He’s going to be our pitcher of the year and the PCL. pitcher of the year, right? I’m so bummed out with the glaring need and all the injuries that he hasn’t gotten a look in the bigs.
Just incredibly volatile. He really should not be able to have gotten to the level that he has with his strikeout issues being as extreme, but it is a testament to his talent in the other areas of the game that he has. There is really no way to get a good read on what his future holds. Last year he looked like he was cooked, then this year he had a great year somehow WITH his strikeout rate still being so high. Joey Gallo is the closest comparison, but that isn't even really all that great a comparison.
Gallo was/is an under-rated athlete, but even he isn't as good an athlete as Zach Cole. Having said that, Gallo had more power. I have had some people around the game tell me that Gallo is a very special case because of his personality. He is supposedly the thinnest skinned person around and while everyone attributes his struggles to the massive hole in his swing, people in baseball think his personality is as big a reason as the swing. Teams were laughing when the Yankees got Gallo because it was guaranteed to lead to ruin. What does that mean for Cole? I don't know, but I do know he is considered a very confident (not cocky) guy and isn't surprised when he does well.
From what I remember Joey Gallo had a 70 power tool as a prospect. Idk if Cole is that elite, maybe you can correct me if I’m wrong.
No, Cole does not have the same power as Gallo, but he does probably have 60 grade power, and he is a better athlete with more defensive and baserunning value than Gallo, so he could be just as valuable even though he won’t hit as many home runs. So maybe the midpoint of Gallo and Jose Siri.
They are very comparable. I think Siri is/was a better defensive player than Cole, while Cole probably has a bit of added value since he bats from the left side. But Siri definitely represents a reasonable positive outcome for Cole. It’ll be interesting to see if they add Cole to the 40 man roster and if he gets kept over guys like Leon, Whitcomb, Davidson, and Corona.
A 4th OF with great defense/versatility, power and speed is a very useful player. Unless his lack of contact makes him unplayable?
Alvarez is the first Astros player [as of 2019] to hit a fair ball into the third deck. Jeromy Burnitz did it on Sept. 29, 2000, in the first year Minute Maid Park opened as Enron Field. Marking the seat follows a tradition that the Astros had at the Astrodome. Only three Astros players hit homers into the upper deck in the Dome -- Jimmy Wynn (April 12, 1970), Doug Rader (on April 3, 1970) and Eric Anthony (May 17, 1990). Those seats were painted to commemorate the players’ achievements. https://www.mlb.com/news/yordan-alvarez-upper-deck-home-run-seat Can't find video of Wynn's or Rader's in the Dome, so this will have to do:
Sure would be nice if a we had a few top hitting prospects that didn't have to navigate a 35-40% k rate to have success.
Is Cole actually going to shock us all and force them to bring him up? Can he really be worse than Melton?
He is not getting called up unless it’s in the last 2 weeks of the season and even then I would be really surprised. But he is probably playing his way onto the 40 man roster. Thru 17 pa he has a 100% zone contact rate, an 90% contact rate, and a 4% swinging strike rate. Obviously that’s not going to be sustainable but at least a good start toward showing some improvement. His avg EV and hard hit rste has been good not great. Keep in mind Melton’s AAA numbers were extremely good and you see what happened there.
30 players in full season ball have swinging strike rates below 10.2% (min 20 pa). 10 are non-prospects 25 or older. The others are: Jacob Melton Jeron Williams Trevor Austin Joseph Sullivan Lucas Spence Chase Jaworsky (traded) Drew Brutcher Max Holy Waner Luciano Alberto Hernandez Hector Salas Carlos Cauro 8 from this year’s draft/UDFA class: Ethan Frey, Nick Monistere, Kyle Walker, Zach Daudet, Justin Thomas, Chase Call, Mason Lytle, and Brandon Forrester Probably too early to draw any conclusions but it’s possible there’s been a slight shift in philosophy to bring in more contact oriented players.
Based on my one game sample size from what I saw last night at the space cowboys game I’m sold on Cole
