Brice Matthews 1-9 with 4 strikeouts so far in A- I really wish we had gone in a different direction but I understand the upside
That is highly optimistic. In my opinion he is not so much our best pitching prospect as he is the nearest to the majors. Proximity does not make him a legitimate solution, but he should get the first shot. I think he is a potential #4 starter and at this point he is probably best utilized as a long reliever.
No - at least not yet IMO. If the baseball development staff felt he was ready he would already be up. Then again I have been wrong about France, but he at least was having a strong start to the minor league year when brought up. Spencer is throwing 93-95 on his fastball that can be flat but has a really late hop that fools hitters. He has a sweeper that has become a pretty good second pitch. He doesn’t have good enough control or command at this point IMO. He walking like 4-5 per 9 innings. Further, his curve and change up are meh. I think he could potentially be a nasty reliever because he could throw all fastballs and sliders and he can dial up the fastball up to 97-98. To me he is more of someone that starts next year in AAA where he can focus on his control/command.
He isn’t as talented as Garcia. His stuff is better than Urquidy and France and Bielak, but he doesn’t have good enough command yet. I think he has real value - but I like his profile as a reliever.
From what I've read, I like this guy more than I like Arrighetti. The Stros could use another really good reliever.
I like Gordon best among our pitching prospects. I wouldn't be surprised if some rankings have him top 50 overal after the season he has had assuming he continues dominating.
In the same basket as guys like Arrighetti, Urquidy etc. He isn’t going to impress anyone on the radar gun and he doesn’t have a lot of wow moments. However his fastball has a lot of late movement and he adjusts his release point during games. He has one tough off speed pitch. He has excellent command though and with a good defense behind him - command goes a long way in 2023.
Jose Luis Varela walked three and struck out 8 in 2.2 scoreless and hitless innings for the DSL Orange team. Varela, an 18-year-old Mexican RHP, was born in Wichita Falls, but his family moved to Chihuahua, Mexico after he was born. He now has 56 strikeouts in 34 innings (10 appearances, 2 starts) this season.
I'm just talking about replacing the production, which was a 3.8 ERA a year ago. I could see that. When thinking of guys to compare him to, another Astros 6th rounder came to mind... Bud Norris. Similar strengths and weaknesses. Both probably getting a little better prospect love from fans being the best of a weaker group of pitching prospects.
Norris is a good comp. There looks to be a group of pitchers that are just as talented as Arrighetti in AA.
Saying someone is a 4 or a 3 is really subjective. I think he will be a quality major league pitcher but that’s betting on the Astors track record as much as anything.
Luis Angel Rodriguez was moved up to Asheville from Fayetteville. Rodriguez was a minor league Rule 5 pick from the Cubs this past offseason; he went 1-0 with 2 saves and a 1.27 ERA in 8 appearances (3 starts, 35.1 IP total) for the Woodpeckers. He allowed 19 hits (1 HR), walked 17, and struck out 48; opponents were hitting .158 off of him. At 23 going on 24, Asheville should be an appropriate challenge for him age-wise. Zack Matthews was released from Asheville; he signed as an undrafted free agent out of OU in 2020.
Seeing Matthews being released made me do a double take before I remembered that Brice was the recent draft pick. Looks like everyone from the draft is now on rosters. All of the 4 year hitters are in Fayetteville, except Deming (smallest bonus a draftee got) and Sherwin (UDFA).
