I think he's referring to this being the 2nd time he has had TJ surgery. He had it back in 2019. Real shame, because he was looking really promising
I think a lot of our guys had raw ability that needed playing time and development. Joe Perez had huge raw power and a cannon at 3B, it was just a matter of if he'd hit enough. He's gotten himself in great shape last off-season and the dedication is paying off. Same thing with Korey Lee. Had a lot of raw talent, power, arm strength, just needed the playing time to cement his status since he wasn't a full-time starter at Cal. The draft strategy seems to targeting certain high ceiling low floor guys that would flourish with the right coaching and development. Lee, Perez, Brown, McKenna, Whitcomb, Barber, all have some pretty high bust potential, but we're seeing that some are really starting to reach their potential. I think it really goes to show how good our player development process is
Agree they definitely go after some high upside, low floor players but it’s pretty evident they’ve also mixed in low-upside high floor guys too. Grae Kessinger was a clear higher floor, lower ceiling guy. Their draft strategy has been relatively balanced in my opinion. There have been much more extreme drafting strategies than Houston’s. They’ve also benefitted a lot from having a good player development system, for both low floor and higher floor guys.
Bregman is an MVP caliber player when healthy so there’s no way Toro could ever make him expendable. But Toro is certainly softening the blow of losing Bregman and Toro is making the case that he’s an everyday caliber major leaguer. It would not surprise me if Toro settled in as a 110-120 wRC+ bat with very good defense at 3B. That’s worth 2-4 wins per year and a really valuable player. I am hoping they hang on to Toro and deploy him as a super sub across 3B, 2B, 1B, LF, and RF over the next 5 years. But if they trade him they’d better get a really really good player back in return. For now I think Toro is more valuable than Joe Perez but it’s close. Perez has really, really high upside, as he has a 70 grade arm and 70 grade raw power. His ultimate ceiling would be a 30+ HR bat with great 3B defense; that’s a 3-6 win player depending on how many strikeouts come with it.
I'm surprised they haven't jettisoned Robel from the 40 man and have Toro fill that role so they can add another long-reliever/spot starter to the 40 man.
Saw from a verified account yesterday (blanking on who) that the Astros are considering changing the Skeeters name, colors, brand etc. to be something more space themed. This right after I buy my first Skeeters cap, of course.
If they’re going to do it, might as well do it now… before the Skeeters become an entrenched institution that generations grew up watching
