Cristian Javier @ Clinton: 4.1 IP, 2 H (solo HR allowed), ER, 2 BB, 9 K Javier now has 74 strikeouts in 43.1 innings this season. He's struck out 37 in his last four appearances (19.1 IP) including this one. Cionel Perez @ Springfield: 5 IP, 3 H, BB, 7 K Jorge Alcala is now on for his Texas League debut...
Cionel Perez seems to be way underrated in terms of the press he's getting. Major breakout year so far, 8 starts, now with a 1.66 ERA, WHIP around 1.15, 11+ K/9. I imagine we let Keuchel depart this offseason, try to retain Morton on a reasonable deal like 3yrs/40M, and have Cionel and Whitley duke it out for the fifth starter position. Of course, this being the Astros, you anticipate 8 starters to regularly make starts in a given year, so both will obviously factor into our plans. 2018 being the extreme aberration as all five starters look to be healthy and untaxed so far (knock on wood).
Athletic OF Luis Payano had a great May, slashing .362/.455/.468 (923 ops). Same for Stephen Wrenn, who hit .284/.393/.505 (898 ops) with 4 HR in May.
Once Whitley gets back, I'll be checking that AA box score nearly every night to check how him, Martin, and Perez do. Could be as soon as next year that all three are up in the bigs. I think Perez will make an appearance this year since he's already on the 40.
Whitley, Martin, C Perez, Alcala, Bostick, Framber, Hartman, and Quiala is about as talented a group of 8 SP on one minor league team you could ever hope to have.
https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-fringe-five-baseballs-most-compelling-fringe-prospects-110/ James and Rojas once again in the Fringe 5. Has 3 GIFs of Rojas batting this week.
Does anyone have any scouting reports on Hartman? Only thing I've seen is he's a lefty that throws 88-93
Surprised Jonathan Arauz didn’t make the back end of this list, BA has shown him love even before he broke out.
I'm moreso surprised Cionel Perez didn't make the list. Lefties who can get it up to 97mph with dominating results at AA are typically held in high regard. If he was 6'1 I bet he's a top 40 prospect.
Lot of Josh Rojas love out there. Projections say he’d be a decent (slightly below average) hitter if were called up right now. I wish there were more reports available on his defense.
Under the "why aren't we talking about this guy more?" category...Garrett Stubbs. Slashing .358/.390/.526/.917 in his first full season of AAA. Assuming McCann is done after this season, I like the idea of a platoon approach with Stassi and Stubbs for 2019. You have a left and right bat. Stassi gives you power with higher strikeouts, while Stubbs gives you contact with low strikeouts. Stubbs is probably the better defender, but he's smaller and could wear down if he's an every day guy. Suddenly, our catching situation doesn't look so dire for next year, and we don't look ridiculous for not signing or trading for a catcher this past offseason.
While it’s been great to see Stubbs rebound, he’s still a very limited player and for now it’s hard to envision him as an everyday catcher or even a capable replacement for McCann (unless you view Stassi as an everyday guy, in which case Stubbs could be a great backup). Stubbs is a good defensive catcher and rarely strikes out. He also offers pretty good speed for a catcher. But he is currently sporting a really low walk rate and he has never shown much power. I think Stubbs will make a fine backup, but for now I don’t want to count on him as one of the catchers next season.
Like I said, if he were 6'1 he'd be a top 40 prospect Stubbs is a skinny motherfuther...you'd think he'd hit the weight room in the offseason to add some good weight. Wonder what his production would be if he put on 10 pounds. His wrists are as skinny as mine.
