Wade Boggs, Brooks Robinson, Mike Schmidt Safe to say we can let Bregs go because it sounds like we have some real f**king talent in the pipeline.
I believe Wagner had hamate bone surgery last year so that might have contributed to the lack of power we've seen. Hopefully he'll recover some of that and begin hitting more multi-base hits.
Wagner has always had 1 carrying tool. Fortunately, it is probably the most important one - hit tool. However, even if it was a 70 grade (MLB has it at 55, FG at 50 w/ 55 future) he needs something to go with it. There is nothing special about any of his other tools. None of them are rated above average, and a few below average, by both services. He is a classic tweeter. He isn't slow, but not fast enough to overcome a lack of power. As a guy who doesn't play a premium defensive position, he will need to project for at least 45 extra base hits (30 doubles, 15 HR?) over a full season to be viable. Hopefully the Astros strength and conditioning along w/ swing analysis can get him there. As a 1b, Brandon Belt never hit 30 hr and only hit 20+ once over a 13 yr, 29.7 WAR career. As a 2b, Howie Kendrick never hit 20 HR or had 15 SB in a 15 yr, 35 WAR career. But both averaged over 50 extra base hits per 162 games. Either result would be fantastic.
A hamate bone surgery is a quick recovery to playable status but about 16-18 months to recover power.
Great He will strike out 4 guys in 2 innings in complex leagues and we will get posts about how he could end up being our 8th inning guy by August
A guy that can hit should always have place on the roster. This is what I'm talking about when I talk about politics.
As long as Jon Singleton and his .496 OPS over the last four weeks is on the team, we will have a place ready for someone that can hit
Sounds like a poor man's Mark Grace. Like Bagwell, he can switch 3rd to 1st and likely be awesome defensively there. But the team has other 1B options. I mean, if they actually start using those options.
The Astros had an organizational sweep yesterday! Houston Astros (34 - 40) Won 4 to 1 Sugar Land Space Cowboys (47 - 24) Won 7 to 1 Asheville Tourists (28 - 35) Won 16 to 6 Fayetteville Woodpeckers (29 - 36) Won 8 to 5 FCL Astros (15 - 14) Won 5 to 4
To me it feels like the minor league teams are winning more games than they did last season and the year before, although that can’t be true with 3/4 full season teams well under .500. Minor league records/championships were something Luhnow valued that seemed to go away when he left. DSL teams are combined 11-12; actually pretty good considering their talent is spread between 2 rosters where most orgs is all on one FCL is 15-14 Fayetteville is 29-36; not worried about this because the roster is so young Asheville is 28-35; troublesome because it’s a reflection of talent, could improve after the draft Corpus 25-39; troublesome because AA is the heart of most farm systems, but I expect this to improve in the 2nd half SL 47-24; kudos to Brown for his success with AAAA players and I also think the mgr has done a great job considering all the roster churn due to big league injuries.
Wow, thats a crazy show of confidence. 8 starts in AA, and less than a year removed from being drafted.
