He has been fortunate. His family has spent lots of money to ensure he had the best coaches, best opportunities and faced the best competition since he was very young. He was a very well known quantity and nitpicked by scouts as a result.
They expect power to not be an issue at all. He may lose a step as he fills out his wide shoulders, but power is all but a given.
Wolforth is from Spring and went to Concordia Lutheran. He was originally a 14th-round pick of the Reds in 2019 out of DII Nova Southeastern... the Reds drafted him one round after they picked Luke Berryhill. His dad runs the Texas Baseball Ranch out in Montgomery County.
Dubon getting hurt got me to looking at the infield options at AAA. Grae Kessinger has got to be pretty close to taking Hensley's job if he doesn't start showing something competitive at the MLB level. Kessinger's K/BB rate jumps off the page, and he's doing it while hitting .300. You have to be careful with occasionally juiced AAA numbers, but that plate discipline is hard to fake. He got on base 3 more times today and his OBP is up to .445.
Sadly, career ending injuries to Maldy and Abreu would likely be met with sighs of relief from the fan base.
Grae Kessinger with two doubles for Sugar Land today. Not sure if it's a mirage, but he found some power last year and it's carrying over to this year. Kessinger doesn't need consistent home run power, he just has to send more balls to the gaps. Just give him Bannon's 40-man spot and bring him up if Dubon needs an IL stint. Justin Dirden is now playing like the guy we all expected to see; he went 2-3 with an RBI triple.
If Abreu is hurt and Diaz gets more time at 1B/DH/LF (like the team said they wanted him to at the beginning of the year), maybe there is room for Lee. I am a self-confessed Lee truther, and I still hope to see him make the Astros and contribute. I know many of y'all are salivating over Diaz, and while he has shown a strong arm (the scouting concerns about his defense, IIRC, were never about arm strength, but more about preparation and pre-game 'planning'), don't pretend he's crushing the ball (.222 with a high chase rate and considerable amount of Ks). If we do get aggressive at the deadline, I can see Diaz and McCormick being moved. Most of our rotation still loves Maldy, and if you want to get something of value you have to give up something of value. I don't see Lee having that much value for to other teams right now. PS I also hope we can see Salazar get another game or two while he's still with the team. No point in just wasting a spot on the roster, plus I like him too.
This was the first game of a doubleheader. Barber finished 3-3. Rhett Kouba with another solid outing: 6.1 IP, 7 H (all singles), 2 ER, 3 K
Zach Dezenzo hit his 3rd home run of the season in the second game of Asheville's doubleheader. No Asheville Effect; he's actually hitting better away so far. All three of his home runs and 12 of his 14 RBI have been on the road. .342/.405/.526 at home .355/.476/.710 away from Asheville
I'd like to see him in Corpus soon to get an idea how well he can hit at a higher level. Looks like he's cut his swing and miss down, apparently that was a concern but he's always been a high exit velo guy since college. It is possible he has a hole in his swing that higher-level pitchers can expose, but I haven't seen videos of him swinging, nor do I really even know how to analyze swing mechanics TBH.
Nolan DeVos vs. Kannapolis: 3.1 IP, 2 H, ER (inherited runner scored and was charged to him), 3 BB, 7 K
If he can stay healthy...and it's a big if...I think Barber is RF of the future if we don't sign Tucker. Some swing and miss but nothing crazy, has a good approach and can draw walks, has 20-25 hr power, probably will be ready at the end of next year or maybe early 2025
The current AA lineup is one of the best/deepest they’ve had in a few years now that they’ve added Gilbert and Loperfido and Corona, and since Wagner is healthy. Gilbert, Barber, Loperfido, Whitcomb, Wagner, and Corona all have legitimate shots to be everyday big leaguers, with Gilbert, Barber, and Loperfido having the upside to be star level players. Even their lesser players (Stubbs, Hamilton) have a decent chance to be big league bench players. Their lineup goes 8 deep, and that’s with 2 pretty high ceiling guys on the IL in Brewer and Daniels. Hopefully their pitching comes around, since for now Kouba is the only guy they have who has been consistently good.
