So let's hope next year he crushes Lancaster next year and gets to AA at 19. Then splits another year at AA and AAA at 19. If this kid develops his body as expected, we could see him in the majors at 20 in a best case scenario. 2015...look out!
All the more impressive! He's listed at 6'4" 205 pounds. That's Cal Ripken size. He's bound to add size and strength to that considering his age. He's going to be a monster sized shortstop.
Vince Velasquez vs. Clinton: 6 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 7 K He's now got 123 strikeouts in 110 innings. Velasquez improves to 9-4 with a 3.19 ERA as Quad Cities won 2-1.
He and McCullers are 1-2 in strikeouts in the Midwest League. Velasquez is 4th (almost 3rd) in WHIP to go with it.
Michael Feliz with another stellar outing. Kid is probably one of our more exciting arms right now, despite being at the lower levels.
Velasquez...maybe the most underrated pitching prospect in the minors. In our system, everyone talks about Appel, Folty, and Mccullers...Velasquez might be the best out of all of them. Much better command than Folty and Lance and his K/9 and H/9 are better than Appel's small sample size. The stuff is there, a fastball that sits in the low 90s and can hit 95 with a good curve and a solid changeup. Hopefully they put him on the fast track next year to make up for his tommy john year.
Too early to tell if Buxton or Correa is better. Remember Correa is almost a year younger and plays a premier position. Both players are very young and have played very well.
Corpus got hit hard 12-5, but some offensive notes: Santana hit his 20th HR, and Duffy hit his first AA HR (and 20th overall). Duffy has played 3rd and 1st as they're still keeping Jonathan Meyer involved. Max Stassi went 3-4 with a double and 2 RBIs. That will bring his OPS north of .900, which is pretty stellar for a AA catcher at age 22, with plus defensive skills. For comparison's sake, at age 22, Castro split time at Lancaster and Corpus, and posted an .826 OPS overall, aided by a .916 in his Lancaster days.
According to an interview earlier in the year he is sitting 94-95 and hitting 96. Baseball America a week or two ago said Velasquez may be the most underrated pitching prospect in the low minors (entire minors, not just Astros system).
Just a heads up... Jonathan Gray is dominating Hi-A so far, including our own Lancaster Jethawks (best offense in MiLB) tonight. Kid has looked fantastic.
could only draft one of em. i'm sure there's a whole heap of top 10 draftees this year that look great so far.
Well Buxton has a tool that Correa doesn't have in his incredible speed and he is a centerfielder which is an important defensive position. It'll probably be a debate their whole careers.
Good points. Correa is slow as molasses and shortstop is an unimportant defensive position. Not even sure why teams need players to play in between 2nd and 3rd base.
I've always wondered myself why he wasn't viewed as a bigger prospect, the big stuff is there. I understood when he was coming off surgery, but if he finishes a full season strong it seems he should be a top 100 guy easily. The scouts seem to ignore him just assuming he can't stay healthy I'd like him in CC, but I think him and McCullers will get the Folty treatment, send them to Lancaster and get them out quickly if they look decent.
Haven't had a #1 vs #2 head to head rivalry since Mauer vs Prior. I'm having trouble finding if there has ever been both a #1 and #2 from the same draft class that have both gone on to have all star/HOF type careers. There's a strong chance that one of them will not make it big.
For what it's worth injuries are unpredictable, but Mark Prior and Mauer both ended up being All-Stars Josh Hamilton and Josh Beckett in 99 both ended up All-Star level players, although both had roller coaster careers. But odds are against both of them being superstars
Nope. Checked back to '65. Mauer/Prior, Hamilton/Beckett, and Burrell/Mulder are the only 3 that were even remotely close. Bryce Harper/Jameson Taillon has promise though.
Both players are very young (18 and 19 years old) and still in the lower levels of the minor leagues. The game is littered with young kids that do well in A-/A/A+ but really struggle in AA/AAA or MLB. While both are elite prospects with strong work ethics and high skill levels, it is more likely that neither becomes a multiple time all star than both. Hell, for all the high end pitching depth the organization has (Keith Law has a man crush on our pitchers), we will be lucky to end up with a #1-2 starter and a couple Bud Norris type 3-4 starters when all is said and done.
