Maybe he wants to save his knees and still get ABs? IIRC the Astros don’t let their minor league catchers catch all of the games for their team. For their off days they can DH or play in the field.
The Astros like their prospects to get experience at multiple positions. But that usually doesn’t apply to top guys they expect to stick at catcher. It could be they’re just now extending that philosophy even to catchers. Or it could be that he has shown to be such a dominant hitter that they want to rush him to the majors and extend his career, so they are moving him to less demanding positions. So those are the two optimistic takes. The pessimistic (and probably more likely) take is that he doesn’t appear capable of being a good enough defensive catcher that they’re moving him.
I would not read too much into this. They want his bat in the line up and want to limit wear and tear on his knees behind the plate. Lee already was playing some outfield and 1st base for the Astros A- affiliate before the pandemic. He also played a little around the diamond in high school and even college. Lee is staying behind the plate..... he has a 70/80 arm, he is throwing low 90's from his knees to second base and he is a well above average athlete behind the plate with quick feet.
Between Santos and Daniels, I don't think it's possible to have a hotter start to a draft class that didn't have its first 2 picks than Houston is having. Santos and Daniels haven't played an official pro inning and both are getting massive hype.
I spent 10 minutes digging and could not find any clarity on how suspensions were affected by the shortened season. The only tidbit I saw was a tweet from one of the Astros' beat writers mentioning that Martes would be "out for most of the season". If that's accurate I assume it means that only the games in the shortened season count toward suspensions, in which case Martes would be out until August/September (roughly 100 games), and Emanuel would be back in June(ish). Neither player will occupy a 40 man spot in the meantime.
What about the report that players who were suspended 80 games had their entire suspension wiped? Is the 2020 season agreement itself not publicly available? Hard to find the actual document on Google.
There was no agreement for regular season. The players rejected the last proposal out of principle even though the proposal had some pro player elements. Instead, the MLB started season without player consent and all the pro players stuff offered was gone except a last minute agreement on playoff money.
Interesting list from an Astros fan prospect site I liked Bellozo at #30. I'm not sure if he will be anything as he is still young and only played a lower levels, but his strikeout numbers while limiting walks is worth a follow to see what he does against higher level hitters. Plus, he hasn't given up a homer yet.
Bellozo was left off the instructs roster, I took that as a bad sign. But his 2019 numbers certainly made him one to follow.
I didn't realize he was left off the instructs roster. 2020 sucked and here's to hoping he was left off the roster for a minor reason that doesn't affect his long term development significantly.
Yep. Maybe should have been before this weekend's news. I'm still very pro-Garcia versus the public rankings. He throws either his fastball or cutter up in the zone for strikes and everything else will play off it.
Some decent notes in there, Callis seems to have good intel into instructs. Things I noted: Leon has the talent of a Top 10 pick. Every pitching prospect except Santos projects as a reliever lol Lorenzo held his own in US instructs. If he starts in full season he will jump up my lists. Jones is adequate at 3B. If he can play OF and 3B his value gets a lot higher since it takes pressure off his bat. Joe Perez is in good shape. Def a sleeper.
I am sure not many will agree with me, but having seen some of these kids play in person and on video, I think this group of players are going to exceed commercial publication expectations. There are no sure fire top 10 prospects but a handful of these players have that type of potential and some of our prospects are close to blossoming. I am seldom viewed as an optimist but I think when it is all said and done this class will be close to the top.
