Good to see our organizational system is on the same page, we're teaching these guys proper Astros baseball.
There are SIXTY ONE players on the IL across the 6 stateside rosters in the Astros organization, out of 222 total players, a full 27% of all players.
Thinking about this more, I am starting to wonder if (at least on the minor league level) Houston is using the IL as a way around the new 165 player limit. Placing guys on the IL allows them to keep evaluating them while maintaining their rights. We will see a big round of players getting released over the next few weeks then again at the end of the season, because I think at some point orgs have to get under 165 inclusive of players on the IL.
Big opportunity for him. I also saw that Yamal Encarnacion and Jack Blomgren were added to the Asheville roster. Both guys are under the radar prospects with some upside. Encarnacion has plus contact skills and elite speed; he was on the Astros prospect breakout team this spring before getting hurt. Blomgren has been super productive throughout his minor league career but has never been healthy for any stretch of time, as a middle infielder with offensive upside he should get a legit look over the next 2 months, hopefully with some time in AA.
I can’t find any details on his injuries over the last 3.5 seasons. He played 137 out of 141 possible games in college at Michigan so he wasn’t injury prone until he went pro. His IL stints were prolonged (rather than a bunch of short ones), which makes me think he suffered one major injury that has turned into a chronic/recurring issue, but that is me speculating. He has a good defensive rep and clearly has a knack for putting together good at bats and can hit for some gap power, but lacks HR numbers. But by far and away his main flaw has been lack of availability.
