If Valdez crosses the 200 pa threshold in AAA and has a 950+ ops, then I would agree that he would definitely deserve to play in the majors, because at that point he would project to be a really really good MLB hitter. That said, it doesn’t always work out that way because not all players can just be shuffled in and out of the minors. Both Dubon and Diaz are out of options, so forcing giving Valdez a shot would mean one of those guys would be lost forever. It makes a lot more sense to let Valdez continue to rake in the minors, having him as a potential injury replacement this season and setting him up to compete to take Aledmys Diaz’s roster spot next season. Either way, it’s too early to say he is forcing himself onto the big league roster.
There is really nothing left for Lee to do in Sugar Land. What he needs now is experience working with major league pitchers, and you can not do much of that in the minor leagues. Brown will have to be on the roster at seasons end but is probably not called up before sometime next year.
Don't forget that Valdez is not on the 40 man so a roster spot would need to be traded, DFA'd or moved to 60 day IL in order to move him up.
Lefties LOVE the ball down and driving it to the opposite field, especially off of RHP. They get a clean view out of the pitcher's hand and get an extra millisecond to let the ball travel into the hitting zone.
Only 70 20 year olds have pitched 40+ innings in AA in a season since 2006 across all 30 MLB organizations. The track record of those guys bodes pretty well for Melendez. If you filter that list for guys that did that while k’ing >30% of batters faced it leaves only 6 guys in 16 seasons (Phil Hughes, Syndergaard, Deivi Garcia, Simeon Woods-Richardson, Tim Collins, and Melendez). Melendez is in some rare air being so young and having success in AA. https://www.fangraphs.com/prospects/the-board-scouting-and-stats?pos=all&level=2&lg=2,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,14,12,13,15,16,17,18,30,32,33&stats=pit&qual=40&type=1&team=&season=2006&seasonEnd=2022&org=&ind=0&splitTeam=true&players=&sort=26,1&pg=0&filter=Age|eq|20,K%|gt|0.3
Dubon will be the utility guy. Right now, I hope they find out if JJ's the 1st basement of the future.
Kenedy Corona led off the bottom of the 1st of Asheville's game with his 13th (4 with Asheville) home run of the season. Corona went hitless in his first two games with the Tourists and now he's on a 10-game hitting streak. The Tourists are not having a great time as they're down 8-2 in the 6th. C.J. Stubbs also homered (7).
Carlos Calderon vs. Carolina: 5 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 5 K One of the hits he allowed was a solo homer and one of the runs was an inherited runner that scored.
Yainer Diaz just hit a three-run homer for Sugar Land. He's got 12 (3 with the Space Cowboys) this season.
Woah. Has anyone seen Jaime Melendez delivery yet? I can’t post for some reason. 95-96mph.... It would not surprise me if he beat Whitley to Big League Squad.
Corey Julks hit his 17th HR of the year. Starting May 1st he’s put up almost 200 pa of excellent production in AAA. He is a solid corner OF who can handle 3B and CF in a pinch and may eventually be really good at 3B. He also has value on the base paths. He is looking like he will be a solid MLB bench player and has ceiling for more. A 3B/RF who can hit 25+ HR and steal 15+ bases over a full season carries a lot of value.
Was 90 mph in 2019 when he started in Astros system. Missed 2020 and last year was sitting 92-93. Has velocity up to 93-96 now and very high K rate.
