Another thing about him is he is only 20. So, wipeout slider, high 90s fastball, young for his competition, good performance last summer...he checks every box Houston has typically looked for over the last few years. To boot, most ratings had him as a top 10 talent. I like it.
I preferred Hiura, but Bukauskas is a solid pick. I think he could compete for a rotation spot in 2019
Top 5 remaining for me: Kendall Canning Romero Lutz Danner Would love it if any of those were available for Houstons next pick. I would've been happy with Kendall at 15.
Yeah, I think our scouts look at age and development more than most. If I recall, Correa was also young for his class. This guy reclassified, so he essentially got eligibility coming out of college a year early. I also imagine they had some book on him coming out of high school. A lot of the college guys were either late bloomers, or mid to late round talents. This guy was apparently a 1st round type of talent in high school, but just made his college commitment very firm. There's probably some analytics on highly touted high school guys who lived up to the hype through college.
Guys who I like that will probably be available for Houstons next few picks: Thompson Skoug Adams Wong
I wonder if the Astros pitching development folks are going to work on his mechanics. Looks to me like he might be leaving off 3-5 mph just by not taking the ball all the way back. Anyway that slider is plus plus. Needs to add a change up he can trust. But he is only 20 and has lots of time to develop.
