Yeah.... the Astros third best prospect arguably is a 17 year old kid from Cuba that didn't get a multi million dollar signing bonus because he looks like he should be sacking groceries instead of having a 300/400/500 batting line in his first pro-experience against older kids. Yet he isn't even on the Astros top 10 list with most publications because no one has seen him state side. Gomez supposedly had the fastest bat in the system before Gilbert was drafted.
Whitley, along with Tucker, were the untouchables when discussing trades for a couple of years. Whitley was an any time breakout candidate who never broke out. Tucker got off to a slow start in his first two attempts in the MLB line-up. But he kept getting chances. Others have been discarded with far fewer opportunities.
He got a million as a 16 year old. That's pretty good. But I agree with your point, the Astros are really good at finding under the radar prospects Most of starting rotation was signed with some loose change found under the seat cushions.
That is a really interesting question. I think I would rather have him work on his hitting at this point. There are some questions about his bat, but he could surprise people. He has an extremely quick bat and he a strong arm. Reminds me of Darrin Erstad.
Gomez got less than a million. He asked for a million and no one would give it to him. He got like 700-750K and was going to sign for 400K but a couple teams became interested late. I agree with you though, he didn’t get 25K and a bag of balls like Christian Javier of Jose Altuve.
I’m gonna say Arrighetti, Gordon, and Ullola are my three starting pitcher breakout candidates for next season. What are some others?
I think Andrew Taylor will impress in his Astros system debut (shut down once he signed). I think he'll start in Fayetteville and (bold prediction) will finish in Corpus.
How about a couple post breakout breakouts? Whitley and Jairo Solis. Whitley obviously needs to stay healthy, but I don't think most people realize if you look up his AAA starts on Baseball Savant that his fastball/slider/curveball spin rates are all elite. With that said, Whitley's best pitch currently is his changeup. His command needs some serious work, as it's been pretty trash since his first stint in Corpus which was five years ago. Hopefully his command tightens up with more innings. Solis used to be one of the higher upside arms in the system, starting in full season ball as an 18 year old. He's been through two TJ surgeries though, so who knows how he'll look this spring. As for a real breakout pick I'll go with Alimber Santa. It's a pretty boring choice though since I'm just picking the guy who throws 100+. Below image is from Whitley's start on 8/21.
Whitley does have some elite stuff, he just can’t stay healthy and when healthy can’t keep from imploding at some point during each appearance. Still, he gets one more season to show something.
How about another post breakout breakout? Valente Bellozo is standing at the crossroads of obscurity and a long successful career. This year could be very good or very bad for him.
Astros (and I think most teams, for that matter) let many guys have the opportunity to start at least early on, even if they're college guys who were always relievers (Conine, Guilfoil for Astros examples). I think he'll be developed as a starter until at least AA.
There is some reason to be optimistic, and his stuff always has been elite and will continue to be as long as he throws a baseball. That was such a great start stuff-wise - 14/72 is 19.44% whiff rate (a hair under 1 in every 5 pitches). However, my concerns have been not just with his command, but also the fact that he's been injury prone. Definitely a make or break year. I hope he can put together a solid season in AAA and maybe get a call up later in the year, but it isn't looking that good.
