Astros restocking again, starting with Brady Aiken at #1

Astros Picks

  • 1-1 LHP Brady Aiken, Cathedral Catholic HS (California).
  • CB-3 OF Derek Fisher, Virginia.
  • 2-1 1B A.J. Reed, Kentucky.

The Astros chose high school pitcher Brady Aiken in the first round of the draft. While the pick wasn’t a complete surprise, it is somewhat of a risk for the Astros as high school pitchers don’t always pan out.

Apparently the Astros went to the wire with the selection. Aiken says he learned about the #1 pick on television. The Astros will also pick #37 and #42.

Houston is already capitalizing on the third consecutive #1 pick. Brady Aiken jerseys are already on sale. 

NC State pitcher Carlos Rodon fell to the White Sox at #3 after signaling that he would want a bonus upwards of $6 million.

Obviously, many point to the David Clyde and Brien Taylor failures as a reason teams should steer clear of high school pitchers with the top pick. College pitchers like Rodon, Mark Appel and others generally are considering safer picks as they are closer to the major leagues.

For the Astros, however, selecting a high school pitcher with the first pick may have as much to do with the flow of talent through the system as anything. Considering the potential bottleneck of arbitration-eligible and near-free-agent players later this decade, Aiken would likely not be arb-eligible until next decade.

Check back often and leave your thoughts and comments.

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14 responses to “Astros restocking again, starting with Brady Aiken at #1”

  2. Like it- seems like a good kid and we probably saved some cash to spend on next 2 picks MLB slots him behind Correa on the farm

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  3. In the last few days I have been reading over and over ” three plus pitches and the best command of any pitcher in the draft.” So that tells me this kid will move faster through the minors, like Correa, because command is something we wait for forever to happen. Appel has stuff but has not been able to command it in pro ball yet.
    But!. Professional hitters will just pound away at good stuff and command can disappear. The best pitchers are the ones who face the best hitters and don’t lose command by panicking when they get hit.
    I like this pick and so do the experts. Aiken had moved to the top of everyone’s board in the last month.

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  4. I wouldn’t use Clyde as a good example. He pitched Westchester High School in Houston to the state finals in 1973 by winning the semi. In those days, he threw just about every other game, and went the distance. I don’t think there are any real records out there for how many innings he pitched at Westchester that year, but after he threw 93 innings more for the Rangers THAT season, his arm was pretty much shot. He might have saved the Rangers franchise by filling the old park in Arlington every time he went out that summer, but he was ruined. That could not happen today.

    Aiken seems like a very mature kid, and as Kevin noted earlier, the experts seem to think he’s far advanced for a 17 year old with three already good pitches.

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    • Was at that game and only tickets I could get were down the 1st base line. When Clyde came out to warm up, Chuck Estrada, the pitching coach was actually adjusting his mechanics in the bullpen. When he got to the Rangers, he could still pitch.

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  5. It’s tough to comment on HS kids I’ve never seen, but I love what I read on Aiken. As for Fisher, I didn’t realize he was a top round prospect. I don’t think he was healthy when I saw UVA early in the year. I was hoping we could pull in Gatewood after he fell so far…but again I’ve only seen highlights. AJ Reed did it in a loaded conference. Good looking hitter.

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    • Reed isSec POY and NCAA Player of the Year. Led nation in HR’s(23), walks, OBP, rbis and had 12 wins on the mound for KY. Single mom w/ diabetes, and wants to help her with his signing bonus.

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      • How did Reed fall all the way to 42? I bet Astros were shocked. He has good chance to win the Golden Spike Award and was just a monster in the best college conference. But as glowingly as they speak of him, they chose another player at #37, so what does that say for how they feel about Derek Fisher (besides being a two-sport star )? We can watch him starting today at 11:00 on ESPN2 in super regional.

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    • I wonder if that video was from this year. One of the comments I heard was from his coach, who said Reed had completely changed his body type this year, from weight to muscle.
      Anyway, 23 times this season all he had to do was trot all the way to home plate. That kind of power translates to easy baserunning for me.

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