I was very close to opening up the Astros transaction log to see what I could find out about him. I understand he's a Leo.
Not sure. I might’ve been wrong about his velo because the stuff I can find now says he’s low/mid 90s not mid/high 90s. He did get sick in the middle of his senior season and missed some time. But from what I read he just really wanted to go pro, and Houston was a team that gave him a lot of attention before the draft. And he very well may have gotten some kind of bonus, not much different than if he’d been drafted in rounds 11-20 with no overslot deal. Especially for pitchers I can’t say it’s a bad choice to go pro regardless of bonus/draft slot. If a team presents an opportunity and a plan and is willing to make you one of the 35 guys on its complex roster, there’s enough risk in going to college that it’s arguably smarter to take the pro contract. I also wonder if UDFA HS can be offered the same deal as HS draftees where a team can pay for college if it doesn’t work out, because that would be a huge difference maker for a lesser status player like Beck.
Beyond the money it’s also a rare chance to pick your organization that you trust to develop you. How many guys don’t have a MlB career because their organization mishandled their development or didn’t believe in them? Probably a ton.
Patrick Halligan, in relief of Jose Fleury vs. Midland: 3 IP, 2 H, 5 K Halligan has allowed one unearned run in his 8 appearances since joining Corpus (10.1 IP, 7 H, unearned run, 16 K ). Because I mentioned this, he's probably getting torched in his next outing.
Wonder if the Astros pitching gurus did some research on splitters this off-season. Halligan has a low-spin splitter, and he was likely acquired because Montero added a new splitter. Nick Hernandez also seems to be missing bats with a new splitter.
Walker Janek hit his first home run of the season for Asheville. Joseph Sullivan has also gone deep for the Tourists and he now has 6 on the year. Before they got to this game, Asheville and Brooklyn had to finish last night's game, which was suspended due to rain. Thankfully, that game was already in the 9th inning and Asheville walked off with a 6-5 win. Kenni Gomez had a double and an RBI triple in that game.
Imbued by the papacy's power, Max Holy has homered for the first time at the professional level. It's a two-run blast that currently stands as Fayetteville's only runs against Salem.
Hard to get too excited about a 22 year old UDFA in A ball with a 28% k rate and a .571 BABIP, but Holy is really interesting. 26 SB in 111 career pa means he’s probably got some speed. 7% swinging strike % is great. Looks like he can handle SS and 2B. Hopefully he gets to Asheville soon. But it won’t be until AA until we know anything about him.
They were being very careful with him coming off injury. He has a low floor but the highest ceiling in the system.
Brice Matthews hit for the cycle tonight in Sugar Land's 14-7 win over Salt Lake. The order was double, single, triple, and finally a two-run homer. This was sorely needed as he was mired in a 2-28 slump. Matthews now has 4 home runs on the season.
Twine Palmer vs. Salem: 4.2 IP, 4 H, unearned run, BB, 5 K Joan Ogando: 4 IP, H, unearned run, BB, 2 K Esmil Valencia went 3-3 with an RBI single, an RBI double, and stole a base (14) in Fayetteville's 9-2 win.
