In a good way or bad way? He plays better than his numbers suggest? Edit: Never mind. I saw your other post
Miguel Ullola vs. Albuquerque: 6 IP, 3 H, ER, BB, 6 K The one run came on a homer. He threw 90 pitches (55 strikes)
Jake Meyers: 1 for 4 with a K for Sugar Land tonight. Is he activated Tuesday 9/2 vs NYY or Friday 9/5 vs Tex? Who goes down? Melton or Chas are only options.
9/2. We need to take away Melton from Espada/Lopez to put in lineup. Melton is not a MLB player right now, Not even close. Jake doesn’t need to play every day. Dubon and Chaz can spell him every other day for a week to get his feet back on the ground. Chas sucks too, but melton looks completely lost. Being up is doing more damage than good for his development.
5 Disappointing Big Bonus Astros Propsect and why they might break out in 2026: OF Pedro Leon ($4M): After back to back 20/20 seasons in AAA over 2023-2024, Leon got hurt in the spring and missed most of the season. He just returned and is off to a very good start over a very small sample. The combination of raw power, speed, and arm are elite, but he doesn’t walk and strikes out too much. The strikeouts have come down slightly over the last 2 seasons, and Leon’s development has been oft-interrupted, so it’s possible he’s not peaked yet and could end up as an exciting fringe regular OF in the big leagues. The question is if (or where) he will get an opportunity. IF Camilo Diaz ($2.3M): Diaz was one of the top 20 international prospects in the 2023 class, with huge power ceiling and ability to play on the left side of the infield. He got hurt last season and it was bad enough that he’s missed all of 2025. He’ll only be 20 next season, and assuming he’s healthy, it wouldn’t be unheard of for a prospect that young to come back off of a long injury and have a breakout, whether just from natural maturity or from things he worked on while on the IL. OF Tyler Whitaker ($1.5M): Whitaker is a prospect with big raw power but a gigantic hole in his swing. Hes struggled in consecutive seasons in High A with a k rate around 35% and very few HR. But hes shown small signs for hope, posting 19 doubles this season and having a great month in July (before falling back off in August). Next season is probably the end of the line but 60 grade power and some defensive versatility often gets extra chances. He will only be 23 next season so while the odds are heavily stacked against him, as long as he’s in the system, there’s a chance to figure it out. OF Cesar Hernandez ($1.7M): speedy Cuban was aggressively assigned to A ball in 2024 and struggled, then took a significant step forward while repeating the level this season. He nearly doubled his walk rate and his ISO while maintaining a reasonable k rate. After posting a 120 wRC+ across 274 pa, it’s safe to assume he was near a promotion, but he got hurt in early July and lost the rest of the season. He has 11 HR and 58 SB in 159 career games, so there’s speed there and at least average future power. I don’t think he’s considered a very good defensive player. But if he’s healthy to start next season and assigned to Asheville, he will be a prime sleeper pick. P Alex Santos II ($1.3M): He’s struggled to stay healthy, never having pitched more than 83 innings in a season across 5 years, but the stuff is there and he looked great in big league spring training games this year. At 24 entering next year, his leash is shortening, but he’s consistently struck guys out and did a better job of keeping balls in the park this season when he was able to take the mound. He will likely be exposed to the Rule 5 draft again, so there’s risk of another team taking a flier on him, but if he gets/stays healthy, he has as much upside as pretty much any pitcher in the system outside of maybe Ullola and Pecko.
Is he repetitive? i.e: not arguing but what purpose does Melton serve other than late inning PR or defensive replacement? Can they use a different player/position to fill that role? Since Yainer and Caratini are both banged up slightly, would they keep Salazar for a bit?
Joey Gallo had a 39% k rate in AAA and ended up posting 4 seasons of >2 fwar, including a 4.4 fwar season at age 27. So there’s at least a precedent for a player with a super high k rate and immense power being able to produce in the majors.
I'm not sure Joey Gallo is the guy you really want to be comparing players to. Adam Dunn would be better.
Adam Dunn struck out in only 28% of his career pa and didn’t go above 30% until his 30s. It’s a pipe dream to envision Cole lowering his k rate that much after he reaches the majors.
Billy Ashley. That guy use to hit baseballs in the rainbow colored seats in the Astrodome…. During batting practice.
