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2022 Astros Minor League Thread

Discussion in 'Houston Astros' started by tellitlikeitis, Dec 8, 2021.

  1. Buck Turgidson

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    Hear me out: I know this is crazy talk...but maybe watch them and see what happens?
     
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  2. Screaming Fist

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    Whitley had a higher overall strike% yesterday than Brown has had in AAA this season while having a higher SwStr% than Brown. For some reason though things just seem to snowball with Whitley but hopefully that luck doesn't continue to follow him.

    The final results from yesterday:

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
  3. Tuckmose

    Tuckmose Member

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    One wonders if he keeps all three fastball variants, or if one of those pitches is clearly inferior and gets dropped, ala: Verlander’s two seamer.
     
  4. Nook

    Nook Member

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    Yeah.

    Personally I am not terribly optimistic as Whitley just seems to be a bumbling idiot.

    He has a history of self sabotage and doesn't listen to coaches.... didn't listen to the best pitching teacher in decades.

    He has had conditioning issues... he doesn't appear humbled either, even with struggles.

    He reminds me of Martes, Redding, Bauer and Prior.... he always knows best, and he always thinks he is the smartest person in the room.

    I will root for him, he is a youngish guy but I have no confidence in his make up.
     
  5. Nook

    Nook Member

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    Yeah... they have talked to him about this for many years and Forest knows better apparently.
     
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  6. HeyBudLetsParty

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    I agree with most of this but I really don’t want the Astros to trade him. His value is rock bottom compared to his peak. I’d rather him get shelled in AAA for another year, then try him out as a leverage reliever to see if you can harness that elite stuff for an inning. Too much time has been put into developing the kid, would be a major disappointment if we never get to see what he has.
     
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  7. Nook

    Nook Member

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    He is about to turn 25 years old. Framber Valdez at 25 years old was a non prospect with an era approaching 6.
    Jose Urquidy was in the big leagues and having success but barely was pitching.

    Whitley is running out of time, but he hasn't quite ran out of time.
     
  8. Snake Diggit

    Snake Diggit Member

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    I don’t know; one of the reasons I really really like the current Astros roster is that there don’t seem to be any douchebags or low character guys. No Roberto Osuna or Ken Giles or Carlos Gomez. Sure they may not get peak value for Whitley but if he has a bit of success in AAA over the next few weeks and another team thinks they can max him out and he can be a key part of a trade for a really good MLB player (or even a really good young prospect further away from the majors) then I’m all for it. I’d rather that than have him in the Astros bullpen where he would be unhappy and prone to ****ing up the chemistry.
     
  9. HeyBudLetsParty

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    True but Jacob Degrom didn’t debut till he was 26. If we can get 6.5 good years out of Whitley, I don’t really care what happens with his career after.
     
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  10. toby

    toby Member

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    Taylor Jones was terrible last night at 3rd base. Cringe worthy. That wasn't the reason why Whitley struggled, but it didn't help. After the first few batters, the control was getting better but I don't need to see him in an Astros Uni any time soon. Unfortunately, the time to trade him has passed.
     
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  11. vince

    vince Member

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    I think Whitley has the talent to become a bona fide Ace. I think he will eventually get there too.

    But I knew Musgrove would be a definite #2 pitcher; though he’s now even exceeded my expectations as he’s looking like a Cy Young candidate.

    And I don’t lose any sleep over Musgrove being moved for Cole.

    The Astros are developing winning guys that are tanks. Valdez seems like a workhorse Ace. Garcia is growing into the endurance to potentially get him to 200 innings pitched. McCullers has looked like a mystifying Ace when healthy. Urquidy has ice in his blood. And Verlander the veteran should be allowed to pitch as long as he want, as he is enjoying being on a club that is all about winning and little about attitudes.

    Whitley is gonna be good, because immaturity generally fades for the average person right around 25 or 26, even the late bloomers. Hence give him another 2-3 years, and Whitley will be one of the top 20 pitchers in baseball.

    But, when the Astros have young guys who are producing results and aren’t accidentally being good, they are being tough as nails good; why bring in a hot head?


    As the old saying goes, you can’t play them all or in the Astros case, keep them all.

    Let Whitley’s trade value go up, and then trade him. But something tells me if the Astros are in dire move for a trade for whatever need, any team is going to insist on an undervalued Whitley.
     
  12. IdStrosfan

    IdStrosfan Member

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    A bit confused

    Are you talking about Whitley or Jones?

    For my part, I don't take much stock in either.

    Whitley had some positive peripherals and it was just one outing. If there is no improvement in results after 3 or 4 more starts then maybe start talking like that.

    As for Jones, he is a solid ball player but not a good 3B. He is getting old for a prospect but was a late bloomer due to basketball taking development time. He is just fine as a AAAA 1B/LF guy who can move up and down playing a few MLB games per year until he is out of options.
     
  13. tmacfor35

    tmacfor35 Contributing Member

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    Thought it was interesting that the most Whitley threw of one pitch was 19%... Not sure how concerned the Astros were with him getting outs as much as it was executing all his pitches.
     
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  14. Snake Diggit

    Snake Diggit Member

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    Whitley is probably the highest ceiling pitching prospect the Astros have ever had. The flashes he has shown in velocity, spin, variety, and movement of his pitches is as good as it gets. There’s a reason that Luhnow didn’t trade him at his peak value (when he was the #1 rated pitching prospect in all of baseball) and there’s a reason he hasn’t been traded at any point during his subsequent stock decline. Even tho his surface numbers from last night were bad, his velo and underlying metrics were very very good and that’s in his first appearance against upper level hitters in almost 3 years. Whitley totally has a chance to be a dominant DeGrom-Scherzer-Verlander-(gulp)Bauer style ace. So the Astros should definitely not give him away. But at this point he has shown that he is injury prone and resistant to further development, 2 things that in combination make it extremely likely he doesn’t reach his ceiling.
     
  15. toby

    toby Member

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    Both (but I really don't need to see Whitley promoted anytime soon) - but Jones contributed to a bad night last night with his play at 3rd. Wasn't all on Whitley. With a real 3rd baseman, Whitley likely doens't get decision, but they may have won the game.
     
  16. Nook

    Nook Member

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    He doesn't need to be throwing 5-6 different pitches, that is just stupid. I will be really surprised if the Astros plan was to have him throw 6 different pitches.
     
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  17. Nook

    Nook Member

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    Exactly, at some point you just hold onto an extreme talent until they just show it isn't going to happen. Same reason I am not mad they didn't deal Martes at his peak value. You stick with them rather than get nominal prospects, because sometimes guys do figure it out.
     
  18. Htown Legend

    Htown Legend Member

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    He looks like a man amongst boys
     
  19. El_Conquistador

    El_Conquistador King of the D&D, The Legend, #1 Ranking
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    Whitley could reap HUGE benefits from having a role model like Justin Verlander teaching him how to be a true professional pitcher. Work ethic, commitment, mental approach, etc.

    Joe Musgrove is a great example of being a late bloomer, and so is Hall of Famer Randy Johnson. Both of these guys were physically big pitchers, as is Whitley (6'7" tall). It's not too late for Whitley -- it's not early either, but it's definitely not late. I see a 0% chance of the Astros trading him in the next year as A) he has the highest upside in the entire system; and B) this is a sell low moment in time.
     
  20. Nook

    Nook Member

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    A couple things to keep in mind about Sandro is that he is 19 years old and he is mostly playing against 17-18 year old players. So he is a little older than a lot of these guys he is facing. He is a catcher, but he is playing a lot of 1st base as well, and I have heard second hand from some people that the Astros expect him to eventually move off of catcher. He is still exciting, he has a nearly 1.400 OPS.

    FWIW I have been told that the Astros are really high on another Cuban on his team, Kenni Gomez.

    Gomez just turned 17 years old and has a very high aptitude for hitting. He draws a lot of walks and has strong hand/eye coordination. To put it in perspective, he is the age of a lot of high school sophomores. He is 5'11" and 180 lbs, but at his age he could end up 6'0" or he could end up 6'4", just too much variance.
     

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