DeVos on the 60-day IL may just be a formality since he's still recovering. Still like him but his situation with regards to time might be getting a bit precarious as he'll be 25 this year and Hicks, Nezuh, and Pecko have passed him by. Speaking of... health has been really unkind to those Day 2 arms the Astros picked in 2022. Michael Knorr, Andrew Taylor, DeVos, Dixon, and Brett Gillis have all missed pretty good chunks of time.
Ngl, I missed the period and thought they had released Diaz. I was really confused for a second lol. Any reason out there on why Diaz was put on the full season IL? Is this something already mentioned here and I may have just missed?
Bummer. Those pitchers and Julio Marte were ones I was really interested in this year. Maybe we'll actually get to see Brett Gillis pitch this year!
There are so many good vibes coming out of the farm this spring compared to the last few seasons. Smith and Dezenzo basically demanding to make the opening day roster. Matthews and Whitcomb looking like 2 guys who will be ready to help in the short term and long term. Super young guys like Gomez, Jaworsky, and Ochoa looking totally comfortable in big league games. Joseph Sullivan. Several pitchers showing primo stuff in the Breakout game. This system might not be stacked but it’s got a lot of players looking like they will help keep the window open.
I saw that he was up to 99 in the cape cod pre draft. Looks like he got whiffs on a breaking ball and change-up in that clip too. Seems like a great find in the 10th round. Got the smallest bonus among Astros draftees. Given how the 2023 performed last year, I'm really excited to see the 2024 class this year. Brice Mayer has been getting some hype already for throwing harder in his pro debut. Ryan Smith was up to 98 in the summer league pre draft. Ryan Verdugo can apparently spin a breaking ball nicely. They targeted a lot of players with limited track records from non traditional baseball powerhouses.
Huezo is one to watch this season. He had extremely high strikeout totals in his first full season so unless that comes down he’s a non prospect, but he’s got a good power/speed combo.
The system has 3 arguably MLB ready starting pitchers (Gusto, Gordon, blubauGh) with a few others that might join them if they force their way into consideration (Ullola, Pecko, Fleury, etc). They also have 5 players who are probably above replacement level at some point this season (Smith, Dezenzo, Whitcomb, Matthews, Melton) who have average or better potential. The Astros tend to keep pitchers starting as long as possible, so the MLB ready relief options are a little sparse. Whitley is mystery. VanWey and Alex Santos are interesting, but probably more 7th inning stuff than an elite reliever profile. I hope Alejandro Torres pitches somewhere captured by statistics. He finished last season really well. I hope the Astros are able to keep some of the vets in camp around as depth. If Smith or Matthews is a star, the Astros are in a good place for at least the next 3 years. They should be able to find the pitching and role players to surround the core, plus develop the prospect capital to make medium impact trades. I'm skeptical about Dezenzo, Melton, and Whitcomb's likely ceiling. If Melton can be an average hitter vs RHP, a threat on the basepaths, and an average CF who is plus in right, he would fulfill a nice little niche for the Astros currently. That group of youngsters likely to start in Asheville might be key to success after the Walker/Paredes/Pena group are set to hit FA. Gomez, Janek, Jaworsky, Sullivan, Ochoa, and maybe Bush all seem like they have the potential to be regular MLB players. Kevin Alvarez seems to be the most hyped international prospect the Astros have had in a while. It would be sweet to see him hit stateside this year. I'm hopeful Dana is going to improve the Astros ability to find international hitters, but with deals being signed so early I expect it to take a little time to manifest. I expect the Astros to keep developing international arms. Anderson Brito is a bit unprecedented for a older signee being so good so fast, who is going to be the next prospect to emerge? While I assume it was a computer mistake, the transaction log has 19 year old Cuban pitcher Alex Gonzalez was assigned to the Astros major league squad at the start of spring training. He was signed right before the last period ended in December. At 6'3" 225 and already reaching 95 mph, Gonzalez could be one to watch next season.
Matthews doesn't *need* to be a star (would be nice though), but if reports of his 2B defense are correct, he and Pena would be a ridiculously athletic MI...where ground balls go to die. I think he'll hit more and run more than Pena.
I have never heard of this player and when I saw 105 in the tweet I thought it was referring to the pitcher, so I was very confused at first reading your comment lol.
Tredwell they think can still be a very good big-league pitcher if he can stay healthy - but they have serious concerns there. Forcucci is indefinitely out and they are working on his strength at this point. The stuff is there, at this point a year ago he was arguably the best college pitcher in baseball. He can sit 95-98 with promising secondary pitches. Concern with him is health as well. He would have been a top 15 pick with better health. His fastball has an exaggerated low release and late run, which means that IF he stays healthy he should at least be really nasty as a reliever.
You hope he fills out like Daryl Strawberry does - who was about the same size at this age. He needs to spend the Winter with Jeremy Pena and work on his body.
