Dang, always sad to see TJS for any pitcher, let alone one of our own. The good news is that he is so young, that even with a 2 year delay, he can still return and be a great pitcher. Best of luck to him!
Ouch. Pretty big blow for the Astros. His stock was already falling, now he’ll be an afterthought in Houston’s long term plan. The pressure for Whitley to pan out is immense.
Notably playing in that game were Alfredi Jimenez who was promoted from the DSL squad after a dominant season, and Matt Ruppenthal, who was rehabbing from an injury. Ruppenthal was reported to be a possible breakout player before his injury.
I've never had high hopes for Martes. This actually, oddly, makes me somewhat more optimistic about him going forward. Some guys come back better from TJ surgery. It pushes the pause button on his career. Gives him time to re-evaluate and re-invent himself coming back. That's absurdly glass half full stuff, but it's how I'm going to choose to take this news.
Nova has 9 HR in 290 career AB. That’s really encouraging, especially considering reports on his defense have been pretty good. His low walk rate has been the main area of concern. But if he adds power as he gets older and is able to stay at SS, he will be an extremely high ceiling prospect. There are only 4 SS in MLB who have hit 20+ HR this season (Lindor, Machado, Story, Gregorius) and they have all been worth at least 3.5 fWAR this year. Really hoping Nova is placed at QC next season.
J.B. Bukauskas cruised through seven innings today for Buies Creek; he allowed a hit, walked one, and struck out five.
Nova hitting .298 with a .452 SLG in rookie ball as an 18 year old is very impressive. As much as it feels like a lost season for Bukauskas, a few more solid starts to close the season and he should still be ready for AA next season, which isn't very far behind where we expected him to be. It should also still have him in play to possibly help the big league club in 2019.
This is great news. JB's on-the-field performance is matching his scouting report projections. JB's performance should lock him as a Top 10 Prospect on the rise.
Alex McKenna was promoted to Quad Cities. Early returns from the draft pretty strong. wRC+/fip for each pick with level: Beer 118 A+ Schroeder 3.06 Rk Pena 98 A- McKenna 181 A- Deason 3.66 A- Freure 3.59 A- Salazar 170 A Hanson 2.97 A- Schreiber 73 A Taylor 121 A Conine 2.69 A- Moclair 3.09 A- Dubin 4.98 A- France 0.68 A- Dawson 113 A- Holderbach 84 A- Daniels 5.13 A- Wielansky 91 A- Conn 4.89 A- Dennis 97 A- Costes 112 A Bermudez 4.11 Rk Figueroa 3.83 Rk Mattix 43 A Hensley 81 A Paulino 98 Rk Gonzalez 1.60 Rk Henderson 6.70 A- Cabral 4.40 A- Billingsly 3.33 A-
