Very very unlikely he makes the opening day roster. He will likely come up at some point this season if/when there’s an injury to Maldy or Castro.
You don't start a player's clock to have him sit on the bench. Not to mention the lack of regular ABs.
While I know spring stats mean nothing, seeing Yuli have a good spring would be really nice. We badly need him to have some sort of a repeat of last year
I think it's also possible that hitting him 9th in front of Altuve is something they are considering to bunch the fast guys together.
I would be very surprised if he made the team. He is absolutely the catcher of the future sitting on the bench behind Maldonado would only hurt his development. He could get a September callup but now that only 1 position player is added its unlikely. He could be called up as an injury replacement buy my best guess is he makes the team next year working with Maldonado as co-starters and gets more starts as the year goes on.
I'm pretty sure there aren't because it was a replacement for the minor leagues that didn't play last year. Since leagues are back, they don't need them. The only possible need is immediacy if COVID protocols are a problem and if enough players are affected, they'd probably postpone or cancel the game anyway.
Not likely as a third catcher. More likely as a replacement if Maldy ot Castro is injured. Third catchers are usually a playoff situation where you don't need a fifth starter.
It was 2020. You're right. Last year it was Covid Protocols that kept them going. I certainly hope we're past that this year. I think they were agreed to as a supplement to the expired Master Agreement. I'm way past my bedtime so I'm getting a bit fuzzy. One thing I like about Spring training is the time the games are played.
Spoiler According to the New York Post, rosters will expand from 26 to 28 through May 1 and will revert to the previously agreed upon 13-pitcher, 13-position-player configuration on May 2. Given all that we’ve learned, here’s my best guess as to the 28 players the Astros will carry to begin the regular season. Starting pitchers (5): RHP Justin Verlander, LHP Framber Valdez, RHP Luis Garcia, RHP José Urquidy, RHP Jake Odorizzi Lance McCullers Jr. will begin the season on the injured list, opening a spot in the rotation for Odorizzi or Cristian Javier. I went with Odorizzi in this projection because I am skeptical of how he would project as a reliever, whereas Javier has already shown he is capable of providing value as a reliever. Even before you factor in the two extra roster spots for April, three scheduled team off days in the first 15 days of the regular season, including two in the first eight days, will make it easier on the Astros pitchers in the early going as they continue to build their arms after the abbreviated spring training. The schedule even presents the Astros the option of rolling with a four-man rotation for the first week, which would mean one additional long reliever in the bullpen, though that might not be necessary with expanded rosters. Something to keep an eye on in the near future: The Astros play 33 games in 34 days from April 26 to May 25. They could opt for a six-man rotation during that stretch. If Javier begins the season in relief, the Astros could try to keep him stretched out as a long reliever so he’s their top candidate to move to the rotation when the need arises. Brandon Bielak and Peter Solomon project as their next-best depth starters. Relievers (10): RHP Ryan Pressly, RHP Héctor Neris, RHP Ryne Stanek, RHP Phil Maton, RHP Rafael Montero, LHP Blake Taylor, RHP Pedro Báez, RHP Cristian Javier, RHP Brandon Bielak, RHP Seth Martinez Neris and Stanek profile as the setup men for Pressly while we’ll get to see if the Astros’ optimism about Montero from last summer’s trade is validated. Taylor is the lone lefty in this projection, though Maton, with his fastball and curveball, and Neris, with his splitter, can match up against left-handed batters, too. Báez is a total wild card after his lost 2021, during which he barely pitched and showed diminished stuff when he did. Even though the early schedule played out favorably for the Astros in terms of days off, using both of the extra roster spots on relievers instead of one reliever and one bench bat (i.e., Taylor Jones) feels like the optimal move. Those two spots could be allotted to one long man and one more traditional reliever. I gave Bielak the nod over Solomon as the extra long man because he has more major-league bullpen experience and went with Martinez for the other spot because he can be relied upon to throw strikes more so than Bryan Abreu, Enoli Paredes and Josh James. Non-roster invitee Adam Morgan, a lefty with considerable major-league experience, has a chance to crack the roster but doesn’t have any minor-league options left. While we’re on the topic of options, the aforementioned Bielak, Solomon, Martinez, Abreu, Paredes and James still have them. The Astros were actually granted a fourth minor-league option year on Abreu. That means his time on the proverbial shuttle between Triple A and the majors is set to continue this season but also that he will be out of options coming into next year, rendering 2022 a potential make-or-break season for his future with the Astros. Catchers (2): Martín Maldonado, Jason Castro If Astros manager Dusty Baker sticks with how he operated last season, Maldonado projects as the workhorse primary catcher and Castro will be the No. 2 catcher and a valuable left-handed-batting pinch-hitter candidate in the games he doesn’t start. An increase in starts for Castro from his 37 last season might help the Astros extract more offense from the position, but it’s unclear if that will happen. Both veteran catchers are in the final guaranteed years of their contracts, though Maldonado has an option for 2023. If he plays in 90 games, the option is valued at $5 million and vests automatically. If he doesn’t, it’s a $4 million team option that the Astros can buy him out of for $500,000. Non-40-man roster catchers Michael Papierski, Korey Lee and Cesar Salazar represent insurance at the position coming into 2022. Lee, one of the team’s best prospects, will need to be added to the 40-man roster in the offseason as protection from the Rule 5 draft if he doesn’t debut this year. Infielders (6): 1B Yuli Gurriel, 2B Jose Altuve, 3B Alex Bregman, SS Jeremy Peña, UT Aledmys Díaz, UT Niko Goodrum The shortstop job is the rookie Peña’s to lose, and the Astros hope he runs with it and doesn’t look back. Goodrum and Díaz are the insurance. Goodrum can be optioned to the minors, but the Astros signed him to be a part of their bench as opposed to Triple-A depth. Taylor Jones projects to be first-base depth in Triple A. Joe Perez is another corner infielder on the 40-man roster but has a ways to go in his development. Perez’s taking up a spot on the 40-man is a reflection of his Rule 5 draft eligibility in the offseason, not his major-league readiness. Outfielders (5): LF Michael Brantley, RF Kyle Tucker, CF Chas McCormick, LF Yordan Alvarez, CF Jose Siri Jake Meyers will begin the season on the injured list as he continues to rehab from November labrum surgery. His absence pushes Siri onto the roster as opposed to his beginning the season back in Triple A. On paper, McCormick would be the front-runner to get most of the center field playing time while Meyers is out. But Baker’s affinity for Siri might get him more playing time than expected, as it did in last year’s ALCS and World Series. The minor-league depth in the outfield: Lewis Brinson, Corey Julks, Marty Costes and Pedro Leon.
