Yes, there are concerns that he will not make consistent enough contact. He reminds me some of Derek Fisher, who the Astros drafted. However, don't forget George Springer also was seen as a guy with too much swing and miss to go at the very top of the draft. Pedro Leon is another one too. Some of them turn out like Joc Pederson, some of them never get past AA and some become stars... time will tell, but he at least has upside and projectability and literally fell in their lap.
Good exit velo, average arm. Prolly a move to 1B with a swing change to get more xbh. Decent pick this late. Very likely to at least reach AA.
https://www.mlb.com/prospects/astros/ They must view Korey Lee as the next up and coming to replace Maldy/Castro.
The final member of the 2021 Houston Astros draft class is... Round 20, Pick 598: Jackson Linn, OF, Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, Cambridge, Massachusetts Draft pick tracker thread coming later tonight
Meh.... good defender with some pop. Bigger than his daddy if I remember right. Likely just minor league fodder, but maybe he makes enough solid contact to become a big leaguer.
Linn would be a pretty big get in the 20th. He’s a HS kid with a big arm (99 off the mound, 95 from the OF). Committed to Tulane and I think was graded in the 10th round range. Will be interesting to see if he signs.
The 19th and 20th round picks could be backup options if Whitaker has an abnormal UCL. Would be cool to see them sign, though. The Astros have pretty decent catching prospects at every level. With no short season ball, it wasn't a position they needed to fill out rosters.
I would think it’d be hard to have any insurance against Whitaker signing since taking away his slot value would leave so much less, but I guess it’s possible. Yep, Houston is absolutely stacked at catcher right now. Even in the complex there are already at least 3 grade 35+ prospects in Santander, Palma, and Alvarez. I am sure they will bring in at least one UDFA catcher though.
