I would be a little more optimistic about him improving his hit tool if I thought he was being encouraged to work on it. Hitting is literally at the bottom of the list with regard to Astros catchers. It may be addressed in the future if there is time. For now I am not worrying about it and I suspect neither is anyone inside the organization.
Finally resurfaced on the radar seems more appropriate for Santana. To be fair, he was hurt last year, but good to see him starting to regain the form at the plate that intrigued some folks.
One thing this leaves room for is if Lee is brought up permanently for his defense then there is probably more room than normal for offensive improvement since he can focus on that once he gets settled in defensively in the big leagues.
It really puts a hard limit on how much longer this team can be good. We should look like the Cubs right now after failing to pay the golden core, but we've so far managed to replace and even add onto the core from 2017. Since the start of the 2022 MiLB season, the farm went from middle of the pack to pretty much barren almost overnight thanks to regression and promotion to the majors. Aside from Brown and Diaz, I really don't see any sure-fire big league starters left in the minors. Hamilton and Valdez look really promising (the former needs to be in AA yesterday), but size is an issue for both. For every Jose Altuve, there's 10 Tony Kemps. Melendez might just shock the world and turn into "Random Astros Latin American pitcher who came out of no-where and turned into a top 3 starter #758493". Still thankful for how well the farm did already, but asking them to replace the current core with an equivilent one for a third time in a row is a massive ask.
You know, we can spend money and supplement places our farm doesn’t produce, it is allowable. Long term we only need (5 years) we only need 1 more OF to hit, 1 catcher and 1 more starting pitcher. That’s not a huge ask and we look like those positions work. IDGAF about a timeline past 5 years. It’s essentially unknowable.
I understand this thinking, but really no prospect is a sure-fire big league starter until he proves it. And there are a wide variety of highly regarded prospects and players who come out of nowhere who do. I would add Colin Barber to your list. But there are several guys like Valdez and David Hensley who are putting up numbers in AAA but not previously thought to be legitimate MLB prospects who could surprise - like Jake Meyers. Or extremely talented guys like Pedro Leon or Jordan Brewer who had development time taken away due to injury, COVID, or politics but still have the raw talent to make it. And don't forget that every year some pitching prospect completely unheard of and not regarded ends up being a complete stud and positive addition to the team. This year it looks like Seth Martinez is that guy. Hold your head up and don't be afraid to hope !!!
… all the more reason to be a seller at the deadline. Trade one of the extra starters to restock a bit.
Luis Encarnacion went 2-5 with an RBI single and a two-run homer (1) for the FCL Orange team. Encarnacion slashed .320/.401/.426 with a homer and 25 RBI in his pro debut last season in the DSL. He's listed as a 2B but most of his playing time last year came as a first baseman. He also spent time as a catcher. Fernando Caldera finished a double shy of the cycle and scored three runs; the home run was his 2nd of the year.
A typical farm system turns over almost entirely every 3-4 years. So when evaluating whether a farm will be able to sustain a team’s competitive window, we only need to look at players on the major league roster with less than 4 years of control remaining. The prospects who will replace guys like Pena, Alvarez, Meyers, Javier, and McCullers are still in HS or college (or are unknowns down in the complex leagues). And it is also possible for that to be the case for guys 3 years from free agency, which is most of the roster. So luckily the current iteration of Houstons farm only has to replace mostly complementary players: Maldonado, Gurriel, Brantley, Diaz, Castro, Verlander, and a bunch of relievers. Verlander and Brantley are the only ones who are performing like even above average core players.
This completely depends on your perspective. Maldonado is not only "performing like even an above average core player" in the minds of the Astros, they are THRILLED with his performance. Somehow I think their opinion is much more important than yours or mine. Yuli has a 108 OPS+ for June and July so by definition he is performing above league average over the past 5+ weeks.
This was my point. 1 OF. 1 catcher. 1 starting pitcher. That’s really all we need for the next 3-5 years out of the system. That doesn’t seem like too much an ask. We’ve even already probably got the guys identified to do that. (Lee, Leon/Barber and Brown/Whitley).
Haven't really talked much about complex-league pitching because it's often a hot mess, but Wilmy Sanchez on the DSL Blue team has definitely stood out. An 18-year-old Dominican RHP, he started his career with 12 scoreless innings over 5 relief appearances, allowing just five hits and walking three while striking out 22. Sanchez got the start this morning and he allowed a run on three hits, walked one, and struck out six in four innings. He's listed at 5-9, 193, so there will be some projection concerns based on that body type, which is very similar to Jaime Melendez. Melendez impressed in the DSL in his first year... too early, of course, but it's possible that we might be seeing a repeat unfold with Sanchez.
Ricardo Balogh went 3-4 with an RBI single in the first game of the FCL Orange team's doubleheader against the Nationals. If I remember correctly, Balogh was a six-figure signing back in 2018 and there was a little intrigue about him because he was a switch-hitting middle infielder. Well, he's played everywhere on the infield since turning pro and most of his time has come as a corner infielder and 2B, so it didn't take long for the Astros to find out that he wasn't really a shortstop. After failing to hit .200 and barely clearing a .500 OPS in his first two seasons, Balogh is enjoying a mini-breakout (relatively speaking) as he's currently slashing .284/.347/.343 in 21 games for the FCL Orange team. He's still hitting quite a bit of ground balls, and the sub-.700 OPS despite an average 100 points higher than he's ever had probably means that he's struggling to add strength. But, his line-drive hit percentage has ballooned to 23% after it was under 12% last year, so maybe he's found a swing that is working for him. Without much power though, Balogh's ceiling is most likely Class A backup infielder. That is if he gets out of Palm Beach.
Agreed and this is another flaw in managements thinking. I'll be glad when MLB changes to using the automated strike zone.
I get that in his first few months with the organization, he needs to learn how to catch and develop relationships with the pitchers, but the difference between a defense-heavy catcher who hits .150 with 15 home runs vs .250 with 30 HR is a decent starter vs a multi-time all star.
