At this point Julks has some ML experience but is pretty much limited to LF. Dirden has no experience but is a more versatile outfielder. neither has enough potential to take up a 40 man roster spot if you have a need for a spot to protect someone.
Dirden is not on the 40 man roster and at this point will almost certainly not be added since he is not a significant risk to be taken in the Rule 5 draft. LF is Julks’ best position and he is an average defender there (with potential to be above average defensively if he improves), but he can also play RF (he has the arm for it so he is not much worse there than he is in LF). He has played pretty extensively at CF (has the speed and arm but not the instincts) and played enough 3B last season to be an emergency fill-in if needed. If he is going to spend a lot more time in AAA (even into next season), I think it makes sense to play him more at 3B (and maybe even 1B) to add to his versatility since that’s one way to turn a fringey AAAA player into a viable long term mlb bench piece. Julks showed enough in Houston to be worth sticking on the 40 man for at least another season; he is a clearly superior player to Dirden and it not even close.
Germán Ramirez hit his first pro home run to give the DSL Orange team a 4-3 win over the Royals' Gold team. After the Royals took the lead with 3 in the top of the 6th, the Orange team responded with three in the bottom of the 6th to regain the lead. Esmil Valencia had an RBI single before Ramirez went deep and Karniel Pratt stole 2B and scored following a couple of errors in the 1st inning.
Cristian Gonzalez (2-run) and Nehomar Ochoa (solo) hit back-to-back home runs in the FCL game. Gonzalez later hit an RBI double.
IF Julks was your emergency guy at all OF positions, 1b and 3B and the team wasn't managed by Dusty Baker and he was going to play 50 games a year that sounds like a guy I'd like on my 26 man roster. Anything other than that though and it's a hard pass for me
For now he is a great 14th, 15th, or 16th position player stashed in AAA and that’s all he needs to be thru at least 2025. Maybe he will get more versatile and become an 11th or 12th or 13th guy (very possible), maybe he will unlock some more offensive floor and become a good everyday LF (not very likely).
He's what- 28? If I was him I'd spend all offseason taking balls at 3b and 1b to try to be that utility guy. IF he was passable there then you could have Dubon take care of all the up the middle positions as a backup and Julks all the corner positions as a backup. Add in your backup catcher and that leaves you a left over roster spot if you want to try to go with a strict platoon at LF or 1b, or a 3rd catcher if you want to play Diaz a bunch at 1b when he isn't catching. That's helpful I guess?
Probably not a popular opinion, but I would start Dezenzo in AAA. He hit AA pitching well until recently, and the Astros need to see what they have with him.
Chris Johnson 2.0, IMO. CJ took a couple of years in AAA. While that isn't an exciting comparison, if he can have a little better glove or be a utility guy, i'd gladly take it.
Johnson’s not a bad comp in terms of overall value and batted ball profile, but Dezenzo walks and strikes out more than Johnson did and I think Dezenzo has a better defensive profile. I am not with nook on fast tracking him, I think they should take it slow and maximize his value; he may have another big step in him if they let him stay at AA and work on getting to more HR power and striking out less. For now he projects to me as a guy who k’s a lot and hits a lot of doubles.
https://x.com/thevandalorian/status/1691958206501724273?s=46&t=XXtypJQm99x7sFwSeAtTXA Anyone know what happen to Melton? He was hitting the ball well then just disappeared last week.
Spaghetti not struggling at all in his introduction to AAA. I think we probably have another winner here. If so I’d really like to see Urquidy get moved this winter for a decent left handed 1B/LF Type we can platoon with Jake Meyers
Yeah seems like he has a hard time commanding his 4-seamer and slider, at least that was the case last night: https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/player-scroll/game?gamePk=721382&player_id=681293#power_sets He only sat 93 on his fb. But he only gave up 3 hard hit balls and only one of those landed for a hit. So his stuff must be hard to lock in on even tho he’s not throwing that hard and he doesn’t seem to be able to put it exactly where he wants it. For now he seems like he’ll be an erratic SP4 in the majors. But he has moved quickly so there’s definitely a chance he levels up into a more consistent MoR SP and could even top out as a playoff #3 if he maxes out.
