The only semi-flag i see in his profile is the rise in strikeouts (17.5% in lowA last year --> 24.4% this year) that went along with his power spike (.126 ISO--> .278). It's likely a switch in approach to emphasize power, like Altuve this year, but he just has to be careful and not let it progress. Hopefully he's working on the 0-2 approach too.
It seems Astros have tried to get guys known for contact prior to acquisition to emphasis power in minors with Fisher, Moran, Bregman, and now Tucker the Younger.
Yeah, that was one of Luhnow's signs of an undervalued player: contact>power, cold weather guy, baseball bloodlines. The Cardinals had a run where they had a bunch of non-prospects making significant contributions because of an uptick in power. Colin Moran happened to be all three, but hasn't been able to bring out the power. Conrad Gregor was another contact guy who couldn't up his power and was released from the system this year. BTW, Fisher was definitely a power>contact guy in college. He never hit .300 in college.
It's a much bigger deal down the defensive spectrum. A bat-only guy pretty much has to hit for some power to be above average. Take Yuli for example. He's hitting about as well as can be expected: .329/.354/.481. But he's only tied for 9th among first basemen for WAR.
Here's a nice piece on Corpus pitcher Jacob Dorris. He never pitched until his junior year of high school and that was because the #1 pitcher was late and got benched.
At this point, Fresno's definitely looking for anyone to competently fill a rotation spot. Coleman, who turns 30 on July 3, pitched 3 seasons for the Cubs from 2010-12 and also had a stint with the Royals in 2014.
Strikes me as odd. Sure, there are 5-6 arms on the DL (although only Paulino and Rodgers are SP), but looking at their roster I see plenty of SP: Martes Hauschild Frias Holmes Martinez Thornton Yuhl Of course all of those guys except Martes and Thornton have been pretty crummy, so maybe they're about to cut a few of them loose.
Luckily we get performance well beyond the norm from typically lighter hitting positions like SS, 2B and CF (and even catcher).
If I remember correctly, he made his name in the Cape Cod League where hit 0.333 with 0 HRs. He wasn't an unknown and power was expected to come, but his ability with making solid contact with wood bats before his junior year is what got him drafted so high. PS. I could be completely wrong, but this is what my memory says with a quick check on Cape Cod stats that matched my memory. Edit: don't want it to look like I don't acknowledge the failures. It just seems like something Astros take more risk on than most.
Hmm... didn't know his Cape stats beforehand but that's interesting. He was pretty well known for his power in college, having hit for .219 ISO his freshman year and .190 ISO his sophomore year. Found this quote on the Rangers SB nation blog after they drafted him in the 6th round in 2011: That last paragraph hasn't changed in the last 6 years imho.
My guess is that Astros are either being punks (just denying other contenders crappy arms so they have to use even crappier arms for injury replacement) or Astros trying to keep guys like Martes innings down in case needed by Astros later in season. I favor the latter, but it would be funny if it was the former.
http://www.crawfishboxes.com/2014/6/5/5784908/astros-2014-comp-pick-profile-derek-fisher-of-virginia Here's something from CFB that mentions the Cape Cod League. I probably read this back then.
BTW that 2011 Rangers draft was actually really interesting. There's a lot of recognizable names but they absolutely shanked the top rounds. Zero or near zero WAR from the top 5 rounds. Derek Fisher (6th) Kyle Hendricks (8th round) threw up a third place Cy-Young season last year... for the Cubs Andrew Faulkner (14th) threw two seasons in Rangers bullpen before being traded to the Orioles. Jerad Eickhoff (15th) went to Philly in the Hamels deal. Ryan Rua (17th) and Nick Martinez (18th) are both on the active Rangers roster. Cy Sneed (35th) later drafted by the Brewers and traded to Astros for Villar. Brandon Finnegan (45th) went unsigned, played college ball at TCU and got redrafted in the first round by the Royals. Carl Edwards Jr. (48th) signed and was traded to the Cubs in the Matt Garza deal. That's a pretty impressive piece of late round scouting and development. They completely flubbed the top of the draft, but we're probably all happy with that. Maybe the Astros aren't so special at finding later round ball-players.
Alex Winkelman allowed 2 hits and struck out 5 over 5 shutout innings for Buies Creek. His fellow Missourian, Dean Deetz, allowed a solo homer to Scott Heineman to lead off Corpus Christi's game with Frisco, which is the only run he's allowed so far in his 5 innings of work. Deetz has also allowed 3 other hits, walked 2, and struck out 4.
The Astros periodically have some of their best pitching prospects skip starts in the minors to preserve their innings for later in the season. With top prospect Francis Martes experiencing what assistant general manager Mike Elias described as "mild abdominal discomfort," the team decided this week's start will be a turn in the Class AAA rotation the touted 21-year-old righthander misses. Martes, who had been scheduled to make his fourth start for Fresno on Tuesday, won't pitch this week but hasn't been placed on the minor league disabled list and is still working out with the Astros' Class AAA affiliate. He should rejoin Fresno's rotation next week, according to Elias. http://www.chron.com/sports/astros/...-prospect-Francis-Martes-turn-in-11113197.php
Deetz is maybe 4-5 more good AA appearances away from establishing himself as a top prospect in my eyes. I hadn't fully bought in, but with 50+ dominant innings in AA plus positive scouting buzz, he will be at least a 50 grade if not a 55 grade prospect to me.
Anyone seen Kent Emanuel pitch this year? He's getting Ks (something he's never done in pro ball well), GBs, and pop ups, and not walking many or giving up an excessive amount of homers, but his ERA in 6. Is this early season randomness or is he just throwing too many strikes in heart of the zone and getting spanked for it?
