2015 Astros Minor League Thread

I'm at the point with Appel that I no longer view him as a top prospect, he's been reduced to prospect. I put him down with guys like Feliz who may end up being good pitchers, but I don't really have an expectation.

At this point I can say with great confidence it was a bad pick. He may still end up being a solid big league pitcher, but not great. I was giving benefit of the doubt because of the injury and the comical effects of Lancaster, but the simple fact is that almost no great pitchers struggle this much at any point in the minors, regardless of circumstance once they are this far along in their development.

One problem with our farm is a lack of elite prospects, aside from the beast. Having said that with guys like Phillips, Fisher and 2 top picks we could have a few guys elevated to near elite status by years end, just not now. Even though Luhnow may have misfired on this pick, his success rate is still extremely high.

 

Looking for the link, but I remember reading something this week where a reporter mentioned something about Appel having an "easy to time" delivery which makes his 90+ MPH fastball easier to hit.

 

A quick snapshot of some of the breakout minor league performers ....

100 ABs and > 0.800 OPS

1.056 Jon Singleton
1.045 Domingo Santana
0.931 LJ Hoes

1.185 Carlos Correa
0.933 Tyler White
0.851 Tony Kemp
0.819 Jiovanni Mier
0.801 Telvin Nash

1.007 A.J. Reed
0.933 Brett Phillips
0.850 Danry Vasquez
0.827 J.D. Davis
0.821 David Mayfield

0.937 Derek Fisher
0.904 Jacob Nottingham
0.876 Mott Hyde
0.867 Sean McMullen
0.810 Jamie Ritchie


10 IPs and < 1 WIP

0.733 Tyson Perez
0.857 Richard Rodriguez

0.882 Chris Devenski
0.897 Lance McCullers
0.983 Travis Ballew

0.923 Brian Holmes

0.438 Akeem Bostick
0.750 Reymin Guduan
0.879 Keegan Yuhl
0.896 Joseph Musgrove
0.909 Bryan Radziewski

I bolded the top 30 propects.

 

Man, AJ Reed is starting to stack dem digits. Started 2-20, since then he is slashing .331/.430/.685 for a cool 1.115 OPS. His road OPS is actually better than his home OPS, the dude can flat out rake.

He just turned 22, and I imagine him and Conrad Gregor will both move up the ladder once something is done with Singleton. If he tears it up in Corpus you have to start considering him as a huge prospect even if the scouts never do. For some reason they have a real obsession with athleticism.

The rule 5 crunch is gonna get worse before it gets better now that Luhnow's draft picks are reaching that time. Some kind of talent consolidating moves are gonna have to happen, maybe even prospect for prospect trades.

 

Athleticism is important. It is hard enough to make majors, much less depending on bat solely. Reed also has the problem of not having a very loose swing that may make him vulnerable to consistent breaking balls.

Basically, if he can hit in AA, he should shoot up prospect lists.

 

It would not surprise me for Akeem to jump into top 30. He's not the typical pitcher in minors I follow. He gets weak contact on two seamer. Suspect Astros try to teach him cutter and try to improve slider.

Thinking he projects as long reliever or BoR starter.

 

The main complaint about Reed is a lack of bat speed.

Having said that, he has hit at literally every level he has played.

 

White needs to be promoted.... Consistent with an OBP of over .500 and a real student of the game.

 

He was expected to hit at every level he has played at. Slow bat speed and a mechanical swing both result in fears of him having trouble against advanced pitching.

I expect he'll be in CC soon, but it may be slow going after that even if he is raking.

 

Yeah, our depth is getting out of control, and that's a great thing to see. You're 100% correct--we need to move pieces just so we don't end up losing these players, a la DDJ. We really have the depth to make some high impact trades, and the payroll flexibility to retain those players.

Sidenote: I'm very excited for our haul this upcoming draft. Excited to see whom Luhnow reels in.

 

About time he got the call. That Quad Cities team has taken quite a hit with all the promotions

 

"I'll cut your pitcher's heart out with a baseball bat!"

"Yes but...why a baseball bat?"

"Because it's DULL, you TWIT! It'll hurt more!"

 

2-3 with a 2B, HR, and a BB today

guess who (Not Correa)

 

Homer is off a lefty also, **** am i ever going to be able to edit posts.

 

Who are you talking about?

 

Singleton

 

Did you donate to the tip jar?

 

I can lol did not know