On Perez- why not both? Plenty of high upside arms have gotten their feet wet in the majors as bullpen arms down the stretch before being starters the next year. We have a ridiculous assortment of starting pitchers right now in the organization, but as someone who is extremely bearish on Paulino and Martes, and fully expecting JV, Keuchel and Morton to be in their last .5-1.5 years in the organization, and who doesn't expect to see LMJ get extended you just almost have to have Perez hit for 2020 and beyond. I mean, 2020 is basically LMJ (nearing the end of his deal) and Peacock who are under club control, and then likely Whitley and a few other guys. But TNSTAAPP, so I just don't see how Perez isn't in the FO long term plans as a starter.
GCL starting lineup 1. Freudis Nova (SS) 2. Wilyer Abreu (CF) 3. Joe Perez (3B) 4. Patrick Mathis (RF) 5. Yeuris Ramirez (1B) 6. Hector Martinez (LF) 7. Nathan Perry (C) 8. César Cortez (DH) 9. Yorbin Ceuta (2B) P: Angel Macuare
They have Perez starting at 3B, that's unexpected. I guess he's fully recovered, good to see. The organization certainly saw something in him as a hitter that a lot of teams didn't.
I think he is a better hitter than Tucker. Tucker has gotten a lot of run on his Teddy like swing, but Alvarez has some good Periphs that have been largely ignored by the masses. He may make the team before Tucker.
Forrest Whitley and Josh James pitching tonight for CC and Fresno. Who has the better performance tonight?
https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/daily-prospect-notes-6-18/ Couple of notes on Alvarez basically saying he's big and a great hitter.
There are only 14 draftees on the organzational rosters right now. Not sure how it's looked in years past but that seems crazy low to me.
Alvarez hits a ton of Oppo Jacks for a kid his age. Power is unreal and will only increase as he gets older. It may be time to start wondering what we could get for AJ Reed and Derek Fisher.
I imagine there's some recognition that if you put a guy in the pen, there's a chance you'll never take him out of it. I don't think the Astros really intended on Devo being a pure reliever when they called him up. They just needed an arm at the time, and he became so valuable in his role he hasn't been to the minors since. Rosenthal was like that for the Cardinals and Hader for the Brewers. There's a pretty solid chance Perez won't be ready to be in the rotation opening day of 2019, so if he comes up and makes an impact in 2018, you have to wonder how you justify expending the resources to add a lefty reliever in the offseason, when you've got a perfectly viable option on the roster, as well as plenty of starting pitching depth.
Pennies on the dollar at this point. Once a player fails their first chance in the majors their value immediately depreciates immensely. I know if I were a rebuilding team, I would be blowing the Astros up right now to try and get some of these blocked AAA players.
Julio Robaina, the youngest player on the GCL Astros roster, allowed a hit, walked one, and struck out four in three scoreless innings of work.
Whitley's night is dine. Another 4 innings and 7 strikeouts. Lots of pitches over 4 innings in each start, probably not as sharp as he wants to be but the stuff is so good he still puts up numbers. Hopefully next start he can make it into the 5th
