2021 Astros Minor League Thread

After posting a .551 ops in July in AA, 3B Joe Perez has a .1013 ops in August. Excellent sign for a guy with very high upside.

There is a group of younger Astros prospects that won’t show up on any Top 100 lists this offseason, but will have a very good chance to get that kind of hype with a good 2022 season: Perez, OF Colin Barber, P Alex Santos, OF Tyler Whitaker, P Jaime Melendez, and P Angel Macuare.

 

Pretty big shakeup and super aggressive on Gonzalez and Whitcomb. Surprised Macuare isn’t in their Top 30.

Lately been viewing Houston’s system in groups rather than rankings:

Elite prospects (5): Lee, Leon, Brown, Pena, Whitley
Elite prospects with high risk (4): Whitaker, Santos, Barber, Perez
High floor arms (4): Solomon, Dubin, Ivey, McDermott
Athletic OF (4): Barefoot, McKenna, Brewer, Daniels
International lotto positions players (4): Diaz, Gonzalez, Nova, Lorenzo
International lotto arms (4): Melendez, Tavarez, Rivera, Torres

 

I had been wondering what was to become of Martes. He appeared to have the goods for a stretch, but he has struggled mightily for a while. He went from one of the top pitching prospects in all of baseball, to being released at the age of 25.

I must say I had hoped he would have figured it out. He may still, but it will be with another team, but odds aren’t great of that.

Life in the minor leagues, where elite prospects flounder and non prospects can become all stars at the MLB.

 

One interesting thing is the turnover we’ve seen over the last few years on the mlb.com list. Here are all the position players currently in the minor league system who have been in mlb.com’s Astros top 30 at one point:

C: Lee, Manea, C Stubbs, Perry, Diaz
IF: Leon, Perez, Pena, Sierra, Kessinger, Nova, Whitcomb, Santana, Carrasco, Martinez, Gonzalez, Lorenzo
OF: Adolph, Matijevic, Dawson, Barefoot, McKenna, Daniels, Barber, Whitaker, Brewer

There may be a few others who’ve shown up before (Berryhill, Papierski, De Goti, Julks, Valdez, etc.?).

Some may say that speaks to how often prospects bust but I think it speaks to the depth in Houston’s system.

 

Well, that was not fair.

 

If I recall, Machandy was touted as a very good athlete (albeit obviously raw and hence not much of a prospect). One area I am hoping to see Houston improve is more flexibility developed among their fringe prospects.

 

After seeing him play in person a few weeks ago it is hard for me to envision him as a major leaguer, but C Cesar Salazar has crossed the 50 pa threshold and his AA numbers are extremely good: 9% bb, 13% k, 138 wRC+, all on top of a low .209 babip. The .333 ISO isn’t sustainable, but otherwise, he’s worthy of some attention. We will know a ton more by the first month or two of next season.

 

He has now homered in each of the three games he's played for Asheville. On road, no less.

 

Corey Julks just hit another HR (11th). He has been on fire since 7/1 and looks more than ready for AAA. He still probably projects as a 4th OF (in a huge group of Astros prospects with that projection), but the last 2 months have maybe opened the door for a fringe everyday ceiling.

 

Great AAA debut from Jonathan Bermudez: 4ip 7k 1bb.