No player should ever be able to put up 30/30 in AA or AAA, you know why? Because a major league franchise should recognize the talent, and bring that player up!!!!
I think most of us feel that way. Ultimately I believe good pitchers will succeed regardless, but none the less it can be a risk. When hits start falling in everywhere it can make a pitcher question his approach when he he probably shouldn't.
If that's the case, he likely won't be on the opening day roster NEXT year as well... As keeping him out the first month will add another year of club control. September time won't count against it... But they'll have a pretty tough time explaining things if he comes up and has a great month, along with a great ST. Of course, the Astros have left him with such little adjustment time to big league pitching that the above will be unlikely. I'm annoyed because this is the first sign of a penny-pinching/cost-saving move regarding our GOOD/YOUNG players. This is something Tampa does routinely... Of course, they have good players in the big leagues currently so nobody really notices it. if Springer plays great, the Astros are going to be the type of team that resigns him BEFORE his last year of club control, or trades him anyways. Also, at that time Springer will already be pushing 31, which would mean a lot of things in terms of # of good years left (which pretty much applies to all players signing their first big deal). In the end, we have a talented 24 year old (older than the majority of mlb all stars this year) player who may be no better than any of the K machines we have now... But thanks to arbitration rules and $$$, we aren't even going to see him on the opening day roster next year. And if this team gets off to a horrific start, and Springer playing well would/could have somewhat mitigated that, Luhnow/Crane will deserve rightful criticism for this type of approach. Players who have talent on a talentless MLB team need to be in Houston, not mixed in the best minor league system in the world.
^^ Sig bet that he both plays games this year and is on the opening day roster next year? Barring injury, of course.
Nah. Don't really care anymore. Plus I don't post enough to make it worthwhile to you if I lose. If he had come up in early July like his progress/success dictated, I would have been happy... It's enough time to makes adjustments within the season and a large enough sample size to draw projections from (presuming he succeeds after adjusting). In fact now, they might as well take the longoria/Myers route (even though both players were 2 years YOUNGER at their delayed debut) and keep him down there to start the season. At this point, a 1 month more delay leads to a full year more of control. After already being delayed intentionally for 4+ months to get this far, might as well see it through. He's going to be a 24 year old rookie no matter what. September time won't count towards it though... So I'd soak up as much as possible before he's back next April 26th.
Has Luhnow ever made any public comment on his reasoning for keeping him in AAA for so long even though he has shown next level talent?
Nothing public. They will never quote the service time thing. Players union and agents would be all over the 'Stros if they made that public. They keep leaking out the two strike approach... But at this point, everything he's making contact with is entering another stratosphere, which possibly could have a counter intuitive affect. He still is walking and getting on base a ton as well. He could come up and be the same sort of K machine that Carter is (even though he's capable of much more than him in other parts of the game) or he could continue to have a high avg, power, walk a ton... And possibly improve his approach at the MLB level. He actually has to be here though to see what actually could happen.
Friday Stories 30/30. The New York-Penn League's two best do battle. Greeneville begins a series against the team directly under them in the standings. Recap Oklahoma City 6, Las Vegas 4 Well, there you have it. George Springer is the first minor leaguer with 30 homers and 30 steals in a season since Grant Desme did it in the A's system in 2009. Desme is now a priest, and his name is now Matthew. The historic home run was a 2-run shot in the 5th. Springer also put OKC on the board 1st with an RBI groundout in the 1st. The Redhawks had been trailing 3-1 after the 1st, but they got 5 unanswered to take control of the game. They scored 3 in the 4th on a Marwin Gonzalez RBI groundout, Brandon Laird scoring on a passed ball, and a sac fly from Carlos Perez. And then in the 5th, Springer made history. Trevor Crowe and Jose Martinez had 2 hits apiece. Bobby Doran went 5 innings and allowed 3 runs (all in the 1st) on 6 hits, walked 2, and struck out 3. Philip Humber struck out 2 in 2 perfect frames. Wade LeBlanc allowed a hit and a walk in a scoreless 8th, and Hector Ambriz gave up a solo homer to Brandon Hicks in the 9th, but was able to close it out. In game 3, Jake Buchanan will face Rafael Montero. First pitch is at 7:05 Pacific. Corpus Christi 3, Arkansas 2 in 11 innings The Hooks clawed their way back into the game and walked off with a win in the series opener. Literally. Michael Burgess drew a bases-loaded walk in the 11th for the win. Down 2-0, Raoul Torrez put the Hooks on the board with a solo homer (3) in the 7th. Domingo Santana hit a 1-out single in the 9th, advanced to 2nd on a Matt Duffy single, and scored the tying run on a single from Erik Castro. Max Stassi finished 2-5 in this extra-inning tilt. Ross Seaton threw 6 2/3 innings and allowed 2 runs on 7 hits, walked 1, and struck out 3. Carlos Quevedo inherited a bases-loaded situation; he got a strikeout to get out of the 7th. He got 2 outs in the 8th and allowed a hit and fanned one more. Pat Urckfitz retired all 4 Travelers he faced, striking out 1. Jonas Dufek got the win with 2 scoreless, allowing 2 hits and striking out 4. David Rollins will be on the mound for the middle game of the series. He'll be taking on Brandon Hynick at 7:05. High Desert 30, Lancaster 8 Pass. Here's the link to the box score. Kyle Smith will look to have a better 2nd start as he takes on Matt Anderson in the middle game of this series. To have your first 2 starts with your new organization take place in the two biggest hitter's parks in pro baseball... oh boy. First pitch is at 6:05 Pacific. Quad Cities 7, Clinton 3 The River Bandits jumped all over the LumberKings early as they took the series. Tony Kemp led off the 1st with a single and eventually scored on a Danry Vasquez single. In the 2nd, Brian Blasik hit a 2-run double, and he would score on a Teoscar Hernandez single. Blasik singled in the 4th, and ended up scoring on a 2-run homer hit by Kemp (1, 2 season). Carlos Correa went solo (8) later in the inning. Kemp, Hernandez, and Blasik had 2 hits each. Chris Devenski had a bare minimum quality start, allowing 11 hits, walking 1, and striking out 5. Jamaine Cotton threw 3 perfect innings to close it out, striking out 1. Quad Cities welcomes Wisconsin to Modern Woodmen Park for 3 beginning tonight at 7:00. Joe Bircher will face Tyler Wagner in the opener. Tri-City 10, Jamestown 4 The ValleyCats put up 5 after stretch time to blow what was a 5-4 game wide open. Down 2-0 in the 3rd, Jack Mayfield led off the inning with a double, and D'Andre Toney brought him home with a double. Later in the inning, Tyler White put the ValleyCats in the lead with a 2-run homer (1, 4 season). In the 4th, Mayfield hit another double. This one brought home Ronnie Mitchell. Mayfield advanced to 3rd on an error that was committed on the play and wound up scoring on a wild pitch. James Ramsay led off the big 7th with a single, and then he stole 2nd (4). Tyler White singled, and then Conrad Gregor hit an RBI double. Mike Martinez followed with a 3-run homer (7) off of Andy Otamendi. Mayfield capped off the inning with a solo homer (1, 4 season). He finished 3-4 with 3 runs scored. Gregor was 3-5. White went 2-5 with 2 runs scored. Chris Cotton went 4 innings and allowed 2 runs on 9 hits, walked 1, and struck out 2. Charles Basford allowed a run on 2 hits and fanned 1 in the 5th. Richard Rodriguez allowed a run on a hit (not a homer) and struck out 2 in 2 innings. Andrew Walter struck out 2 in 2 perfect innings to end it. In the middle game of this series, Randall Fant will face Isaac Sanchez. First pitch is at 7:00 Eastern. Kingsport 6, Greeneville 2 The K-Mets scored 6 unanswered to take the opener. Chase McDonald's 2-run double in the 4th constituted Greeneville's only runs of the night. Chris Lee went 4 innings and allowed a run on 4 hits, walked 4, and struck out 3. Chris Munnelly walked 1 and struck out 5 over 3 scoreless frames. Krishawn Holley let the game get away, as he gave up 5 runs (3 earned) on 5 hits, walked 1, and struck out 2. Jandel Gustave will take on Andrew Massie in the middle game of this series. First pitch is at 6:00 Eastern. Game 1: GCL Braves 5, GCL Astros 4 The GCLstros had a 4-run 5th, but that wasn't enough. The 4 runs came on a 2-run single from Luis Reynoso, an RBI single from Javaris Reynolds, and an RBI groundout by Jean Carlos Batista. Jose Solano was 2-3 with a double. Francis Ramirez went 3 2/3 and allowed 5 runs on 4 hits, walked 4, and struck out 4. Devonte German allowed 2 hits and fanned 2 over 2 1/3 scoreless. Game 2: GCL Astros 5, GCL Braves 2 This time, a 4-run 6th allowed the Kissimmee Stros to take control. Reynoso hit a sac fly in the 2nd to put them on the board. Mesac Laguna hit a 2-run double in the 6th to put them ahead. He scored as Luis De La Rosa hit into a fielder's choice. Reynoso scored on a passed ball. Zach Dando went 4 innings and allowed 2 runs on 2 hits, walked 2, and struck out 3. Juan Carlos Santos allowed 2 hits and struck out 2 over 3 scoreless frames. DSL Red Sox 2, DSL Astros 0 The Academy was held to 5 hits as they got blanked. Brauly Mejia was 2-4. Gerardo Juarez went 5 innings and allowed 2 runs on 5 hits and struck out 2. Rayderson Chevalier allowed 3 hits, walked 3, and struck out 2 over 2 2/3 scoreless. Robert Corniel struck out the only batter he faced to end the 8th.
Here's a question I was debating with a friend earlier this week: If you could guarantee that Mark Appel could have Shane Reynolds' major league career-no better, no worse-would you take it?
Maybe they're waiting for George to struggle to see how he handles it. He's been hitting .182 in his last 10 games.
I'd take it. Plenty of #1 picks don't do squat in the majors. Pitchers have an even worse track record due to injuries. Sure, right now we're all expecting him to be much much better than Shane was, but it's simply that unpredictable when it comes to baseball prospect's development.
Maybe... but I don't see how that makes a difference one way or the other. He's going to struggle at some point in the majors, which requires much different level of adjustment than struggling at the minors does. Also, if he never struggled in AAA, would they keep him there forever till he does? He was going to slow down at some point after his torrid start.
