One of the Zachary Levine articles that was posted a while back said, essentially, that it was painful to watch Martinez in the outfield, and that they would put him at first if at all possible and if the the chronic tendinitis in his knees ever got any better - essentially that he looks like a first baseman playing the OF. You usually only place that sort of defensive liability in LF. I don't know, therefore, that the status of Pence is really relevant to Martinez.
Because that bozo has a chance to actually matter, more so than a majority of player on the major league level.
But we did have an injury at 1st and Shelton still wasn't called up. It was Chris Johnson who was. And we have multiple guys who could slide into 1st base if there was an injury (not good ones but the equivalent of Chris Shelton). Im pretty sure Feliz and Blum would split the time there if Lance got injured again. If we have an injury at first or third, i think that Johnson gets the call (as we saw before). If we have an injury at second or short Navarro or Maysonette. If we have an outfield injury Jason B or Brian B get called up. Catcher is Castro. So it doesnt seem like to me that he's even on their radar as a backup, he seems like he's just a placeholder at AAA for first base.
Tri-City started play last night. Kvasnicka hit a HR on the first pitch he faced as a pro. He went 2-for-4 and also hit a 2B. Recap: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/...id=11344304&vkey=news_t577&fext=.jsp&sid=t577 Box: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/...d=t577&t=g_box&gid=2010_06_18_conasx_trcasx_1
To be clear, I know neither about the player in question nor his stats. I wrote my previous statement simply based on the fact that he's in A-ball and is considered a prospect. If you do not sense the implication on our current major league roster, you missed the entire point of the post. So to put it in simpler terms: How people cared about our non-AAA minor league prospects while we were winning pennants every other year?
You're correct that the major league roster is in horrible shape (save for Bourn and Pence) and that definitely shifts the focus as to whats coming from the farm system. Unfortunately the Astros as we all know have a very weak farm system and so any glint of hope is magnified several times over. There is definitely some talent in the farm system, J.D. Martinez is definitely one of those talented individuals. I too have asked why he has not moved up, the fact remains is that he can hit, but lacks a true defensive position. Apparently he has problems with his knees (tendonitis) that make it difficult for him to play first base (I'd link the column from the Crawfish Boxes, but there site won't come up on my browser right now). Martinez doesn't track the ball well in the OF and doesn't have the strongest arm either. Though no one has said it, IMO this is the reason why he is still on Lexington, besides the fact that the OF is full in AAA Round Rock and AA Corpus Christi. Prior to the 2008 draft, the Astros had very little talent in the minors. The players drafted in 2008 and 2009 are just now starting to ascend to AA and AAA, its still going to take some time for said players to make it to the show. Luckily, the minor league affiliates can be tracked and watched over at milb.com, which I would suggest if that interests you. And to answer your question, I've been following minor league ball since 1997, when the Astros drafted a first baseman out of Rice in the first round.
Lol it seems like we are very good at drafting and signing potential DHs (Martinez, Clemens, Lee). We're in the wrong league.
I really hope that he becomes a third baseman. It would be interesting to see since our scouts love his bat.
Two great pieces from a guy over at TCB (OremLK, who I believe is also a ClutchFans member): Astros Top Thirty Prospects - Midseason 2010 Astros of the Future - Midseason 2010
I was wondering about Seaton, I thought the guy was right there with Lyles when they got drafted. The draft is truly about hits and misses, you never know which one of these guys will be the "GUY".
Astros call up Castro, Bourgeois, and Chris Johnson. Send down Cash and Daigle. per Ed Wade on the post-game show. Hopefully all three will get plenty of at bats.
