Good chance he did. No reason to think he'd ever get back to MLB and at 30 you have to consider moving on.
I'm just weirding out on: Taylor Jones, Hitting Coach The dude's 6'6" and goofy, what's he gonna teach? "don't use your arms so much"?
It is him. I just googled "Taylor Jones, baseball coach". It pulled up his LinkedIn profile. Lists him as hitting coach for the Houston Astros. Took the job in January. Has him as a Professional Baseball Player for the Angeles until Feb 2024. Has his profile pic from his Astros playing days as his pic now. Lots of connections. Could be fake but if it is someone spent a lot of time on it.
The requirements of a hitting coach have very little to do with being able to hit. He needs to know how the player is supposed to stand and swing, and how various defects in that will impact the results. He needs to be able to identify, often very, subtle changes in set up and swing mechanics and communicate what is happening. He needs to be able to communicate what is happening with the hitter(s) and have their confidence. He needs to have an understanding of swing mechanics and make suggestions for changes based on the goals for that hitter. And finally he needs to work with the hitter to make the adjustments and have them stick. It is almost entirely sensory and cerebral, not physical, in nature with strong communication thrown in.
Back in the day they needed to know which docs would give the players greenies, and they needed to be able to hit the bar with the players after day AND night games. Times have changed. I am waiting for when engineers start getting jobs doing it.
Taylor Jones article I had no idea about his health condition and 1 game, 1 at bat in 2022 and he got himself a WS ring. https://www.astrosfuture.com/2024/0...chapter-coach-following-health-complications/
Astros signed minor league free agent IF Jeremy Arocho last month: https://www.milb.com/player/jeremy-arocho-671080 Seems like an odd signing, a 25 year old who spent the last 2 seasons in A ball and was used mostly at 2B. He did steal 47 bases last year so he must have some speed, and he rarely struck out (15%) while posting a monster walk rate (20%). He appears to have no power at all. Houston’s farm projects as very weak in the middle infield in AA to start the season, so they may just like him a bit more than some of the other 2B/SS options they could put in Corpus (Borden, Stevens, Sacco).
Keep in mind Altuve had no power (5 hr total his 1st 3 seasons in minors, 2 in 234 PA his rookie year and 1 was inside the park) until he made adjustments with Astros coaches and matured.
Yes but Altuve clearly had some pop in his bat and was hitting for extra bases. Altuve hit 47 doubles the year before he started hitting homers. Arocho does not hit for any power. I’m sure the plan/hope with Arocho is to have him adjust his swing decisions to get to enough offense to make him viable rather than hope he suddenly gets strong in his late 20s. He could be a Tony Kemp level player.
Scenario: Bregman is gone and everyone else is back in 2025. Who is 3rd baseman? Dezenzo? How much does he play and what do his stats look like/ closest recent rookie comp? Who is up, who is down, and how much?
If Dezenzo fully blossoms he has a chance to be really good, but even if he just has an upward trajectory he might project as someone like Ryan McMahon who would be fine to give a year to see if he can develop in real time. Or he could sell out for power and maybe be like JD Davis with better defense. But now that Crane has shown he’s willing to ball out financially who knows. JD Davis could be a free agent option if they don’t like any internal options; I don’t see them going after Moncada or Suarez. McMahon and Jake Burger could be trade targets. Will Wagner is another potential internal option. If all else fails they might run Dubon out there, which might be ok if Diaz, Meyers, and Pena all level up this year.
Who will be the OFs? What is the opening day rotation? How many swings will Altuve take on Opening Day BP?
Altuve hit doubles and was much younger. This guy hits like Dubon with a higher walk rate and better base stealer. Probably doesn't have Dubons elite defense. He could play a Myles straw role.
13 position players make the opening day roster and 11 spots are set. Singleton and Kessinger are the 2 who filled the last 2 to end the year. Can anyone give some insight (scouting reports/strengths-weaknesses/player comps) and their chances for the rookie eligible players in camp who are competing for those 2 spots? on 40 man Trey Cabbage Kenedy Corona Non roster invitees Zach Dezenzo Chris Gittens Quincy Hamilton Pedro Leon Joey Loperfido Jacob Melton Will Wagner Shay Whitcomb *Hensley, Julks, and Machado have previously exceeded rookie eligibility.
Got to think that neither is a safe bet to break camp with the MLB team. There should be stiff competition for those last two slots. And even if one or both do break camp with the MLB team, the Astros might like other player(s) better but want to the other player(s) to play everyday in AAA.
That’s very interesting and hard to understand. That change means draftees won’t get competitive games unless they are placed in full season ball. Most college draftees have already been getting assigned to full season ball but this means the HS guys will just have to wait. Complex leagues are now just a stateside development league for international prospects.
