https://www.mlb.com/astros/news/astros-top-prospects-starting-spots-for-2025?t=mlb-pipeline-coverage Notable from this article is that Nehomar Ochoa Jr. was injured in a minor car accident and Zach Cole has an injured oblique.
I am actually watching Colin Barber this year. He has really lost his luster, but I always thought of him as a Michael Brantley type of talent. It's getting late, but he isn't Pedro Leon yet. He is a perfect 4th OF if he can build on his impressive spring.
It would be nice if Barber were anything close to the kind of prospect Brantley was. Brantley walked more than he struck out at every level and stole more than 20 bases every year. The only question with Brantley was whether he’d hit for enough power which he answered pretty quickly after getting called up. Barber has struck out twice as much as he’s walked for going on 3 years. He’s never shown much baserunning value and his career high in HR is 11. I still think Barber is an interesting prospect but he is no Michael Brantley.
They might have something with Gordon, even if he doesn't have much velo. Seems like a smart, grinder type like Arrighetti who adapts well.
Ok, let's call him Michael Brantley-lite-lite-lite. By the time Brantley was an Astro he was a limited defender with average power, well below average speed (40th percentile in 2019 and dropped rapidly to 10th by 2023), and exceptional hitting ability who hit lefty and who's body betrayed him. Barber's original scouting reports touted his hitting as the best of his tools and expected him to slow down, be limited to a corner OF and questioned his ability to develop enough power to stick. That ( and his obvious injury history) are why I compared him to Brantley. Clearly hit hit tool, especially his BB/K rate have not developed as originally hoped.
They updated Blubaugh's statcast data since apparently it labeled his change ups as fastballs. It looks like he's throwing ~1.5 mph harder on his heater with slightly more movement. His sweeper and cutter are harder and move more as well. It also looks like his change up is considerably different. It is about 6 mph harder and has 4 more inches of lateral movement. The lateral movement would be in the 90th percentile for MLB change ups. I'm excited to see how this plays out for him this season.
Astros signed minor league free agent SS Reylin Perez and assigned him to Fayetteville. He was a $60k bonus int'l signee for Detroit that was fangraphs org #23 prospect in 2023 and was described with this blurb: Perez is an electric athlete (maybe the best in the whole system) with plus switch-hitting bat speed and a swing geared for huge lift. Aspects of his physicality and swing are reminiscent of Jazz Chisholm Jr. at the same age, and Perez's twitch, athleticism, and power are remarkable for a teenage middle infield prospect. The uphill nature of his swing and other crude feel-for-the-barrel elements give him significant long-term hit tool risk, and Perez struck out at a concerning 28% clip in the 2022 DSL. Purely on upside, Perez belongs up near Jackson Jobe on this list. But Perez's contact issues are about as severe as Gage Workman's and Ryan Kreidler's, and Perez is several levels behind those guys. The risk he doesn't hit enough to be anything at all counterbalances all that upside when it comes to valuing Perez's prospectdom, but he's an important player to monitor because his ceiling is huge if his hit tool gets to a more stable place. Perez has about a full season's worth of games in his pro career and has shown a solid power/speed combo with 12 HR and 30 SB over ages 17-19, but with a k rate >30%.
The other three full-season affiliates kick off their seasons tonight. Asheville is in Greensboro tonight and Juan Bello will get the start for the Tourists. Joan Ogando starts for Fayetteville as they host Lynchburg, and Nic Swanson is on the mound for Corpus Christi in Frisco.
Walker Janek went 3-4 with a double and a two-run single for Asheville; it was not a good night offensively as the Tourists' only other hit was a triple from Drew Vogel. The Tourists lost 12-3 in Greensboro. Four Fayetteville pitchers combined to throw a shutout. Joan Ogando allowed a hit, walked three, and struck out 5 in 3.1 innings. Twine Palmer allowed a hit, a walk, and struck out six in three innings, and then Francisco Frias got the last two outs of the 7th. In his pro debut, Ryan Smith walked 4 and struck out 3 over the final two innings to complete the shutout. Smith was the Astros' 9th-round pick last year out of UIC (University of Illinois Chicago). Drew Brutcher went 2-4 and scored a run in his pro debut. Drew Spence scored twice and stole a base, and Max Holy had an RBI triple and drew 3 walks for the Woodpeckers.
Sugar Land got whacked 15-1 in Durham. No further comment needed from me. Ryan Wrobleski and Logan Cerny homered for the Hooks in a 7-5 win over Frisco. Miguel Palma had two doubles, one of which drove in a run, and Pascanel Ferreras went 4-4 with a couple of RBI singles. Wilmy Sanchez allowed a hit and struck out three on his way to getting a five-out save. So... a mixed bag on this first full night on the farm.
Another minor league signing... IF Reylin Perez was released by the Tigers last week. Today, the Astros signed him and sent him to Fayetteville. A 20-year-old from the Dominican Republic, Perez played 48 games with the Tigers' FCL squad and hit .216/.328/.331 with 3 home runs and 20 RBI. He's primarily a middle infielder; last season was the first time he played more games as a 2B. Not related to Asheville pitcher Railin Perez as far as I know.
Seems like the low A pitching staff always strikes out a ton of hitters, but that's a pretty encouraging start, especially Twine's performance. I like that the Astros seem to draft a random Oklahoma juco player every year, plus this guy's name is Twine. Also, Caden Powell drew a walk! It took him 20 games to do that last year.
Asheville is getting smacked in the early going, but on the bright side, Joseph Sullivan just hit his first two pro home runs.
