Pitching depth is not great especially in AAA and AA. Sugar Land has 10 guys with a WHIP north of 1.50 and Corpus had 13 guys with a WHIP north of 1.50. Some guys have been good like France, Dubin, Paredes, Taylor, Buttrey, etc but they can't carry an entire pitching staff.
Drew Gilbert with his 2nd homer for Asheville. Zach Dezenzo and Miguel Palma have also homered for the Tourists.
Rough off the cuff comps: Wagner: Josh Rojas (less speed, more power) Loperfido: Mike Yastrzemski Whitcomb: Javier Baez (more consistent bat, not as good defense) Correa: Willians Austudillo Those would be in the upper level of possible outcomes for those guys, not most likely.
If the outfield wasn't already manned by an All-Star, a really good defender who may have found his swing again (Meyers), and two above average starters waiting to get back from injury (McCormick and Brantley), I could see Gilbert seeing the Majors as soon as September. (not sold on Julks, batting .305 is great, but striking out 30% of the time and never walking aren't great signs going forward)
Yep Gilbert is ready for a promotion. Gilbert probably gets the Pena treatment this year. Might spend most of 2023 in AA and then promote to AAA for the last month or two, then spend the postseason in the dugout with the expectation he competes for a job in 2024
Why not? But to be serious, I'll be very surprised if Gilbert is still in Asheville 2-3 weeks from now, as that level seems to be a little too easy for him. The majority of his minor league time this year should probably be in Corpus, with the last couple weeks in Sugar Land. I do like the suggestion of bringing him up for the playoffs not to play, but to soak it in. They could use Bannon's 40-man spot to do that.
I love Julks enthusiasm and energy, but I liked that about Siri also. There are too many OF options and the Astros should trade him now. His trade value is higher than anyone ever expected it could be and won't be this high for long. Also- despite his season so far, he is not in the long term or even short term plan as a regular contributor
I doubt Julks has much trade value beyond what he had entering the season. He was passed over in the Rule 5 draft. Yes he has produced in the majors this season, but that has come in spite of a 1.5% bb rate, a 29% k rate, and with benefit of a .419 babip, so he is due some regression. He is still a grade 45+ prospect. It is extremely unlikely another team would give good value for him. If he gets to 200 MLB pa and still has a wRC+ of 120, then we can start talking about him as a meaningful trade piece. But in the meantime they need to hang on to him as a 6th OF.
I think the problem with Julks is that he's a pretty poor fielder and with an averagish at best bat. Decently high floor but low ceiling player. Siri is an elite fielder with a fair amount of power which gives him a much higher ceiling than Julks.
There is some incentive to move Gilbert fast if they think he can be a regular next season. If a player makes two top 100 lists, starts on the OD roster, and wins ROY, the team gets an extra draft pick. Jeremy Peña wasn't able to beat out Julio last year, but right now Hunter Brown leads AL rookies in fWAR. If Gilbert smashes his way through Corpus, it might be worth giving him time in September to prepare him for an OD assignment next year.
I don't agree that he is needed now. Well, to be clear, he is needed NOW, but won't be very very soon when McCormick and Brantley are back. Regardless of what he has done or will do between now and then he will be no better than 6th on OF depth chart so unless the team thinks he can play infield, there is no room for him on the roster. 1) once he goes back to AAA he loses any value his "look what I have done lately" performance gave him. 2) By holding him rather than trading him they are betting his value doesn't go down, which it will with any reduction in results. His peripherals say he is most likely to regress. I think his performance to date boosted him just enough to bring back an organizational 15-30 infielder rated 40-45 which the team needs. Another 2-3 months with him in AAA, even if he rakes, he loses that and goes back to a spare piece at a position of depth. Buried. The fact that he was not taken in the rule 5 draft kinda proves this, but with a trade the team does not need to keep him on the 26 man.
