Colin Moran with a couple more hits tonight. He's come back with a vengeance. Hopefully it is more than a random good streak.
Appears that Leo Heras was promoted to Fresno yesterday, or something. He's in the #9 spot and in left field.
He has very quietly been spectacular. After a slow start, he is slashing .338/.397/.474 in his last 42 games. Those 42 games have had 2 separate injuries costing him time. His slash in July is an awesome .379/.438/.561, and his slash for the year is now .299/.360/.417. He's been a forgotten prospect, but he's coming on really strong and could still be a major factor for us.
Moran by all accounts projects as a rock solid defensive 3B, which is where he is almost guaranteed to play. I'm sure he would be a spectacular 1B if he moved there for whatever reason. It opens up a potential decision next season. If Moran finishes the season strong, do the Astros consider moving Valbuena and giving the 3rd base job to Lowrie to start next season, who would compliment Moran better. Valbuena and Moran do not compliment each other whatsoever, a platoon would be tough. But that of course is only a potential issue for another day, there are still quite a few variables that could play out between now and then.
Have you seen what we have gotten from 1B? I'm assuming he meant for this season, though I think we should make a move for Lind, and platoon him with Lowrie. I think moving Valbuena is likely. He'll be a 31 year old FA after next season, and will likely see a good sized raise in last year of arbitration.
That's what I'm thinking, plus AJ Reed should be ready about the same time as Moran. With Gattis eating up all the DH AB's. We're in win mode finally, so we can't just run prospects out there and hope for the best anymore. But we also have to find some AB's to keep the prospect line flowing. Reed, Valbuena, and Moran are all lefties, and that's not to mention Lowrie.
would be interested to see what players we are at risk of losing via Rule 5 next year. gotta think that's a key part of who we're considering moving.
David Rollins is back from his suspension and finally pitching for the Mariners. He's appeared in 4 games and has a terrible ERA, though incredibly small sample of 4.1 IP.
Given that Seattle is 10.5 games back, they may be able to live with Rollins undeperformance for the rest of the season. Thus, Rollins will be a Rule V loss for the Astros.
Very glad to see Moran playing on the offensive side well. He has always projected as a top defensive 3rd baseman. Everyone is ragging the Astros for having taken Appel over Kris Bryant. But the Astros actually had Moran ahead of Bryant. There is where the true scouting ability of the Astros takes a credibility hit. But if Moran turns himself into a .775 OPS guy, I think the Astros will have been redeemed to an extent. He's one of the guys statistics I've been keeping an eye on.
I am not a huge Cespedes fan, i'd rather go after someone that can stabilize our OBP. Cespedes walks even less than Altuve.
