Yes, this may be a sign of the Astros not being that interesting on the major league level so far this season, but here is this blogs’ early season grading of the top 30 Houston Astros prospects as they were ranked by Jim Callis of mlb.com in March with stats through May 10th.
1. Alex Bregman SS / 22 y.o. / AA – .314 BA/.422 OBP/ 1.093 OPS – 7 HR/17 RBI/2 SB – 10 BB / 7 K
Grade A+ He is doing everything you could wish with the bat – time to promote.
2. A.J. Reed 1B / 23 y.o. / AAA – .229/.333/.790 – 6 HR/21 RBI – 17 BB/26 K
Grade B- Reed is hitting with power, knocking in runs and walking – he needs to K less and raise that BA.
3. Francis Martes RHP / 20 y.o. / AA – 7.89 ERA / 1.892 WHIP – 7.1 K/9 IP – 6.6 BB/9 IP
Grade D This would probably be an F, but heck he is only 20 years old pitching at AA.
4. Kyle Tucker OF / 19 y.o. / A – .299/.379/.809 – 1 HR/14RBI/ 14 SB – 14 BB/ 23 K
Grade A Those are solid numbers, the OBP and the 14 SBs really stand out for the kid.
5. Daz Cameron OF / 19 y.o. / A – .143/.221/.442 – 0 HR/6 RBI / 4 SB – 8 BB/ 33 K
Grade D To paraphrase Lloyd Bentsen, “I knew Mike Cameron and you are no Mike Cameron”. So far….
6. Colin Moran 3B / 23 y.o. / AAA – .276/.325/.686 – 1 HR/17 RBI/2 SB – 8 BB / 29 K
Grade B- Good on the BA and RBIs, not so great on the power and K numbers
7. David Paulino RHP / 22 y.o. / AA – 2.08 ERA / 1.038 WHIP – 11.1 K/9 IP – 2.1 BB / 9 IP
Grade A Love that he is striking out more than 5 batters for every walk.
8. Joseph Musgrove RHP / 23 y.o. / AA – 0.34 ERA / .835 WHIP – 10.3 K/9 IP – 1.0 BB/ 9 IP
Grade A++++ These look like video game numbers – move this man up in a hurry!!
9. Derek Fisher OF / 22 y.o. / AA – .227/.344/.780 – 5 HR/17 RBI/3 SB – 20 BB / 28 K
Grade C+ Decent power and OBP – needs to get that BA up.
10. Michael Feliz RHP / 22 y.o. / MLB – 7.84 ERA and 1.527 WHIP, but…. In last 3 appearances he has 5 shutout innings and 8 K’s.
Grade C- (but on the rise) – The numbers aren’t great, but it is at the MLB level and he has looked more and more like a horse with each appearance.
UPDATE: Mr. Feliz earned the win on Wednesday with 3 innings of one hit, no walk, 5 K, shutout ball and lowered that ERA to 6.08.
11. Albert Abreu RHP/ 20 y.o./ A – 3.70 ERA/1.11 WHIP – 14.1 K/9 IP – 4.4 BB/9 IP
Grade B Needs to knock those walks down, but 14.1 Ks per 9 IP – that is strong.
12. J.D. Davis 3B/ 23 y.o./ AA – .207/.308/.656 – 2 HR/12 RBIs/ 0 SBs – 14 BB / 26 K
Grade D+ He has to either show better contact or more power as a 3B.
13. Tyler White 1B/3B / 25 y.o. / MLB – .240/.304 / .764 – 5 HR/ 15 RBIs – 9 BB/ 26 K
Grade B It is too bad they have not given him more opportunities to work out of his slump. But not bad for his first big league shot.
14. Tony Kemp OF/2B/ 24 y.o. / AAA – .304/.423/.835 – 1 HR/ 9 RBIs/ 4 SBs – 19 BB/20 K
Grade B+ Little power, but very good bat work with BBs and Ks almost even.
15. Jonathan Arauz SS/2B/ 17 y.o. – His short season has not started yet
16. Gilberto Celestino OF/ 17 y.o. – His short season has not started yet
17. Miguelangel Sierra SS/ 18 y.o. – His short season has not started yet
18. Franklin Perez RHP/ 18 y.o. – His short season has not started yet
#15 thru 18 get an incomplete
19. Jandel Gustave RHP/ 23 y.o./ AAA – 3.00 ERA/ 1.00 WHIP – 9.0 K/ 9 IP – 1.2 BB / 9 IP
Grade A- A guy throwing this hard and walking this few could end up special.
20. Riley Ferrell RHP/ 22 y.o. / A+ – 1.80 ERA / 1.10 WHIP – 12.6 K/ 9 IP – 1.8 BB/ 9 IP
Grade A+ He is doing this at Lancaster – look at those K vs. BB numbers. Wow!
21. Jon Kemmer OF/ 25 y.o./ AAA – .192/.280/.623 – 1 HR/8 RBI/1 SB – 8 BB/27 K
Grade D- His age and his performance are doing him no favors here.
22. James Hoyt RHP/ 29 y.o./ AAA – 2.60 ERA/.981 WHIP – 14 K/ 9 IP – 3.1 BB/ 9 IP
Grade A- Being 29 y.o. is the only drawback – love those K’s.
23. Brendan McCurry RHP/ 24 y.o./ AA – 3.63 ERA / .981 WHIP – 13.5 K/ 9 IP – 2.6 BB/ 9 IP
Grade B+ ERA a little high for a reliever, but his K’s vs. BB’s are sweet.
24. Chris Devenski RHP/ 25 y.o. / MLB – 1.72 ERA/ 1.085 WHIP – 7.8 K/ 9 IP – 2.0 BB/ 9 IP
Grade A+ He has been all you could ask of a young man in his mlb debut.
25. Alfredo Gonzalez C/23 y.o./ AA – .103/.308/.311 – 0 HR/ 4 RBI – 9 BB/ 21 K
Grade F Let’s face it, he has to climb up to see bottom with his hitting.
26. Teoscar Hernandez OF/23 y.o./ AA – .267/.362/.778 – 3 HR/ 8 RBI / 9 SB – 15 BB / 28 K
Grade B- Has decent power and speed, but still strikes out like an……Astro.
27. Matt Duffy 3B/1B/27 y.o. / AAA – .173/.296/.509 – 0 HR/ 3 RBI – 12 BB / 31 K
Grade D Very disappointing so far for the 2015 AAA MVP.
28. Andrew Aplin OF/25 y.o./ AAA – .177/.286/.564 – 1 HR/ 4 RBI/ 5 SB – 12 BB / 22 K
Grade D Likely to drop off the list soon
29. Akeem Bostick RHP/ 21 y.o. / A+ – 5.06 ERA/ 1.969 WHIP – 4.2 K/ 9 IP 6.8 BB/ 9 IP
Grade D+ It is only 10 innings, he is only 21 and it is Lancaster where pitchers struggle – so not F.
30. Michael Freeman LHP/ 24 y.o. / AA – 4.15 ERA/1.615 WHIP – 4.7 K/ 9 IP – 4.7 BB/ 9 IP
Grade C- He probably deserves a better grade for being the only LHP on this list, but you can’t walk as many as you strike out and go too far.
So…..
- What do you think of the grades?
- Who should be dropped from the list?
- Who should be added (like Thomas Shirley) to the list?
ALL THINGS ASTROS 
329 responses to “Quick Look at the Astros Top 30 Prospects”
TY for the great homework there Dan. I always had some hope for Davis , Fisher, Kemmer, Alpin, I think unless something drastic happens theses 4 will fade away over the next few years. As other folks have stated it seems our pitching is in better shape than Position players since all the GREAT trades.
I would give Redd a C-. I had foreseen him doing way better in AAA after his last year and a decent showing in ST. It’s still early, I hope he finds his MOJO.
PS can we move on from Fontana GEEZ!!!
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He has started slow at every level. I imagine his contact will improve as the summer heats up.
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No opportunity to provide a detailed post right now, but I think it’s time to start playing Bregman at the likely position he’ll be playing in Houston, whether it be third base or left field. He might make it much easier to lose Valbuena or Gomez. Unless of course the design is to trade Bregman to a team that needs a shortstop. At this point, I would not put that past our leadership.
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Nope. Every guy on this list has a $ sign on his back, and everyone of them know it.
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Kevin – it just shows you that most prospects are suspects until they make it to the bigs. Lots of times guys put up good numbers at lower levels of the minors (sometimes because they are a little older) and lose their way at the top.
daveb – News flash – the Astros trade Bregman for Hank Conger (this is just a joke – don’t reach for the defibrillators – yet).
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Matt Duffy – I think he is probably affected by lack of real opportunity at the Amal level. Blocked by sub-performing players (looking at you VB) has probably messed with his confidence. I see him as at least a B when he goes to another organization.
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That may be the root of the problem.
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Sorry didn’t catch that autocorrect of ML to Amal…
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Yeah I figured that out even though the stupid auto-corrects always correct to the wrong answer
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Dang – Riley Farrell out for the season.
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Man – too bad – the kid was pitching so well.
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I would give Hoyt a B, because he has been hit on a few occasions and I think an A for a reliever should be for a guy who is lights out in MILB. I still think he is better than Fields.
Moving Musgrove up just takes innings away from him. We’ve got top prospects Peacock, Rodgers, Wojo, Shirley and Hauschild up there. Plus we had Feliz there, have Feliz there, had Feliz there, have Feliz there. Plus we had Devo there, have Devo there, had Devo there, have Devo there. Who can keep up with who’s there?
Martes gets his D grade for his stats, but does anyone know why he has gone from the hottest prospect in our system to a D grade. Either they have completely changed his delivery, or he is throwing mostly secondary pitches in games to improve them and has been told to not worry about stats. He had a 65 rated fastball and a 60 rated curve described by MLB as devastating. But his change is rated 45 and I believe that accounts for his 16 BBs in 21.2 innings this year, when he showed such great control last season. I think he is throwing change ups when he was throwing the other two pitches in similar situations last season in order to do what McCullers did: get that third pitch ready for the majors next year at age 21.
Akeem Bostick had two decent outings and then got rocked hard on April 21st and has not pitched since and is on the DL, so his D+ grade is not really deserved.
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Thanks for a little deeper look op – grading 30 in a hurry I did not delve that deep. It is kind of like Feliz’s numbers look bad – but after a couple bad outings (one where they made him stay out there) he has been a bad hombre.
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Guduan promoted to lefty reliever at Fresno from Corpus to replace Edwar Cabrera, who was terrible at Fresno and was released.
Wojo on DL and Musgrove to Fresno. Tommy Shirley starts for Fresno today and Musgrove starts for Fresno on Friday.
More power pitching!
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Jack Mayfield promoted to Fresno. What does that mean for Kemp? For Fontana? Who will be the new Joe Sclafani?
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Speaking of, how has Sclafani not been picked up by someone else? Did he voluntarily retire after posting a career OPS over 770 in milb? Injury I don’t know of?
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*He [Michael Freeman] probably deserves a better grade for being the only LHP on this list . . . .*
Last time I looked, Dan, Reymin Guduan was throwing left handed as well.
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Yeah but….. they did not include him on this list (which makes no sense to me).
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It’s pretty simple. Guduan was on the list last summer and got taken off the list because we had a draft and they became infatuated with those guys and they didn’t do enough homework on him and pushed him down. Plus, the Astros had guys like White, Duffy and Hoyt that we knew about, but the experts didn’t care about. All of a sudden the experts had to find a spot for them in the top 30.
They dumped Guduan, but he still is throwing 100mph with his left arm. I guess they will find a spot for him later, when he fools them and they will knock somebody else off the list. Probably Ferrell, since he’s hurt.
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Some folks who should be on or considered for this list:
LHP Thomas Shirley
LHP Reymin Guduan
RHP Keegan Yuhl
2B Nick Tanielu
OF Ramon Laureano
RHPs Trent Thornton
RHP Dean Deetz
LHP Evan Grills
LHP Matt Bower
RHP Rogelio Armenteros
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Taking wagers:
Between our # 7 hitter tonight [Erik Krapped] and our #8 hitter tonight [Jake from State Hospital], who will be the first to:
[a] get his BA above .100;
[b] drop his BA below .025
[c] call David Price his daddy?
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Man that’s suckers bet.
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Correction – Kratz #8, JFSF #9 – I looked it up because I could not figure who would be #9 if those guys were 7 and 8.
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May 2 big leaguers hitting .045, never ever have seen that, Keuchel has to really bummed.. you number 8 and 9 guy together hitting .090 Whew.
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If I were Max Stassi, I’d be talking to my agent.
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Speed never slumps, unless it is an Astros hitter trying to hit HR.
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If I were a betting man , I’d say DK went into AJ’s office and said, I do not want Stassi catching me I need Big Baddy Kratz, more experienced, larger target, and a better framer, which I will need at Fenway. to keep that ERA under 6 HMMMM
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I had decided after my last statements a few months ago about Bregman to try to keep my LSU homerism to myself. But I just can’t help myself. I keep up with LSU football and baseball avidly and certainly with Bregman who is about as clean cut as they come and is a talented and passionate baseball player with leadership ability. As I have earlier said, he reminds me of Biggio, who had the ability to play about any position asked of him. Paul Manieri (LSU coach) always tends to play his best player at shortstop, but will tell you that Bregman has the potential to play any position on the field (even catcher like Biggio, even though Bregman would not like it). When Bregman does finally make it to Houston, I won’t be surprised after a season or two that only Aluve will have more hits per year.
If Luhnow trades him, he better get some kind of return, which with his trading history will probably be disappointing to Astro fans and me having to watch Bregman be a very solid player for some team over the next decade.
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I like where you are going with this. Recall that Buster Posey signed with FSU as a shortstop…
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So is Bregman the future 3B or LF for the next decade?
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I think Correa will leave town as soon as he gets the chance. Or maybe Altuve too. Assuming Bregman is still around, he might be able to choose his own position.
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Man looking at this line up tonight take out 1-3 it looks like a line up in a split squad game in ST. Were doomed!
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We deserve to lose every game Kratz starts so yeah, already count this one as a loss.
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Oh My God but a lotto ticket
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BUY
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These days I can’t even afford to buy food on a consistent basis.
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Well I sure wish that the pitches off the plate were strikes when Keuchel throws them like they are when Price throws them.
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That could be true, but man DK to me looks like the DK of 2013-14. I’m hooping he isn’t “Looking Glass”
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Well if I were being truthful – right now I would have LMJ take DK’s spot in the rotation.
I can’t believe I just wrote that.
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LOl I Just told the wife the same thing. Put DK #3. maybe 4 behind Devo.
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I can’t believe I agree with you. Sad.
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Man UGLY DK whew. I’m feeling a 1-6 road trip
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Red Sox are on fire offensively – scored 40 runs in the three games before this and now look like they will go double digits again.
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WTH has happened to DK? He hasn’t pitched a decent game yet? Well maybe the 1st. I would say it’s the Sampson syndrome but he hasn’t shaved his beard so maybe he needs to. With few exceptions this team is pathetic. I think Luhnow is 30%, players 30%, Manager and coaches 39% and 10% goes to Crane who doesn’t know squat about building a baseball team.
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This was obviously a great opportunity for Price to get well. Terrible having to watch Keuchel get beaten up so badly, being left in for 6 innings, tossing up 114 pitches. Cy Young becomes the sacrificial lamb. Not many options after 16 innings yesterday. With McCullers tomorrow night, the most we can expect is 80 or so pitches. I’m guessing Jake will be going back for another pitcher overnight. This was certainly not the way to start such a tough stretch. Sobering.
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How much longer can they keep Gomez in the lineup?
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Until the end of the season, Same for Kratz, Tucker, marisnick and anybody else who can’t hit. I almost think I could hit better than .063.
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It’s ridiculous. How that man can get millions of dollars for doing nothing besides striking out and throwing tantrums , yet gets every opportunity in the world, yet barring a miracle and/or lottery win I’ll be homeless in a few weeks…just boggles my mind. Whenever anybody wants an example of life not being fair, I present Exhibit A
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I’m sorry Billy……I’ll pray you find another job soon. This is a bad time in America right now.
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They have to make two moves before tomorrow……..one will be Stassi and Josh Fields. I thought when they put Fields in tonight, it was kinda a performance based appearance. I would not be surprised to see him get DFA’D soon. Oh well………maybe last year really WERE an anomaly, and when we wake up tomorrow it will be 2013 instead of 2016. Shame….but it looks like this is a lost year. Waaay too much talent on this club to be playing this poorly.
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Glad it was Fields sent down and not Feliz!
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And of course Stassi gets sent down in favor of Castro, and Kratz stays on. Figures. Some players get every opportunity in the world, some get nothing more than a cup of coffee. A proven loser is always preferable to this club.
You know what? I think I’m done with this year, and not just with baseball.
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That was supposed to read ‘a proven loser is always preferable to an up and comer to this club’.
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Sorry things are hard for you right now Billy C. Tough times.
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I used to be able to look at baseball as an escape from day to day life, but lately it’s just serving as a reminder. Look at other clubs and compare how personnel is handled compared to here. Look at what happened to Sclafani here…never got a shot while worse players got theirs. It’s no wonder why Stassi has hit MLB pitching better than AAA pitching…if you know you’re qualified but stuck in a dead-end job where you bust your a$$ day in and day out, watch others get chance after chance when you’re lucky to get scraps, well…it’s demoralizing. Had a shot in spring training but a fluke injury cost him what might be his only shot in the bigs to stay, at least with the Astros.
Until 5 years ago, I had a decent life. Had a stroke, ended up losing my job, later my house, and now although I have a decent job, I’m not making enough money (due to reduced hours) to pay my rent or cover medical expenses. Can’t support my (disabled) wife and daughter. And yeah, barring a miracle, this is all my life is going to be. So where’s the incentive to keep going?
So, that’s what’s wrong with this franchise. People like Valbuena and especially Gomez know they will continue getting their millions regardless of how poorly they play, with no danger of losing their jobs. Other players like Tucker and White started off their major league careers strong, but once they got into a slump, they were pulled, and then proceeded to get yo-yo’d around. White still may turn it around, but Tucker is ruined. But, it can happen to them. Why? League minimum. With this club, if you are making a lot of money, you’re set. If you’re not (relatively speaking) , you’re nothing. Scrap. Stuff to kick around and scrape off your shoes. Just like in real life…us ‘league minimum’ earners exist only as pieces of meat while the rich get to do whatever, regardless of merit.
That’s why I admire players like Altuve, who now has it made in the game, but still busts his butt off like he’s trying to earn a job. Sadly, barring a major turnaround, this club is too much like ‘real life’ for me to get too invested in any more, and as a fan of 25 years, this makes me sad.
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Billy, hang in. If need be, go do something you’ve never done before. Try something new. Hope is essential. Hold on to it.
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Billy, this blog prays for Becky and her illness and me and the weather.
I would like to lift you and your situation up tonight and ask everyone on this blog to say a prayer for you and your family that your situation gets better and you get what you need.
Finances are important and a lot of us here believe that we are provided for by our Creator, so I am asking him to especially provide for you and your family.
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Sorry Billy, sounds like you’re going through some bad stuff. Hope things get better.
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The defeat tonight did not hurt much. A good team beat a lousy one and that is what should happen. That was a whippin’. The team in orange has no heart. They stroll to the plate and get a check.
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BIlly,, I’m Putting hopes for improvement to your difficult time in front of any baseball hopes tonight and going forward. If one door has closed, I strongly believe another one will open soon! Be well my friend.
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Thank you guys…I’m trying to stay positive. Sorry about the bitter rant above…guess I just needed to vent.
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I heard an interview tonight that Sparks had with Stassi. A really good kid, and one who knows this is a business, and what you had now, might be taken away from you tomorrow. I guess he had ESP because it happened to him again tonight. Luhnow doesn’t like Stassi, because his last name isn’t Lucroy, or Posey. While the big club gets to keep a guy who was washed up 5yrs ago. I don’t pay the bills so I’m not privy to WHY they are keeping Kratz. This is a team with no direction, no desire, and no care. BUT….if you think Gomez is going to get released, or DFA’d…..you’re inuts.
Luhnow traded a HUGE HAUL for him, and Crane is paying him $9 mill to play…….so plays he will. Now who else are we gonna replace soon???!! Keuchel ain’t happy, and it shows….and I don’t know how to fix it. Do you??
Billy we take care of our own here…..and you will be prayed for to be able to provide for your family, and enjoy where you work. So many of us are retired and our lives are set. Illness, no matter what kind, is draining on a family, and it’s hard to not be able to make that better. Trust me, my husband had a tough time when I was so I’ll not being able to physically make “it” better. Life is tough…you just have to be tougher.
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I got, Gomez is a scapegoat, VB is a scapegoat, but when all is said and done you are very unlikely to win any game that your SP gives up 8 runs even if Gomez and VB and Rasmus and Gattis and White and Tucker were all hitting the way we wished they would. It’s still all in the pitching.
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That may be true, but not every game is a blowout like this. It’s the other games where it is a problem.
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Yep, that’s the third blowout of the season. All the other losses were within reach. Anyone want to pull up the ignominious offensive stats? I missed them as they scrolled past on the highlight show, but saw that HOU does lead the league in Ks.
Also, DK has eighth worse starter’s ERA in baseball. I’ll admit this has me starting to worry about him.
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I’m with you Billy when they get to that point – but right now it looks like this –
Keuchel has given up 5 or more runs in half (4 of 8) his starts. Those are tough games to win.
McHugh has given up 5 or more in 2 of 7, and 4 in 2 more. Tough games to win.
Fiers is a little better with only 1 time at 5 runs and 1 at 4, but he has only made it to 7 innings once.
Fister has actually been the most consistent, with that 6 run stinker on 14 April running up his ERA, but he hasn’t actually had a great start either. Again only 7 innings once.
Feldman only got to the 7th once, and he didn’t finish it.
Our starters are not hitting the marks they need to hit. They are putting middle relievers out there too often, and there is a reason those guys are middle relievers. They have holes in their games, maybe only 1 good pitch, maybe location issues, whatever the reason, they weren’t good enough to be starters or trusted enough in late innings, and yet we are putting them out there consistently in 5th and 6th innings night after night.
Improve the pitching, and we are at least a .500 team and then we can talk about Carlos “corkscrew” Gomez and Valbuena costing us games. They are issues, no doubt – I would probably have already moved on from VB – but we need DK and Collin and Fireman to pitch better, we need Mac to come in and give us depth, and hope Devenski doesn’t catch this stinker flu that has been passed around.
It’s hard for me to accept that our best starter is a guy on pace to win 12 with a mid 4 ERA and think that 1 guy out of a batting order of 9 is the main reason you are losing.
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Good points Steven. To me, from watching the games, the biggest difference between last year and this year is the quality of the starting pitching – mainly from Keuchel and McHugh. I am afraid the league has adjusted to their style of pitching mainly by being patient and our pitchers haven’t re-adjusted – probably because they were using all they had and don’t have any other tools in their box. Unless Keuchel and McHugh get their mojo back, it is going to be a long season I am afraid. When the bullpen arms start falling off from too much use, it will go from bad to worse. I hope I am wrong. The hitting was atrocious in a lot of games that we won last year and great performances by Keuchel and McHugh compensated for lack of runs.
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See if this scenario sounds familiar.
Last night Quad Cities played Benoit in Benoit. With the score 9-9 in the top of the 13th inning the QC leadoff hitter hit a pitch back to the mound that the Benoit pitcher fielded and threw down the 1st base line and the QC batter made it all the way to 3B with no outs. Two swinging strikeouts and a walk later, that runner was still on third. Then there was a third swinging strikeout and that runner was stranded.
Benoit won the game in the bottom of the 13th.
Quad Cities got 10 hits, 8 walks, stole 4 bases and was the beneficiary of 7 Benoit errors and still lost the game 10-9 because they were 3 for 21 with runners in scoring position.
Fresno’s bullpen gave up 6 runs in the final two innings of a 9-5 loss. There is no way Fresno should be 14-19 with that team.
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The Astros optioned Stassi and kept Kratz.
The Astros optioned Fields and kept Feliz.
Castro is back and LMJ gets to start his first game on the road against a team averaging over 12 runs a game in their last four games. Lance, the lion cage is right over there. Let yourself in.
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It’s gotten to the point that we are all glad Castro is returning. How sad is that?
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To Billy:
So don’t be dismayed when the wicked grow rich and their homes become ever more splendid. For when he dies he will carry nothing away; His glory will not descend after him.
Psalm 49:16-:17
Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him; do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.
Psalm 37:7
Billy, please don’t be offended. I know it seems easy to quote Scripture. Yes, it’s a fallen world, and yes, it’s unfair. I only write this to you because I’ve been where you are — not close to homeless, but plenty low on funds and having lost a job, not once but twice. The future didn’t look too appealing and that’s all I’ll say about that. With a disabled wife, I’m assuming you explored all your options for help. There are quite a few out there. I’m not sure where you live — that affects some things. If you will tell me what type work you do, I’ll keep my eyes open. It’s a long shot, I know, but it wouldn’t hurt. The main thing of course, as others have said, is prayer. Not knowing exactly where you stand, let me just say you will be in mine. There are many reasons we are allowed to go through hard, even excruciating times on this earth. I don’t pretend to understand all of them, but the Bible gives us some insight on that. Are you part of a church? You need believers around you and your family. Don’t try to walk this out alone.
Must get back to work or would write more. If you want to, ask the blog to give you my email address. Maybe I can help in some small way.
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Thank you kindly.
The thing about me losing my job, that was 5 years ago. I have since found new employment, but just working less hours over the past few months and things are piling up..
My email is fear2stop@yahoo.com
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Diane…….you knew the good news about the cancer I* HAD* before I did last Wed.
Prayer is more powerful than all the doctors in the world, and it takes one of God’s special warriors like you lifting me, and Billy to the Lord for answers to prayer.
You will never know how much I appreciated all you did for me.
Billy……with everyone on here praying for your success, your stress will soon be lifted. Hang tough……things are going to get better….I promise!!
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The change that David Price made to his delivery that resulted in last night’s performance against Houston, came about as the direct result of film study by Dustin Pedroia. Pedroia wanted to help Price so he started looking at Price’s video from previous years and discovered that Price was dropping his hands much lower before delivering the ball and was losing power. He went to Price and Price agreed and made the adjustment last night.
I read this in an MLB.com article from this morning.
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So Jose Altuve would you take s long look at Dallas K’s last year vs. this year.
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Well I woke up today, gorgeous day it will be 80 and a lot of snow still on top of the Western Rockies. However it’s still pretty obvious that we have a bad dysfunctional team, SAD. I’m not sure there is a fix, pitching I think will be ok, not at the plate except Altuve, Springer and CC tons of potential, after that we are a D+.
Going to be a long year,
Billy we are sending some powerful prayers from Colorado that some hope and grace come into your life and the days get better!!!
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We will be prayer warriors for you Billy.
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My take on some of our top 30 prospects:
Bregman- doing the job above expectations. Don’t necessarily need to promote because Worth and Fontana are at AAA and CC is just as good as a place to develop as Fresno is for now. Just let him stay awhile because he wont get to the majors until September anyway.
Reed-The longer he stays in Fresno, the better chance he has of catching on fire. Let him get his ABs there and get him ready to open 2017 at 1B in Houston.
Moran- The hidden stats are 21 RBIs in 29 games and his splits with 2 outs and runners in scoring position: .379/.400/.621/1.021. You can talk about power or lack of power, but his MILB sample is getting larger every day and the one thing that is very obvious is that he knocks in runners when they are out there. He did it last year and he’s doing it this year.
Teoscar Hernandez is doing much better in AA this year than last year. He’s still only 23.
Derek Fisher is starting to heat up. He hit his 6th and 7th HRs last night. Still is 3 years younger than the average pitcher he is facing in AA . He has moved to a pitcher driven league but his K-rate is down 2.5% and his walk rate is up 3.5%. His BABIP is 75 points below his career average, and that leads me to believe he could go on a tear soon. He’s a left handed batter hitting on a home field where the wind averages blowing in from RF at 12-20 mph basically every night. Still like him a lot.
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WIth Moran, I’ll take the loss in power if everything else was good. We have enough alleged power hitters here…I’ll take some OBP, please.
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Yes – I’m sick of so many guys hitting close or below .200 or OBP below .300 – even with grading Moran down I would use him instead of Valbuena.
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Wasn’t Fisher drafted in the same 2014 draft as A.J. Reed was?? Both were exceptional players in college.
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Heard the radio interview Luhnow had on 790 this morning. Got news for you………..Carlos Gomez ain’t going anywhere. Told ya.
A caller by the name of “Cujo” read Luhnow the riot act about Hinch AND the players.
It’s on the Crawfish Boxes Web site.
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I believe he is going somewhere by August the 1st, unless he’s so bad that we can’t even get a low minors prospect for him. They are not going to release him.
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I listened to the entire audio and not once did he say Gomez isn’t going anywhere. He was very upfront that Gomez has to start hitting, obviously, but the main thing I heard, and I agree, is that we don’t have any better alternatives right now. Unfortunately, that’s the truth and we just need Gomez to be an average hitter, which he is well capable of doing.
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So my question would be how did we get to where a 9 million dollar bust like Gomez,is our best option????????????????
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Of course not Tim……he didn’t HAVE to say it, that $9 mill Crane is paying him said it for him!
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If your trying to sell someone in a trade you don’t talk bad about them. You lie while smiling.
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That, Becky, and the fact that he is still the best option (Marisnick is actually worse than Gomez). You can put words into Luhnow’s mouth, but your just making assumptions without merit. That’s fine, but I just want to make that point clear.
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Jake is capable of hitting just as well as Gomez. And on the plus side, he’s better defensively. And to top that off, I feel like he’s a better club house presence.
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First, there is no evidence to support that Gomez is a clubhouse cancer other than frustrated fans running rampant with this ridiculous supposition. Second, Gomez was a beast in September and October last year so it wasn’t like it has been eons since he performed for us. We just have to hope he gets back to that player, or something relatively close. Lastly, there is nothing to support Marisnick is, or ever will be, as good an offensive player as Gomez can be…nothing!
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Agreed, Marisnick is not the answer. Gomez has had lots of major league success in the past. Marisnick has had one hot month his short career and been bad the rest.
That said, it’s just not true to say they have no other options when they have 3 centerfielders on their major league roster, with generally all 3 in the lineup every night. I understand they are trying to solidify Springer as their RF’er forever, a poor choice in my mind, but you can easily shift Rasmus over and start playing some Tucker in LF just to sit Gomez some.
I’ll repeat what I said before – I would continue to give Gomez time to improve, he could just be sitting in his first prolonged slump. The guy feels as much pressure as we feel in frustration about his performance. If he can throw together a few 2 hit games, pop a homerun, he might bounce out of it. It’s also possible that he has gotten old enough that he can’t live off talent alone anymore and become a bust. I would also start playing the matchup game and give Tucker 2-3 games a week in LF against righties that aren’t great matchups for Gomez to help get his confidence back up.
What I have lost confidence is Luhnow’s ability to trade. He has been fleeced multiple times now. I said two years ago VV was Cy Young material, I said at the beginning of this season that VV could win one as soon as 2018, and I guess he read that and said watch this.
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Fair enough, Steven, as I have advocated giving Tucker some starts in LF, especially against hard-throwing RHs that are very difficult for Gomez. However, Tucker in LF, even at MMP and the Crawford Boxes behind him, is not a viable long-term solution. He’s just not a good defensive OFer. The occasional start for Tucker in the OF is fine, but he is best suited as the DH.
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Yes, he was the #37 pick that year as a supplemental pick and Reed was taken with the first pick of the second round which was pick #42. Aiken was #1 and his demise led us to get Bregman in 2015.
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He may ssed most of 2014 NCAA with an injury – wrist I believe. His power didn’t around until 2015. If he can make more reliable contact he could be a good one.
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DeLino deShields is headed back to the minor leagues. Matt Bush is heading for Arlington and the Big Show.
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Is that the former #1 overall Matt Bush who crashed and burned?
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He was a burning bush for awhile; but I guess he is bush league no more.
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Gomez is DH tonight…..Ha! Ha! Ha!!!!
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lol…that’s like using Tyler White as a pinch runner.
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I don’t know Billy. I think Tyler White might win that matchup.
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Becky, Billy, and Nance. Y’all have made my day.
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Chris Carter’s average is down to .248 and over the last 10 games he is hitting 0.184 with 3 HRs, but none in the past 7 games. This is not to pick on Carter, but just to show that Milwaukee is finding out what we already knew…Chris Carter is a very streaky hitter. It won’t surprise me if he finishes the season around .210. Also, Domingo Santana, over the past 10 games, is hitting .227 with 1 HR. I like Santana and think he will be a serviceable major leaguer, but as with most young players they go through slumps, but few as prolonged as Carlos Gomez’s slump.
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I’d gladly take Santana back fit Gomez
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Me too Sandy!
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Last year I was from time to time heard to bemoan the fact that game after game Mr. Hinch just kept trotting out players who were struggling to hit the Mendoza line. Our average BA was often .25 or .30 points per player below that of the players on most of the teams we faced.
Fast-forward a year, and now not only are we still regularly trotting out Mendoza line guys like Valbuena, Gomez, Gattis [when he’s here], Tucker [in his present badly mismanaged form], and Castro, now we see Mr. Hinch regularly trotting out players who would have to double or triple their average to get close to the Mendoza line.
Looking at the disparity in BAs in the Boston line-up vis-a-vis ours, we should not even be playing in the same league. Boston has 5 full-time starters that are hitting over .300. We have one. And after Altuve, nobody in our line-up is currently even sniffing .275. THAT IS EMBARRASSING.
It should be obvious to the FO that our offensive approach needs a total makeover. The only personnel changes we need are that Kratz, Marisnick, Gomez, and Valbuena – and Gattis, upon recall – need to be gone. Those in that list that we can’t trade for prospects to replenish our devastated farm system we need to either DFA [Kratz] or relegate to use solely as late-inning defensive replacements, pinch runners, and/or last ditch ‘match-up’ pinch-hitters. If a veteran is going to hit like a minor leaguer, we might as well let minor leaguers [guys like Stassi, Moran, and Kemp] have a shot to see if they can come up and hit like major leaguers.
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Kudos I felt like I was watching a good MLB team playing a AAA team.
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Absolutely correct, Mr Bill. Crane is a bust building a team. Period.
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You are absolutely correct Mr. Bill. Our philosophy on hitting stunk last year and it stinks again this year. BA does still matter. It is flat out embarrassing when they show the BAs of each team’s lineup on the screen. What did our FO do? They decided to show other statistics such as OPS to try to trick the uninformed in to thinking they were seeing batting averages….
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I’m sorry, Nance, but OPS is and always will be valued more than batting average. Teams value, rightfully, so guys that can get on base and hit for power. This is a big reason why Kemp is not seen as an elite prospect for the Astros. He’s a nice player who gets on base, but has zero power and normally this doesn’t translate well in the major leagues.
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Never said OPS wasn’t a valuable statistic.
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Batting average isn’t really a valuable statistic. That was my point.
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As I look at it, BA is the most valuable stat as an indicator until the BA reaches .250; after that magic number is reached, OPS becomes more important. For a position player other than a catcher, a SS, or a team’s worst hitting OF, a BA below .250 virtually always means management needs to be looking feverishly for a replacement. You just have to hit your way on base at least 1/4 of at bats to be a good major league player. If you walk or get EBHs too, that defines how much of a plus you are for your team.
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You need to combine it with other variables. OBP is a bit overvalued right now because we think we also can ignore the other variables. If you want to focus on a single at bat producing runs, average is a better indicator because a hit can score runners in more ways. If you want to aggregate over all at bats, OBP wins out because not making an out improves your odds of scoring more runs in an inning.
There are always exceptions though. Take that last CLE game as an example. All the walks were less useful because no one could get a hit with RISP.
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Batting average is as relevant a stat to hitters as wins are to a pitcher.
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The painful part is past, present, and future failure. We can only hope that when Crane is forced to sell, someone doesn’t buy this team and move it.
I’ve lost all hope for this organization. Yep, you were right Bo.
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Your attitude will change, just like it does with every fan, once they return to winning baseball. Winning always solves the fans frustrations. I will always be an Astros fan and I still have faith that the upper management of this team has the right idea. They just made some moves that haven’t worked out, but they have drafted and developed well. It’s not like we are the 2010 Astros again.
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Really.
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I still have confidence that the Astros can win this division. The players need to concentrate on one series at a time. Win a series, move to the next.
Management needs to concentrate on preparing their pitchers a little better, and trying to get starters to throw a few more strikes and not stretch out these middle relievers.
They were 13-17 in Sept/Oct last year. Not quite as bad as April part of May this year, but you can survive and still win, but the winning has to start now. They need another 15-7 streak like last April. We can lament the results so far offensively, but we still have Correa, Altuve, Springer, Rasmus and company, and it only takes 2-3 hitters getting hot together to start one, if the pitching improves. If it doesn’t, its a doomed season regardless of what the hitters do. Can’t win when the expectation is every night the starter is gonna get pulled sometime in the 6th after giving up 5.
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In case you haven’t heard, Alex Bregman is starting at 3rd base tonight for CC.
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Keegan Yuhl is being sent out to face Frisco tonight, and the Rangers AA club is 23-9, in first place, and hot as a pistol. Their CF, Ryan Cordell, is slashing .365/.415/1.128 with 8 HRs and 31 RBIs. Their 1B, Ronald Guzman, is slashing.339/.405/.965, with 5 HRs and 19 RBIs. Even their catcher, Alex Burg, is slashing .288/.343/.869 with 3 HRs and 15 RBIs!
If Keegan can calm those bats, I’ll be impressed.
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Alex Burg? Isn’t he the character from Seinfeld that gave Jerry the tickets to the N.Y. Rangers playoff game against the Devils?
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Bregman single, Gattis dinger have CC up by 2. And Keegan struck out Cordell in Cordell’s first AB.
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Score one for Cordell. Two run homer ties the game for Frisco. The dude is a beast.
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So far, the offense is clicking in Corpus, and Evan Gattis is in the middle of it. RBI single from Vazquez drives in Evan. 2 run double off the bat of Chase McDonald puts the Hooks up by 3. Hooks are still batting, with one out and McDonald on 2nd.
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Note to Mr. Hinch:
In case you haven’t noticed, the guy you slotted in to play CF tonight is hitting .048, with a .091 OBP and a .139 OPS. Just thought you should know.
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Correction. After one at-bat the dude’s BA is now a whopping .045. I’ll keep you updated.
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