By all accounts his glove is pretty terrible, but he look OK so far. Reed is projected as being better, but neither guy is gonna win a GG. If Duffy does work his way into some regular AB's to start the season, when he plays, he should be at 1B while White or Tucker DH's.
Reed is a pretty good fielder. He has very soft hands, a strong arm and positions himself well. I think people will be surprised.
I ran into Ensberg at a Starbucks in Irving, TX back in 2007. The Astros were in town to play the Rangers, we chatted briefly while we were both in line, really nice guy who enjoyed talking baseball with a fan. I know I know, cool story bro....
Another guy who is stinking up spring training who seems to be flying under peoples radar is Stassi. Offensively, he down there in Singleton territory. But whats worse, we dont have anyone else to plug in there. Our potential 3rd guy (Gattis) is hurt and probably cant handle 60 games at C anyway. Think the brass has a trade laying in waiting? God help us if something happens to Castro for we will be in a world of hurt.
They can survive with sub-par production at the plate from the backup C (provided he's doing a serviceable job behind the plate).... but they can't survive with poor production at C, DH AND 1B.
Agreed. I am not too worried about 1B cause there are so many guys hitting well who can play there. We might be thin at DH until Gattis returns. Probably DH by committee until then.
I'd caution the optimism based on ST performances... yes, there are some good 1B options, but at the end of the day they all may or may not out-slug Carter, who's inconsistent performance (along with DH and C) almost cost this team a playoff spot (along with the stretch run bullpen implosion). On the flip side, when Carter was on... it was at times single-handedly keeping this offense afloat. In the end, I feel they'll find some sort of consistent production out of 1B and DH (and its unlikely to all come from just 2 guys... I expect Marwin and Valbuena to step up there as needed too), which is why I'm less concerned about offense from C.
Stassi has 3 Ks in 13ABs, while Singleton has 8 in 16. Personally, I'm not expecting Stassi to matter and have hoped that Gattis will become the backup C.
Stassi tends to blow hot and cold. It is a good observation, but as long as he is healthy, motivated and playing his position well (he is as good or better than Castro at that part of the game) I am fine with him.
The Astros traded Hank Conger for cash considerations (a large amount of cash considerations, I hope) seemingly because he was a defensive liability. We also put a AA catcher (Alfredo Gonzalez) on the 40-man roster to protect him in the Rule 5 draft. I seriously doubt this team is going to actually put Evan Gattis behind the plate.
Why? He was pretty proficient at throwing out runners for the Braves. He has been much better than Conger was last year. Luhnow said during a broadcast this week that he is hoping Gattis will be able to do some Catching for the team this year
If I'm Hinch, I gotta figure out a way to get Marwin in the lineup every day. He has turned himself into a good player.
Looking at Valbuena vs RHP: Spoiler And then Marwin vs LHP: Spoiler You have yourself a decent platoon. I think the flexibility of Marwin is what makes a good team much better. He should be on the field against all lefties and as a replacement for off days for the other guys. I am as much of a Marwin fan as anyone else, but keeping him in the utility role is perfect. The only other at bats that we could find for him would be first base, and that will be hopefully a hodge podge of Reed/White IMO. If the winner for first is White to start the year, you've got to think he has the advantage against lefties over any of his competition: Spoiler And yes, all numbers are 2015 and smaller sample size, but it was what made the most sense to show.
Singleton has looked awful, but there is zero reason to cut him. He still has options, send him to AAA/
