Whitley averaged 99 on his fb last night in his return to AAA. It looks like both his cutter and his 4 seamer had really good movement. Colton Gordon went 6 innings last night and has a 4-0 record for Sugar Land. He is in his rule 5 season and it wouldn’t be at all surprising if he got called up soon, although his turn in the rotation isn’t really aligned with Houston’s current opening.
That's good to hear on Whitley. Wasn't the knock on him that his FB was pretty flat last few times before injury? So good to hear he's improving that, if so.
6'5" and 245 lbs and not 19 years old yet..... kind of hard not to keep an eye on him..... and a mid 90's fastball to boot as well. He isn't destroying A ball pitching, but he has progressively gotten better - he is drawing walks as well. The power and batting average need to improve, but I suspect that he is just really young. His OPS is up to .700 on the season against guys 3-4 years older than him. I think that his lofty goal should be to get to AA next year - and it's possible with a strong second half.
He has his OPS over .900 at this point, the highest of his career - he is walking a lot with an OBP around .400%. He is on a team and league where offense is common, so that can be part of it - but I think that they just haven't needed him yet.
I think Leon and Whitcomb could be 2 guys lots of teams ask about at the deadline. If you ignore the High A roster, this farm looks rebuilt. The AAA roster is stacked and has produced half a dozen + guys who have helped the big league team, the AA roster has some guys who have been rushed but is very deep with high ceiling talent, and the same can be said for Fayetteville’s roster. Outside of Baez I’m not sure there’s a single good prospect on Asheville’s roster so that’s the weak spot, but hopefully that roster will get remade after the draft.
Whitley was not on rehab long enough to be pitching already. This may be an activation with intent to release.
He pitched for AAA last night and looked good. Would be extremely odd for them to rehab him then activate him and put him in a game just to release him. RP don’t typically need long rehab stints, especially minor leaguers since it’s no big deal if the have hiccups that cause losses.
Especially when you are still carrying someone like Montero on your staff. That's the guy who should be released.
When 2B is your best position and there is a HOFer at that position, it is pretty hard to break-through. Probably need on of the IFers to go on the DL to get get a shot and playing time would still be difficult to find because he's that last guy off the bench.
- The DSL Orange team got two homers from Jesús Mujica in their 8-5 win over the Red Sox's Blue team. Mujica, a Venezuelan infielder who signed last January 15, now has three home runs this season. Samuel Capellan also hit his first homer of the year. He's a Dominican infielder who also signed last January 15. - Anderson Brito allowed a hit and struck out six over three scoreless for the DSL Blue team, who beat the Orioles 3-2. A 19-year-old Venezuelan RHP who signed last November, Brito has allowed one unearned run and struck out 19 in his first four professional appearances (11.2 IP). - Cam Fisher is off the development list and he homered in his first game for the FCL squad, who beat the Cardinals 4-3. Carlos Cauro also homered (2). Francisco Frias threw 3.2 hitless innings, walking one and striking out 7. An inherited runner was charged to him following an RBI double.
First transaction on the board today is RHP Engel Daniel Peralta heading to Fayetteville from the FCL. Peralta, who turned 20 on June 4, originally signed with the Astros in 2022, one week after his 18th birthday. He put up solid numbers in 10 appearances (22 IP) that season, going 1-1 with a 2.05 ERA. Peralta took a bit of a step back ERA-wise last season, likely because of a .413 BABIP, but the strikeout stuff began to materialize (56 in 33.2 IP) and he also slashed his walk rate by a good bit, so that was good enough for the Astros to send him to the US this season. In his first season stateside, Peralta is 2-1 with a 1.48 ERA in 7 appearances (1 start, 24.1 IP total). He's allowed 16 hits (1 homer), walked 7, and struck out 26. Opponents are hitting .180 against him. This promotion should be a good test for a kid who's put in his time in the complex leagues and has done solid work.
Looks like they sent Waner Luciano to the Development list to make room. It’s bummer Luciano struggled so much this season after getting so much positive buzz last year, but he’s still only 19.
Time to see if the stuff they had him working on while on the development list can get him back on track. Probably good for him. Don't think the org would want another Dauri Lorenzo situation where one of the Latin kids coming in with some buzz faceplants in Fayetteville and is never heard from again.
