Wilyer Abreu led off Corpus Christi's game in Amarillo by sending one to the parking lot. Abreu now has 14 homers this season. Enmanuel Valdez hit a two-run homer (21) for Sugar Land in their game with OKC.
ICYMI - Colin Barber was placed on the IL yesterday. Not sure if already posted, but I saw that today. I hope it isn't too bad. He missed a lot of time last year, he could be someone who struggles to stay healthy.
The summer leagues are off today, which means that their stats through July are up to date on fangraphs. If you also like to assign way too much value to a small sample size of games, simply because they occur in the same calendar month, here's some interesting DSL performances in July. Luis Baez- .286/.338/.471- 2 HRs- 6.5% BB% 22.1% K% - 113 wRC+ Luis Baez got the biggest bonus in the 2022 Astros international class. A 6'1" 205 lb 18 year old, the Astros gave him $1.3 million to wait until 2022 to sign after using most of their pool to sign Pedro Leon in 2021. Baez is in the classic RF mold with potentially big power. 6.5% BB is pretty low in the DSL, where command is not always great, but it actually represents an increase from June, when he struck out 21 times and walking just twice. It may be something in the surname, but Baez is apparently not afraid to swing. While I'd like to see an older bat-first prospect dominating, he's still holding his own, and showed improvement month to month. Sandro Gaston- .277/.397/.447 - 1 HR- 12.1% BB% 27.6% K% - 129 wRC+ It's hard to say that being 29% above average is a disappointment, but Gaston couldn't sustain the gargantuan power output he displayed in June, when he swatted 7 HRs. His strikeout rate climbed slightly into yellow flag territory for a player his age (19.5) at the lowest level of professional ball. It's hard to criticize a player when he's crushing it. I think it's fairly likely he just spends this season on the island. If he's actually a catcher, he looks very interesting, but realistically we need to see him in A ball before the stats start meaning much. He did hit his first triple of the season, so he's probably faster than Brian McCann. I also really want to stitch baseball references into Beauty and the Beast lyrics for years to come, so i'm manifesting his Astros stardom into existence. Kenni Gomez- .300/.500/.750 - 2 HRs - 30% 13.3% BB% 206 wRC+ I didn't intend to start this exercise with being a downer on Gaston and Baez. I did feel like pointing out their age and relative contact concerns jusxtoposition nicely with how awesome Kenni Gomez has been. While Baez and Gaston are relatively old for top prospects, Gomez turned 17 weeks before the season started, making him one of the youngest players on the team. The Cuban Gomez got a 775K dollar bonus this January, and was the 42nd ranked prospect in his international class. I believe Nook mentioned him as someone the Astros are high on. Given his usage, I think he has been injured, though he never went on the IL. It's unlikely that Gomez is a transcendent talent, but there are a lot of reasons why any struggles would be understandable, and yet he's absolutely dominating. Alejandro Nuñez- .303/.403/.415- 1 HR - 11.3% BB% 14.5% BB - 124 wRC+ Nuñez signed for 10K earlier this year. There was a video going around showing him emotionally being congratulated by his teammates upon learning he was offered a contract. Another Cuban, he didn't exactly stand out physically, which is reflected in hitting just 3 XBH- 1 of each type. What he has done though, is hit. Nuñez is the type of guy having 2 DSL teams enables the Astros to take a chance on. Darwin de Leon .291/.365/.527 - 4 HRs- 9.5% BB% 20.6% K% - 132 wRC+ He's listed at 5' 9" 156, and officially signed on June 28th- well into the DSL season. He's already 18, and hit the ground running by hitting HR in his first 2 games, and 3 of his first 5. Still, 4 HRs in a month is quite a bit considering age/size/experience. 6 years ago, a 17 year old Emmanuel Valdez burst onto the scene homering in his first 2 games, and now is on the cusp of realizing his MLB dreams.
I'm officially extremely intrigued by Dirden. His full season numbers are amazing, but when you remove his first few weeks it gets absolutely absurd (.350 BA and near 1.100 OPS). Don't know about his physical tools, but he's regularly played CF and RF, so he has to move pretty well and have at least a decent arm. I'm sure he's moving to AAA after the deadline clears a little roster space.
Ive seen a couple of Hooks games in person this year and while Dirden didn’t look like someone you’d want in CF everyday, his speed and arm were better than I expected given the description of him from when he signed. I think he’d might be ok as a 4th OF if he doesn’t end up hitting enough to be an everyday corner OF. He’s an older prospect with no pedigree so like somebody like Tyler White he is going to have to prove it at every level, but I agree it’s well past time to see him in AAA. Fwiw, Dirden is posting a wRC+ of 150 in his age 24 season in AA; Tyler White posted a wRC+ of 142 in his age 24 season in AA.
He is probably ready for MLB. He's 25 years old and has raked at A, A+ and now AA ball. OPS above 1.000 at AA ball this year and hitting .323. Here we are looking to trade assets for hitting when we have Dirden and Enmanuel Valdez absolutely destroying the minor leagues. Give these guys a shot.
Are we back to normal September call-up opportunities? Are these ineligible for post season barring injury replacement? All these special rules the last few years leaves me reeling.
The Astros player development is like a machine. They take these players, some of them even old when they draft them or sign them. Sometimes they repeat low levels even....... and then something happens starting around double AA when they are 21-23 years old.... then they keep it up in AAA and largely in the big leagues.
Barber needs to stay healthy but the talent is obvious watching him play. He missed all of the 2020 season with COVID stuff and has been injured off and on. He should be ready for AA next year, and that will tell us a lot. He has improved a lot with the glove and they are working on his base running and pitch selection right now.
I do want to add that although Dirden's breakout is a positive development, I still view the odds of him making it as an everyday player in the majors as pretty long. One the one hand, the track record of all players who post 900+ ops in AA is pretty strong, but on the other hand, 24 year olds who fit better in the corner OF and post single digit walk rate and >20% k rate in AA don't usually do well in the majors.
I hadn't even heard of Wilyer Abreu and just looked him up... The walk rate almost doubled, but also jumping out is 23/24 on steals... after going 10/21 last year. Not often does a guy have such a step change while jumping levels (after posting a perfectly good year in High-A last year. The K rate is still a bit high, but actually improved as well.
I would give Dirden looks at 1B to see if he can learn the position. He has the profile for it, doesn’t hurt to try. Plus versatility never hurts.
