"I've never even in high school had a stretch like that," Whitley said. "I had a lot of adrenaline. That was the first time in a game situation in about a month. I felt really good, I felt like all my stuff was working, at least in those first three innings. I kind of blew it out those first three innings. Then the fourth inning came and I kind of ran out of gas. I barely went into the fourth or fifth inning this year at all, so it was good to go out there for the fourth inning and learn from that." "I got the runner on and I feel like I tried to do too much, trying to use the slide step," Whitley said. "I know Daz (Cameron) is a great runner, so I wanted to keep him there. I thought I got him there, but unfortunately they called a balk. I was just rushing out of the slide step. I hadn't worked out of the slide step for the entirety of the ballgame to that point. That's another thing to work on going forward, to get more effective and efficient like that."
All 6 Astros AFL guys showing well in the early going. I assume Drew Ferguson is on the taxi squad and won’t play much. Ronnie Dawson is firmly in potential breakout territory. Reports on his defense seem to be getting more and more positive. If he ends up projected as a solid defensive CF the odds of him being an impact major leaguer go up dramatically. For some context, Dawson hit 16 HR last season in 119 games; only 16 big league CF hit more than that this season, and all but one of them (Odubel Herrera) were worth at least 2 fWAR. And only 6 of those guys had positive defensive fWAR.
Dawson has always had 55-60 raw power, but his hit tool and approach have always needed refinement and he's been considered a raw toolsy athlete since he was drafted. Coming from a colder weather state, he could be a late bloomer.
Ferguson deserves a chance in MLB but it won't be us, since we're so stacked. I can see him being the 4th or 5th player in a trade, a la Jason Martin last year.
I actually think Ferguson is a great candidate to be on Houston’s 40 man for 3 years as basically a 5th or 6th OF; a guy who hopefully spends the entire season in the minors optioned each year, but if you need him you know he can handle himself. Can play all 3 positions and not a disaster at the plate. I don’t see any team wanting him in trade since he’s probably a pretty low ceiling guy. Martin had a bit more upside.
I don't see Kemp or Straw as starters, so in my mind, they're already 4th and 5th guys. You've still got Tucker, Reddick, Springer, Fisher, and Marisnick next year (none of whom are eligible for free agency for a couple of years), and that doesn't include Marwin. If a couple of those guys get moved, maybe he sneaks in... otherwise, I don't see it. JD Davis even played some left field in a pinch.
The action (downward + fade) depends on his grip, but a change thrown that hard serves essentially the same purpose as a forkball/splitter as long as his arm speed/release is the same. It also could have been a slider that JB just took something off of to get different movement and it got mischaracterized. Dunno.
It breaks the wrong way for a slider, statcast labeled it a 2-seam FB. McCullers averaged 7 mph separation on his change-up, even if he gets some nasty run on it, it'll probably be more like Martes' change than McCullers if he can't get some more separation.
Thanks. That's the "fade" I was talking about then. Would love to know his grip, but you know, not like personally or anything.
I don’t think you actually read my comment. I said I see him as a guy who spends the next 3 years in the minors. Tucker and Straw are the only guys you mentioned who have options remaining.
Fisher and Kemp too. If they have an extra spot on the 40 man, sure, give Ferguson a shot. I haven’t studied it that closely, but given our minor league depth, I’ve assumed 40 man spots were at a premium. Otherwise, he’s about the 5th or 6th option for ~2 backup outfielder slots on the big league roster in the next two years (given Reddick and Springer are under contract, and either Tucker will claim the 3rd spot, or they’ll keep Marwin or both). And I’m not sure he’d even be an option ahead of JD Davis if we actually were in that position, or a call up of Yordan Alvarez. I just don’t see a need to protect Ferguson unless either they think they can trade him, or plan to clear out some of the backup outfielders via trade.
I'm pretty sure Jake has an option for next year. Kemp does not, nor does White. I could be wrong, it's happened once or twice.
According to MLB, he had two option left before 2018 season. He will have less than 5 years service so he should have 1 option left. However, he hits 5 years MLB service next year after 30 days in majors.
According to the transactions section of his mlb profile page, he has used 3 option seasons, in 2014, 2016, and 2018. Unless there’s something I don’t understand about the option rules (totally possible), he can’t be sent down after this season without clearing waivers.
