I've kind of assumed that he's Taylor Jones insurance. He doesn't have to go on the 40 until they need him, and he's got plenty of options.
His Steamer projection is weird as he's projected to be an above average MLB hitter. I'm guessing they are weighting his Cuban data as he doesn't have many stateside plate appearances.
TIL we have a prospect named Sprinkle. His K rate is definitely intriguing, almost as much as his name.
Astros currently have 7 of the top 90 qualified hitters in wRC+: 13 Barefoot 19 McKenna 30 Perez 36 Gonzalez 57 Schreiber 77 Matijevic 83 Costes
Korey Lee hit his 2nd home run in AA... a grand slam Francis Martes is getting destroyed in AAA. Here is his line tonight... 0.2 IP, 5 H, 7 ER, 2 BB Wrapped his appeareanc up by giving up a grand slam His ERA is now 24.30 and has been trash in all 4 appearances
So, we got any other prospects who can go from A ball to the majors like Garcia did? I still blows my mind how that can happen.
Throwing out 50% of attempted steals. Known for his plus arm behind the plate, just needs to refine blocking/receiving/footwork like all young catchers since he didn't catch full time in college.
SS Deury Carrasco was added to the High A roster. He hit a HR in his first full season pa. He was a sleeper prospect a couple years ago as a capable middle infielder with very good speed. But he failed to progress and was downright awful in short season A ball in 2019. He is still only 21.
I've been feeling better about the Astros depth in the minors. Jones and Garcia have been getting play because they are on the 40-man roster. Meyers is getting the shaft right now because there are already 2 maybe 2nd division CF starters in the majors. De La Cruz, he looks like he could be a 4th OF or an up and down guy. His problems are that he's a defensive corner, and he's way down the bench totem pole. May not be good enough defensively for center, but also may not have enough bat for a corner. Norel Gonzalez...Not on 40-man. He might be able to hit right now. His problems are 40-man related as well as he's behind several guys for bench OF looks and not ideal as a backup IF. If Astros didn't have so many pitchers hurt on the 40-man, he might have been given a shot this year. Matijevic and Costas they might be able to hit okay in majors, but defense likely an issue. Not expecting stars here, but I think next year should not have someone like Taylor Jones keep getting chances without producing to go along with Toro (if he can keep hitting), Diaz, McCormick, and Straw.
This fall will be judge of how the Astros (and other teams for that matter) value those guys. I agree that Houston’s AAA roster is pretty much stacked with guys who could hold their own in the majors. Papierski, Matijevic, De Goti, Dawson, Meyers, De La Cruz, hell maybe even Siri and Hinojosa…could all be viable bench players right now. So we will see which players Houston protects from the Rule 5 draft this year; I don’t see any way whatsoever Meyers, Dawson, or Papierski would pass thru again.
I don't think every team values these type of players as much as they should. Angels seem to always have a huge amount of negative WAR. Sure, you get a lot of duds, but they aren't usually as bad as Jones has been, and then you try next guy. Astros problem is they still think Jones might develop and don't have 40-man roster spots to spare without giving up on someone. They seem very worried about pitching injuries which limits spots for position players.
They should be worried about pitching injuries.... Verlander, Whitley, Solis, Paredes, Baez, James, Ivey, Abreu, Emanuel, Pruitt, and Smith...... all are 40 man roster guys or 60 day IL guys
Crazy how the farm system hasn’t been highly touted the last couple of years and still produced Garcia, Urquidy, Javier, Framber along with the crown gems Tucker and Alvarez and potential quality pieces like Toro and Straw. A lot of guys outside of the top 100 list making major impact shows how hard these things are to project. If one or both of Korey Lee and Pedro Leon pan out as above average at C and CF we could be positioned to be competitive for a long time.
Idk what was going on in that game, but the final score was 24-15. Oddly enough, the box score said there was a 14 mph wind was coming in from left. Either way, it doesn't look like those were cheap HRs. He's been crazy hot, hitting 6 HRs and 4 doubles in the past week while only striking out 3 times.
I have been on Jake Meyers for awhile but he is now exceeding even my highest expectations. I am starting to think a Jackie Bradley type career is pretty reasonable for him and that a Jake Marisnick profile is no longer his ceiling but more of a 50th percentile outcome. At this point I really hope Houston doesn’t trade him unless it’s for a significant return, and if they don’t trade him they damn well better protect him from the Rule 5 this year.
To be fair the farm was pretty highly ranked when it still had Tucker and Alvarez (and when Whitley’s stock was peaking). But I agree it’s interesting how a farm ranked in the bottom 10 in the league produced 4 quality SP in a 2 year span along with a steady stream of relievers and bench players.
The ranking services have consistently proven to disproportionately value top 50 prospects. One 60 grade is worth ten 50 grades when it comes to those rankings. On top of that they are usually a little late to the party for guys that weren't highly drafted or splashy international signings. My guess is that Javier and Garcia would have been top 100 players at some point had they been allowed to progress normally through the minors in 2020.
On Javier and Garcia (and a lot of Astros pitching prospects), I think the big problem is that scouts have not adjusted with baseball. Astros tandem pitch, promote pitchers quickly, and don't worry about developing starters in the minors that can face the third time through the order. Even after facing MLB batters, people talked about Garcia's reliever risk. I tend to like the Top 100 lists, but also pay attention to K%-BB% for AA and AAA pitchers as the prospect lists adjust too slowly on guys dominating upper level bats with less than plus velocity.
