The Stros were very much in on Luis Robert back in the day as well...it happens. The Bonus Babies haven't really panned out for the Stros in the past few years. Yet?
Waner Luciano hit his 9th home run of the season down in the FCL while Victor Diaz and Juan Santander both hit their 4th home runs as the FCL squad beat the Nationals 12-4. Will Bush had a couple of RBI singles. Sandy Mejia allowed four hits and struck out seven over 4.1 scoreless; the 19-year-old Dominican has impressed in his US debut, going 2-1 with two saves and a 1.05 ERA in 11 appearances (1 start, 25.1 IP total). Mejia has 39 strikeouts and a .128 opponent average.
Both DSL teams lost today; Camilo Diaz (4) and Rafael Ramirez (1) homered for the Blue team. Rafael Ramirez was a January 15 signing last year and he came on as a shortstop, but he's mostly played 3B since turning pro. He has the required arm strength to play on the left side of the infield. In the international reviews piece, Ben Badler said he could have "average to plus power" when he fills out. Ramirez's pro debut was a slog as he only hit .153/.250/.250 with 3 home runs and 17 RBI in 53 games last year for the DSL Blue team. Sandro Pereira went 2-5 with a triple and a run scored for the Orange team. Engel Daniel Peralta allowed one hit and struck out five in three scoreless innings; Peralta now has 56 strikeouts in 33.2 innings this season.
National ranking of the system is obviously flawed. For year after year, the system has produced quality guys that have either won or were in the running for rookie of the year. So even though it does not have 5 star blue chips, it’s producing enough to sustain ML excellence.
The purpose of the minor leagues is to help the major league club win games. The Astros have been very, very good at that for a while now. The purpose of the minor league prospect rankings is to generate clicks and discussion and ad revenue. Everyone can figure out which is more important on their own.
