I'd put Melton and Matthews in a similar category though Matthews plays better defense. Those guys got some pop in their bat when they make solid contact. Just a matter where they fall on the Singleton-Alvarez scale of quality contact frequency for dudes with pop.
Matthews being so raw, but still toolsy, I'd bet he has a better chance of a breakthrough. Isn't the concern with Melton his inability to do anything against lefties? Which basically maxes out his probable potential as a platoon guy? Ugh.... need to fast forward to 5 years from now where hopefully the farm system has some "can't miss" type projectable guys vs. the current state... a lot of hope.
I feel like the Astros organization produces a lot of swing for the fences types these days. Joey Loperfido types. The question is whether they can make enough hard contact to justify all the whiffs. And whether big league pitching will exploit the holes in their swings. If you can hit home runs like Adam Dunn, it's fine to strike out like Adam Dunn.
Not sure on Melton's splits. He just did not elevate the ball at all when I saw him play regardless of pitcher handedness, but he overkilled some worms. At least Decenzo hit line drives when I saw him play. Matthews, not quite the raw power of those other two, but when he actually hit the ball, it was generally hard and generally foul. I got Angels prospect vibes watching Sugar Land though Marsh has turned out good in the majors (Adell, Adams, not so much). All shiny, little production when I was there. Sugar Land would have killed at Beer League Softball last year.
Gee.. we had a guy that could hit from the left side and didn't strike out. Oh yeah.. his name is Will Wagner and he would have looked pretty good on this roster right now. Kikuchi didn't even get a playoff start...
What is the issue extending Valdez? Age and length of contract? He'll be 32 by the time the season ends, is he looking for a Max Fried type deal? I'm not hearing what he is looking for. What he has been is an ace, consistent and healthy, something no other Astro pitcher has been able to do. Can you win in the playoffs without an ace considering every other marquee team has multiple ones?
He's got a pretty good track record in the minors and skipped levels really quickly. He's also very athletic for a big man.
Seems like the Astros have like 5-10 prospects who could be legit 20/20 threats if they can control the Ks. Astros success the rest of this decade will be contingent on a few of them working out, Yordan staying healthy, and Paredes/Walker panning out.
If they haven't extended him yet he probably wants too much. He'll get a good haul if we have to trade him. It sucks but we don't keep our stars
I am very high on him, part of it is the "hope", that we landed an up and comer and he can come in and give us consistency. As of this minute this could be our roster so for the team to do anything he has to be a cog that you can count on in clutch situations..............if this is our opening day roster, were going to need a little bit of pixie dust sprinkled around here and there. If and this is a BIG if, if Garcia and Lance can give us anything positive for the ENTIRE year, we could have something. This year feels like a soft rebuild until dead money comes off the books, now if they happen to get another bat before the All Star break then our fate may be different. Pure speculation on my part but I am so excited and ready for Baseball.....................
Career wRC+ of current projected Astros lineups (R/L) 123/149 Altuve 110/136 Paredes 167/166 Alvarez 112/114 Walker 127/103 Diaz 96/142 McCormick 98/114 Gamel/Meyers 104/111 Trammell/Dubon 88/132 Pena They may have the best lineup in the league against lefties. There lineup against righties is very average and without Yordan would not be good at all.
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/02/guardians-to-sign-jakob-junis.html Good deal for Cleveland. Some really good SP values happening this week. I sure hope the Astros feel good about their depth and guys coming back from injury because if they pass on these solid options costing <$5M and run into the situation last year where they’re giving starts to guys who can’t be competitive, that would be really stupid.
Hopefully teams don't ever pick up on the one weird trick to beat the Astros by starting their 4 RHP and skipping the lefty.
He barrels the ball up pretty well. He'll need to show better plate discipline and make more consistent contact than in his initial MLB run, but that is true of most players when they first come up.
