubin wasn’t as sharp as the 2 previous times I saw him this season, he was sitting 95 with a few 96s (as opposed to 97s and 98s the last times I saw him) but he still looked very obviously like a major league quality pitcher. I got my first look at JP France. His stuff looked mediocre but he was very effective. He didn’t throw harder than 93 but mixed pitches and speeds and must have something deceptive because he got k’s. Matijevic played CF tonight, I’m sure out of necessity. But he looks and moves like a very good athlete, and showed at least average speed out there and looked fine in the few balls that were hit to him. It confuses me that he has so little defensive value. Colton Shaver is a homeless mans Tyler White. I was again impressed with Miguelangel Sierra. He looks the part and made a couple of very nice plays on defense. I hope the Astros stick with him for at least another season to see if he can take a step forward with his offense because out in the field he looks like a major leaguer.
I’m sure the Astros FO is very pleased about the fact that Pena was able to make it back this season and get some at bats and games at AAA. The opposite field power and pop in his bat is a very encouraging thing to see.
Congratulations to Enmanuel Valdez for earning fringe status in the Astros system. I still have my doubts as to whether he'll hit for a high enough average to be a viable bench option, but his age and power should give him chances.
Yainer Diaz just can't stop hitting home runs. He just hit a two-run shot for his 17th homer of the season.
Tyler Whitaker hit his third home run and Pedro León had an RBI single in the FCL Astros' 8-1 win over the Cardinals.
A big difference between Diaz and the other guys who’ve taken advantage of hitting in Asheville (McKenna, Barefoot, Whitcomb) is that Diaz hasn’t struck out very much. Very good sign for him. If he does anything close to that amount of hitting in AA next season he will project as a very good mlb hitter.
What's the word on his defense? I vaguely recall him being signed as a shortstop (like a lot of kids), but looks like he's played a combo of 2nd and 3rd mostly. It'd be nice if he could be an Aledmys Diaz successor option as a passable infielder in a couple of years.
Wilyer Abreu has quietly turned it on in Asheville. 15 HR over 78 games, looks like he will earn a shot in AA next season.
Not sure if this is what you are looking for: Clay Davenport stats have his defense as below average at 2B and 3B. FanGraphs has called him a "bat-first infield role player".
