Who would be the better outfielder if he is promoted and where would he play? Where would the 3 of Meyer, Smith and Melton rank in MLB as far as defensively? It would be a far better outfield compared to the projections before the season started. The defense that Smith has given is not only refreshing but was needed.
An outfield defense of Smith/Meyers/Melton would easily be top 5 in the league and in the conversation for best in the league. That said, Dezenzo or McCormick are also potential plus defensive LF (Dezenzo needs reps to get better).
Jose Guedez @ Rome: 5.1 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K The two runs were inherited runners that scored and were charged to him. Will Bush, Cristian Gonzalez, and Walker Janek all have two hits today; Bush hit his 6th home run of the season.
As of today, Melton's 2025 average exit velocity is higher than that of Aaron Judge. He is also making elite contact, whiffing a ridiculous 7.5% of the time with a 93% zone contact rate. Obviously still a tiny sample size, but this has been better than could have been reasonably expected from him.
So Melton in LF? You wouldn't put Melton in CF and Meyers in LF? I thought Melton had elite defense and the stronger arm of the three.
Meyers’ elite tool is his range, putting him in a corner handicaps that skill. Melton has a better arm than Meyers for sure, but I don’t know if it’s better than Smiths. Honestly all 3 guys can play all 3 positions. I feel pretty strongly that Meyers is best in CF, but otherwise it’s picking nits imo.
Luis Encarnacion has been on a tear since getting promoted back up to AA. In 4 games he’s 7 for 13 with a 2B and 2 HR with only 2 k (thru 4 pa tonight).
Miguel Ullola @ Albuquerque: 5 IP, 4 H, ER, 2 BB, 5 K Shay Whitcomb has two homers (15) and Collin Price hit his 8th home run of the year.
No idea what kind of ballplayer Whitcomb will turn out to be, not a believer myself, but he's graduated the minors. Sucks when a player is kept in career purgatory like this.
The Astros are very good at helping young players maximize their potential. The minor league system is supposedly weak, but it has proven to be an excellent source to reinforce the big league club when in dire need for talent. The young fellas come up ready and able to play. Yainer Diaz, Peña, Alvarez, Framber, Blanco, Hunter, Abreu, Myers, Brian King are all guys that came from a supposedly weak farm system. I still remember a scout being interviewed practically laughing at the notion that Hunter Brown was anything more than a reliever at the Major league level. This was when the Astros were talking really high about Brown’s potential. Listening to that scout made me think, perhaps Brown could be at least a 4th or 5th guy on a rotation. A few years after listening to that interview, here we are and Brown is in the conversation for the AL Cy Young award. But I do agree that a few guys have graduated and should be playing somewhere on a major league club. Nevertheless, space on the 40 man roster and 25 man roster is limited. So, they are in the AAA ball for trade purposes or injury insurance.
