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Post by thomasj13 on Apr 29, 2024 7:11:19 GMT -6
I saw somewhere that our AAA team has the best record...? How do you figure? They’re 9-19! |
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Post by unionstation82 on Apr 29, 2024 12:02:40 GMT -6
I saw somewhere that our AAA team has the best record...? How do you figure? They’re 9-19! 🥁 |
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Post by Ashitaka on Apr 29, 2024 20:41:04 GMT -6
I saw somewhere that our AAA team has the best record...? They are 19-8 which is the best of all AAA teams. A bunch of other teams actually have better winning percentages, but they are teams below AAA which started later and so have a lot fewer games played. |
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Post by Ashitaka on Apr 30, 2024 3:36:00 GMT -6
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Post by Ashitaka on May 9, 2024 11:03:29 GMT -6
theathletic.com/5480959/2024/05/09/astros-pedro-leon-success-triple-a-future/?source=emp_shared_article&redirected=1SUGAR LAND, Texas — Growth isn’t measured in the mammoth home runs Houston Astros prospect Pedro León is launching in a hitters’ haven. Few ever questioned his power, and the Pacific Coast League is a perfect environment to showcase it. Across his first 31 games, León already has hit three home runs farther than 470 feet. One April 30 traveled an estimated 505 feet. Twenty-four days earlier, a 3-foot groundball better illustrated León’s long road to a real approach. The Sugar Land Space Cowboys clung to a one-run lead in the sixth inning and the bases were loaded while León fell behind 1-2. “Previous years, he’s down (1-2) and we’re kind of sitting there like, ‘Oh, my God: Don’t chase, don’t swing at something, don’t help them,’” Sugar Land manager Mickey Storey said. Added hitting coach Aaron Westlake: “Last year, he even knew it, there were times where it just felt like he was a sure out because he would get himself out.” León made his Triple-A debut in 2021. Teams across the league are aware of his aggressive tendencies, so it’s little surprise he saw an elevated fastball. For once, León did not chase it. The cutter that followed tailed toward the bottom of León’s strike zone. He had to swing, but still managed to make contact. Power is one of León’s most prominent traits, but becoming infatuated with it can create bad habits. León’s swing grew too long and he became susceptible to high fastballs and breaking balls down and away. Too often, he sold out for power when situations simply required contact. Here, he faced another. The baseball exited León’s bat at just 66.7 mph, but it bounced in play. A groundout to third base allowed an insurance run to score and passed the baton to Sugar Land’s next hitter, a sequence Houston’s major-league lineup can’t master but León has learned is so valuable. “The metric boards aren’t going to light up, but when you spend so much time with a player and see that,” Storey said with a grin, “it’s been great to see him be good because we know how good he can be.” The Astros signed León for $4 million during the 2021 international signing period and, in a team news release, proclaimed him “an everyday center fielder” as well as a “rapid mover to the big leagues.” Four years and 346 professional games later, the 25-year-old León remains in Triple A. It’s proof that player development is not linear. An ill-fated attempt to cross-train him as an infielder delayed some of his development. So did myriad injuries, be it a fractured pinky, facial fracture or sports hernia. León is back to playing exclusively outfield, which Westlake surmised is “a huge relief off his shoulders.” León’s first 127 at-bats of this season show it, offering hope he is close to actualizing the Astros’ enormous expectations. Another home run Wednesday gave him six in 31 games, but León’s more measured approach is exciting those in the organization far more than any power he displays. He has shortened his swing to create more contact and fix some flaws with his bat path. That he’s swinging even less is a welcomed sign for both Storey and Westlake. “For him, just being able to make contact is huge because he hits some of the hardest balls in all of baseball, not just the minor leagues,” Westlake said. “If he can just get the barrel to the ball, good things happen to him.” León awoke Wednesday with a 22.7 percent chase rate in his first 30 games. Last season, León swung outside the strike zone 31.2 percent of the time. He has slashed his strikeout rate from 28.4 percent to 23.4, bumping his on-base percentage from .343 last season to .382 in this one. “He’s going up there and he’s not swinging at the first thing he sees. He gets in a hitter’s count and it’s not ‘auto swing’ where, in years prior, a pitcher gets behind 2-0 you could almost guarantee he was swinging, no matter what,” Storey said. “He’s taking the pitches he should take and swinging at the ones he should. This is the numbers and the metrics turning on us. If he does what we’ve been trying to get him to do and he does what he knows he needs to do, this is what we get. We get a player that’s capable of hitting over .300 and hitting 30 home runs.” León will enter Thursday’s game with a .299 batting average and on pace to hit 29 home runs, a torrid start to a pivotal season. León is Rule 5 draft-eligible for the first time this winter, meaning Houston must put him on the 40-man roster if it wants to protect him from selection. Sustaining this performance almost guarantees León will be added, but Houston’s horrific start to the season prompts wonder whether it might be more immediate. The Astros’ center field situation is as unsettled as when León arrived in 2021, so much so that general manager Dana Brown bemoaned its lack of production during an interview with MLB Network on Tuesday. Entering Wednesday’s game against the New York Yankees, Houston had extracted 0.6 wins above replacement from its center fielders, according to FanGraphs. Just nine teams received more value. The position produced a .717 OPS — ninth highest in baseball — and is worth three outs above average defensively, according to Baseball Savant. Only four teams were worth more outs above average in center field. Houston has far bigger problems than paltry production in center field, but Brown’s singling the position out does invite curiosity about whether he might initiate a shakeup. The team already acted with urgency to fix its black hole at first base by adding power-hitting prospect Joey Loperfido to the active roster in place of declining veteran José Abreu. Loperfido is one of four players to start in center field this season. Jake Meyers has made a team-high 18 starts. Mauricio Dubón has 12, but the Astros value Dubón far more as a utilityman they can use at multiple positions. Chas McCormick can contribute in center field, too, but he’s on the injured list with a hamstring issue. Brown resisted trading Meyers this offseason before committing to him as an everyday player during the Winter Meetings. Manager Joe Espada hasn’t treated him as one, turning center field into a timeshare. That both the Seattle Mariners and Yankees have run with almost no regard for Meyers’ throwing arm in center field during the last two series is problematic, too. Meyers still entered Wednesday’s game with a 116 OPS+ in 67 plate appearances, far too minuscule a sample for overreaction. McCormick’s return from the injured list will provide Espada with another avenue to create more production. If none arrives, and León sustains his early success, it’s easy to envision a path for change. “Knowing Pedro, he’s a little bit freer right now,” Storey said. “It could be the adjustment to the league — this is Year 4 in this league — it could be health. It could be a number of things, but he’s playing very free baseball right now.”
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Post by Saint on May 9, 2024 11:30:49 GMT -6
I'd be willing to give Leon a shot, why not?
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Post by Ashitaka on May 9, 2024 12:34:37 GMT -6
I'd be willing to give Leon a shot, why not? No reason not to at this point. |
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Post by Ashitaka on May 14, 2024 14:54:01 GMT -6
MLB.com updated their Top 100 prospect list and Jacob Melton is at 74. "When the Astros were negotiating the Justin Verlander trade with the Mets last summer, they preferred to give up Top 100 prospects Drew Gilbert and Ryan Clifford so they could hold onto Melton." www.mlb.com/prospects/top100/jacob-melton-689200 |
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Post by Ashitaka on May 19, 2024 14:12:11 GMT -6
Jacob Melton this month (prior to today's game): .326/.375/.488, 2 HR, 4 SB
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Post by Ashitaka on May 21, 2024 15:09:52 GMT -6
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Post by ɮօʀȶǟʐ on May 21, 2024 16:18:21 GMT -6
Are you using this functionality for your X links and it's just not working, or are you just pasting in the URL into the text box?  |
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Post by Ashitaka on May 21, 2024 21:43:08 GMT -6
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Post by Ashitaka on May 22, 2024 12:00:16 GMT -6
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Post by Ashitaka on May 22, 2024 12:01:31 GMT -6
Are you using this functionality for your X links and it's just not working, or are you just pasting in the URL into the text box? I've always just pasted the URL into the body of the post and it's worked. Now I tried using the actual embed tool. It looks like it's going to work but then it doesn't show up in the post, as you can see in the two test posts above this one. |
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Post by ɮօʀȶǟʐ on May 22, 2024 18:17:45 GMT -6
Are you using this functionality for your X links and it's just not working, or are you just pasting in the URL into the text box? I've always just pasted the URL into the body of the post and it's worked. Now I tried using the actual embed tool. It looks like it's going to work but then it doesn't show up in the post, as you can see in the two test posts above this one. Hopefully they'll patch it. |
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Post by thomasj13 on May 22, 2024 21:05:27 GMT -6
I've always just pasted the URL into the body of the post and it's worked. Now I tried using the actual embed tool. It looks like it's going to work but then it doesn't show up in the post, as you can see in the two test posts above this one. Hopefully they'll patch it. Patches? We don’t need no stinkin Patches!!! |
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Post by Ashitaka on Jun 1, 2024 17:37:35 GMT -6
Brice Matthews has two homers in his two AB so far tonight.
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Post by Ashitaka on Jun 6, 2024 19:19:56 GMT -6
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Post by ɮօʀȶǟʐ on Jun 7, 2024 22:46:51 GMT -6
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Post by Ashitaka on Jun 15, 2024 10:57:19 GMT -6
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Post by thomasj13 on Jun 17, 2024 5:14:06 GMT -6
When do Shay Whitcomb and Pedro Leon get promoted to the majors? After the trade deadline?
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Post by ɮօʀȶǟʐ on Jun 17, 2024 15:13:57 GMT -6
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Post by Ashitaka on Jun 17, 2024 19:38:30 GMT -6
Must have finally given up on the bat. No idea why else they would release a guy who can play C, 1B, 2B, and 3B considering the state of the farm. |
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Post by Ashitaka on Jun 17, 2024 19:41:18 GMT -6
When do Shay Whitcomb and Pedro Leon get promoted to the majors? After the trade deadline? If they are out of it and deal Bregman at the deadline, you could see Whitcomb then (or Wagner). Likewise if they dealt Chas or Meyers (or Tucker) at the deadline, Leon might come up, though they might give Loperfido first crack as a regular. As of now, though, neither Leon or Whitcomb is a clear upgrade over the guys they are already running out there. They could be, but they're still hoping for a turnaround, to compete, or at least to restore trade value, from the regulars. |
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Post by Ashitaka on Jun 17, 2024 19:42:13 GMT -6
Brice Matthews has been promoted to AA! He has really caught fire recently, hitting, walking, stealing, and showing power. Strikeout rate is a little high but he looks ready for the next challenge.
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Post by Ashitaka on Jun 21, 2024 21:06:41 GMT -6
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Post by Ashitaka on Jun 21, 2024 21:09:47 GMT -6
Another potential Bregman replacement, Will Wagner is hitting .374 with 20 walks against just 11 strikeouts since the start of May.
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Post by kyledriver1980 on Jun 21, 2024 21:44:20 GMT -6
Brice Matthews has been promoted to AA! He has really caught fire recently, hitting, walking, stealing, and showing power. Strikeout rate is a little high but he looks ready for the next challenge. Heard he has started his AA stint well! |
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Post by Saint on Jun 21, 2024 22:09:19 GMT -6
Need to let Dana keep doing his thing with these drafts.
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Post by inaltuvewetrust on Jun 22, 2024 5:59:03 GMT -6
Need to let Dana keep doing his thing with these drafts. Agreed. So far he seems to be very good at that. Bloss, Brice Matthews, etc.. |
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