There’s a small chance it’s timing related and that playing more consistently could lead to an improvement. But yeah I had no idea his issue was this bad; he’s not a major league player without significantly improving his ability to put the bat on the ball.
I don't know that you bring someone from TJS surgery back in September. At that point, it seems like there's a ton of benefits to giving them an extra 6 months off and starting 2027 in as good shape as possible. If you can get someone in July or August, maybe. But when you're talking about a few starts in September, it doesn't seem worth the risks.
Yeah I don’t think Houston should count on anything from Blanco, Wesneski, or Walter this season. Let them rehab and start with a regular offseason to come back normally next spring. If Houston is by some miracle in playoff contention and Blanco has had 100% smooth sailing and is fully rehabbed by late August I could see them using him in some capacity. But really they should just not be counting on them for anything until 2027, and even then they should be considered as just candidates for the back of the rotation or middle relief; none of them had the track record to warrant more expectation than that.
If the Astros can go 6-2 the rest of this month to sit on a 15-17 record with a little positive momentum (and likely only 2-3 games out of the division), I might start to see a smoldering ember of hope. They are currently cooked, so meeting expectations over the short or medium term is just not good enough. They need to bank some wins.
I liked their chances better when today and tomorrow's starters were TBD instead of Ryan Weiss and Peter Lambert. 6-2 with a rotation that has 80% of guys at a 6+ ERA and averaging 5 IP/start would be nothing short of miraculous. They'd kill right now for 2025 Costanza, 2023 Bielak or France, or 2022 Urquidy. Anyone halfway competent at taking the mound every 5th day without embarrassing themselves.
This, it's terrible for the AAA guys that they signed and traded for 2 AAA to jump them all. Alexander the corresponding move for Trammell? I What's Chas up to these days? Lol
The fact that we continue to sign and call up absolute random nobodies shows how poor our healthy AAA hitting prospects are. Maybe this one is lightning in a bottle.
To be fair, the AAA hitting prospects were supposed to be guys like Cole, Dezenzo, Loperfido, Trammell, Whitcomb, etc. They all got injured so now its the bottom of the barrel.
Its an interesting approach. I would rather they use guys like Frey, Spence, and Sullivan who have plenty of upside and haven't already been given up on by other organizations. They all have more seasoning than Cam did when he was brought up. They aren't as highly regarded as Cam, but they also wouldn't be under the pressure of being "the man" at a position and needing to be a core piece and stick on the roster. I guess they don't want to start their clocks.
Spence and Sullivan are hitting poorly at AA. Frey is hitting poorly at A+. It's not a clock issue. None of them is close to ready. Smith was at least dominant in his one minor league season. (And frankly still might benefit from a little more development time)
Sullivan is not hitting poorly (111 wRC+), but your point is still valid. Houston might not have a single impact position player prospect playing above A ball.
He appears to be another of these odd prospects - hits under .200, strikes out a ton, only moderate pop. But he walks a lot and steals bases. Shades of Zach Cole with less average, a little less power, but more walks and more steals. I can't think of a good comp at the ML level.
