2014 Astros Minor League Thread v2.0

Does Hader miss bats?

 

He's striking out about 10 per 9, so he's certainly missing a lot.

 

Luhnow said this week in a pregame interview that the impetus for the Doran/Robinson/Sogard trades were to create room for promotions (Shirley already in AAA, he mentioned Hader and Brady Rogers by name) and also for 40-man/Rule V reasons.

 

Well then I am certainly excited.

We have some good arms in the system.

 

Just read that Appel had a cortisone shot in his wrist

Suppose this is good news, maybe a minor wrist issue has affected his performance

 

With Dan Gulbransen retiring after tonight's game, I would not be surprised at all to see Brett Phillips promoted to take his spot in Lancaster. He wasn't in the QC lineup tonight...

 

If he's having over-use injuries (which tendinitis is), I wonder why he's continuing to pitch on regular rest?

It does explain why he's pretty much throwing nothing but fastballs... with poor location despite the velocity being ok still.

So, we have appendectomy, thumb, and now wrist... mixed in with lack of conditioning, pitching in a hitters haven, and questions as to his drive/desire to improve.

I wish there was a reset button that he could push for this year... rest/get better/get conditioned... and start off at AA fresh.

 

I think I'd use a reset button to just draft Kris Bryant.

 

Or just not sign Appel and then with the extra pick/money this year they wouldn't have to be trying to "game" the system with this year's picks. :grin:

 

In other 2014 draftee news:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>In <a href="https://twitter.com/ValleyCats">@ValleyCats</a> roster news, 3B JD Davis was promoted to Quad Cities. After 30 games with Tri-City he had batted .279 with five HR.</p>&mdash; Laura Amato (@LauraAmato) <a href="https://twitter.com/LauraAmato/statuses/489059452780552192">July 15, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

Really excited to see this. Reed has also been on a great 10 game run, and hopefully will be called up soon. These two power bats are fantastic additions to the organization.

 

Has anyone heard anything about a Hader-to-CC bump?

 

So Mark Appel turned 23 today

 

It seems Lancaster might have been holding Tony Kemp back LOL

I understand scouts don't love him, but a speedy 2nd baseman that has an OPS over .900 certainly has my attention. Not that expect to stay at that level, but still.

 

mlb.com sure do. they took singleton off the prospect list and rated kemp number 20 on our list.

 

Scouts can get so caught up in what a player can't do. When Keith Law had him brought up in chat, he just dismissed him as being part of the Lancaster effect. To me that is ignoring him as a prospect, as what makes him good is not subject to a large Lancaster effect. He walks at a good rate, while striking out at a low rate. If you can post a double digit walk rate, and a single digit K rate, you will play in the major leagues.

 

http://www.minorleagueball.com/2014...p-75-prospects-mid-season-update-2014-sickels

Good News:

#2 Prospect in all of baseball - Carlos Correa! (Above Buxton)

Bad News:

#1 Prospect in all of baseball - Kris Bryant

 

Nottingham is starting to hit a little bit. That's encouraging.

 

Appel allowed 1 run in the first (triple and sac fly). He also struck out 2 batters

 

Only 1 run in a inning? He's getting better.