Ryan Gusto made his pro debut in the GCL. Gave up a lead off double, then set down the next 6 batters including 3 Ks on his way to 2 scoreless innings.
Joe Perez just homered again. He now has six on the year for Tri-City, which puts him in a tie for the team lead with Nate Perry.
Wow, he’s hot. Kid’s got power, and as he gets further away from his injury I can envision him blowing up. Big opportunity in QC next season.
Quad Cities roster could be absolutely stacked next season depending on how aggressively they promote: C K Lee 1st rd pick 1B Perry 5th rd pick; 140 wRC+ in low A 2B Santana main return in Davis trade; 11% k rate in low A SS Nova Org #3 prospect according to mlb.com 3B Perez 2nd rd pick; leading TC in HR OF Brewer 3rd rd pick OF McKenna 4th rd pick OF Guerrero 8th rd pick DH Biermann 122 wRC+ in low A Bench: Paulino 137 wRC+ in low A Stubbs 137 wRC+ in low A AJ Lee 130 wRC+ in low A Barefoot 6th rd pick And that assumes Kessinger (2nd rd pick) is promoted to high A to start next season.
I’m pretty interested in how Kent Emanuel looks tonight. In his 6 July appearances, he’s thrown 29.1 IP with only 1 ER, 6 bb, and 23 k. If he’s able to finish the season with 60 stellar innings, his Rule 5 case will be one to watch.
Toro had 5 hits last night, at .417/1.058, albeit a tiny sample w/ 24ABs. He had 16HRs at AA, and he's only 22. If this keeps up, the Astros have another 1B candidate IMO if Alvarez doesn't work out there, which is probable. Given all the LH hitters in the game today, I certainly like the idea of 3B converting to 1B than the other way around. There certainly isn't room for him anywhere else, and other than catcher (which he ironically briefly played) they don't have any significant reason to trade him over the next two seasons. On a related note, they really didn't have a place for Beer with Alvarez on the team. Toro's profile fits perfectly.
Agree, Toro projects as a very good replacement for Gurriel at 1B. I believe over time he would be an excellent defender there. He will hit for more power and walk more than Gurriel, although he will probably strikeout quite a bit more than Gurriel does.
It's pretty clear the Astros really don't like Alvarez as a 1B. If Beer kept hitting the Astros wouldn't have had any issues finding him PA's next season with plans to replace Yuli in 21. I think more than anything Yuli's resurgence made the Astros more willing to part with him.
More power than Super Saiyan Yuli? I think Toro projects as a similar power profile, 18-25 homers a year
Beer has all the physical tools to be a very good defensive first baseman. He is a very good athlete, but quite slow. He has soft hands and good reflexes. Had he kept hitting he would have wound up at 1st for the Astros. Torro also has the attributes to be good at first and his bat is progressing well.
I’m comparing across Gurriels whole mlb career; his HR totals have been 3, 18, and 13 prior to this season. I agree that Toro probably will hit in the 18-28 range per season, which I consider to be more than Gurriel. Obviously we’d all be happy with Toro coming up and becoming 2019 Yuli. I have been (happily) wrong about Gurriel his season; I thought his age was catching up and he was toast. Instead he’s having the best season of his career and has easily been one of the 10 best 1B in the league.
His 3 HR season was a partial season, and his 13 HR season, he broke his hamate (a notoriously power-sapping injury) in spring training. So I think there's reason to believe that 2017 and 2019 are more representative of Yuli's true talent level, though that may be different than what you're saying.
The level of talent Gurriel has is incredible. I often wonder what he would have become had he been in the international draft as a 17 year old.
He used to draw walks. He had a 1.5 walks to 1 strikeout ratio. His approach in the big leagues has been a little different. The player that even walks less than Gurriel is Javier Baez. At least Gurriel doesn't strikeout much...... Baez has a 6:1 strikeout to walk ratio.
Apparently 39% of MLB hitters are left handed. That's probably the #1 reason why a 1B should field just as well as a 3B in today's game, and the Astros are as usual out in front of that (Gurriel, Diaz are 3B first, while White even played SS in AAA). I just don't see Beer being able to play 3B, much less Alvarez. Toro fits the mold. I remember a hard hit ball that Diaz scooped up at 1B, and Blum or Kalas saying, 'That's the value of having a 3B at 1B'.
Not just that but with the shift so prevalent they now play way off the bag at 1b and you need decent athleticism to do that. But, I’m still of the opinion let’s not overthink this 1b is still the easiest position to play.
