Not the cleanest outing from Trent Thornton tonight, but he did rebound to post a bare minimum quality start. He allowed 7 hits (solo and 2-run homers), walked 1, and struck out 9 for Lancaster.
He is legit. Great build, effortless repeatable delivery. Really nice offspeed pitches he isn't afraid to throw in any count. He owned all sides of the plate, not afraid to pitch inside, works quick and throws strikes. Preston Tucker continues to be a joke in LF. You look at Singleton and watch him swing and you wonder "why the hell isn't this guy hitting?" He did smash a couple of fouls to RF.
Musgrove to me is going to be a reliable innings-eater for many years. Solid middle of the rotation pitcher who will likely give you 6 innings and a quality start.
Also, I had kinda forgotten how nice a park Dell Diamond is. There was a very pleasing amount of Astros gear being repped. 50/50 with Rangers attire-wise, if I had to guess. The eye candy there was also abundant and pleasing. They have a thing called "rocking seats", iirc, for $15 you get a pimp wooden rocking chair under an awning right behind the green in LF. Looked like a pretty sweet way to watch a game.
The Rocking Seats are pretty awesome. You have to get there early to reserve them, I think. Or maybe it was online. What I loved was being able to by at GA ticket and then sitting wherever I wanted. Good food, decent beer prices, a nice stadium with lots for the kids to do, too.
Teoscar Hernandez hasnt translated his K/BB rates to AAA...he's improved them. 72 PA (8 BB, 7 K). Currently slashing .355/.423/.629. He's been in the Bregman shadow this year, but these numbers are staggering. You have to start to wonder whether he's gonna factor in to this pennant chase. The only way it seems he gets called up is if the Astros decide to move Gomez.
Yep, Hernandez is still shredding in AAA and his numbers do not appear inflated by luck (BABIP near career norms). As a player who can handle all 3 outfield positions and still has some upside for more power, his stock is headed straight up. Probably no prospect since I started following 8 years ago has proven me more wrong than Teo. I never thought he would make enough contact to be an everyday player but now he looks like a legit top prospect with star potential.
Since he will be Rule 5 eligible again, it improves his chances of being a September call up. Guys that can pinch run and defend are very valuable to have on the bench. James Hoyt and Alex Bregman are the only 2 should be locks to be added to the 40-man this season. Hauschild, Rodgers, & Hernandez will have to get heavy consideration with a few other pitchers having real outside chances (Guduan/Jankowski). Our current dead weight: Chapman, Worth, Peacock, Fields (who I expect will be traded for cash), & if we quit kidding ourselves, Singleton.
While Fields isn't the best releiver and is doubtful to help the Astros, I'd not lump him with the others as dead weight considering he probably has some trade value...even if it is as little as just cash. I think Astros get a low end prospect (e.g. minor league reliever) for him at dead line.
I think so too, but he's dead weight in that the Astros don't really have any value for him. If I were any team with an open spot in the bullpen, I'd take a chance on Josh Fields finally matching his advanced stats.
What's Teo's defense like? Good enough to make Marisnick expendable? We bring him up, get rid of Jake, this gives Teo an audition for perhaps a starting gig in 2017 as I don't see any possibility that we keep Gomez. Or perhaps we resign Rasmus and move him to CF and have Bregman starting in LF. RF Springer LF Bregman 2B Altuve SS Correa 3B Gurriel 1B Valbuena DH Reed C Castro CF Hernandez Anyone think we trade Moran at the deadline?
