When is the last time a Houston sports team has been bad for so long? Oilers of the early 80s? When it is another team suffering, it is easier to like them, because you are winning against them, and you kind of feel bad for them (unless they are the Cubs). I don't want to assume Cosart said anything. Ever since he made those stupid comments on Twitter, he has been much better publicly.
I know. How dare they bring in someone in whom they've invested 6.5mil for a bullpen session on his way to AA. THE HORROR!!!!
Bobby Boyd is currently 2nd in the New York-Penn League with a .352 average. His .415 OBP is 3rd, behind A.J. Reed and Rowan Wick, who have both been promoted. Nick Tanielu, who went 3-4 with 3 doubles and 3 RBI yesterday, is 5th at .321.
Why is it such a big deal that Appel is throwing a BP session at MMP? I'm not seeing the problem. Appel's promotion is a product of scenery change. There are Astros personnel within Texas (Nolan Ryan, Strom, Ruby) that can help the kid. Hader is not getting worse by staying in Lancaster a few more weeks. It's not inconceivable for Hader to move past Appel and be in OKC by the end of the season. Players need to shut up and focus on improving themselves.
It's not a big deal at all. Apparently one or two players on the MLB team have some pretty immature opinions, and the Chronicle's dedicated itself to criticizing the organization. In an alternate reality, the Astros keep Appel in Lancaster and the Chronicle criticizes them for not making all possible resources available to the struggling prospect.
It was a non-story that got blown out of proportion by the Chronicle. I guess some players want the clubhouse to be "sacred" and reserved for those who have truly earned their place there (even though half the roster should not be worthy of being on an MLB team right now). That being said, I doubt the players wanted this to go public as it has (otherwise they would have gone on record). I also don't like Bo Porter's stance on this whole thing (then again, my expectation for Porter being a competent manager are virtually zero). Hader is only 20 years old, and the Astros have to figure out what they have with a few more pitching prospects before its his time. He's not going to help his cause by going public with comments... but I do like his competitiveness.
Par for the course with JJO -- he's played this game for years. Realistically, I think there are two different elements at play here. There's the promotion to AA, and Appel's 15-minute long-toss session with Strom at 9 a.m. on a Sunday morning at MMP. I could see a couple of somewhat insecure young guys being mildly annoyed at the promotion after a 9.74 ERA, which of course Ortiz blows out of proportion and makes appear more representative (and deeper) than it is. But the whole idea of MMP as a sacred ground that non-big-leaguers shouldn't be able to even breathe... that's one of the dumbest things I've ever heard. Top prospects come in for BP/bullpen sessions all the time -- Fisher and Reed did just last month after signing. Of course the top guys in the organization are going to want to meet with elite prospects in person from time to time and keep tabs on how they're doing. It's common sense. I've spent some time as a reporter in MLB clubhouses and have seen it happen first-hand, though I don't have links because it was always a non-story. The most bizarre part of all of this was Brian Smith's rant about "Twitter talking heads" and speaking as some ultimate voice of MLB media authority. ("Simply getting in the clubhouse is a dream. Appel doesn't belong at MMP yet. Astros players, coaches know that. So does any semi-intelligent media person who's ever covered baseball, from low A to MLB.") Uh, T, you were an MLB beat writer for 4.5 months of one season. I'd tone it down and defer to folks like Keith Law and Alyson Footer just a wee bit more. The Chron really should be embarrassed by their handling of this.
The promotion to AA is a thornier issue, but casual fans should realize that minor league pitching development is more art than science. It's just not the case that simply having a low ERA will get you promoted and having a high ERA will keep you down. That's especially true for a guy like Appel, whose "stuff" continually looks good but needs mechanical adjustments. Presumably the pitching staff is more advanced at higher levels; it makes sense to get him out of Lancaster and up with a new pitching staff. The problem is the message that seemingly random promotions send to other minor leaguers. That's an issue that all organizations deal with, though, and it's the role of minor league coaches to keep their players focused only on things they can control.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Quick-learning <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Astros?src=hash">#Astros</a> third-round pick <a href="https://twitter.com/JDDavis26">@JDDavis26</a> has swiftly picked up the pace at the plate with <a href="https://twitter.com/QCRiverBandits">@qcriverbandits</a>. <a href="http://t.co/K7rcoojimc">http://t.co/K7rcoojimc</a></p>— MiLB.com (@MiLB) <a href="https://twitter.com/MiLB/statuses/493601676566085633">July 28, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Some players in the Astros clubhouse need to grow a pair. If you have such a problem with it, don't be such a sissy and put your name with the quote.
Brett Phillips led off today's Quad Cities game with a homer, his 10th. It's his 3rd straight game with a home run. Also, A.J. Reed and Ryan Bottger are making their River Bandits debuts.
I know there are concerns about his bat speed, that his power wouldn't translate and that he doesn't have a defensive position..... but Reed has been a hitting machine since high school... Have to feel good about him right now.
I can't for the life of me see how he slipped all the way to the 42nd pick. 4 year college player, and 2nd round pick succeeding at low-A, I know why he is still not a top 100 guy, but I will be very surprised if he's still not a top 100 prospect after next season.
PLEASE PROMOTE BRETT PHILLIPS! Really would like him to stick with Correa and Ruiz so they can all come up at the same time.
