2026 Astros Spring Training Thread

Astros sure aren’t scared of guys who whiff a lot as long as they have bat speed.

 

I think he was originally supposed to miss a few weeks in August, and now here we are with the same timeline in February. I would be skeptical that "a few weeks" is actually a few weeks.

 

Yep. I think the Astros saw bat speed as cheaper relative to contact, and just stocked up in the discount aisle with only one or two costing a high pick/price. Early under Luhnow, the Astros stocked up on a lot of no contact power guys, but it was the same reason for the most part...they were cheap and the Astros won more than a team of their budget should. I think the Astros still value contact, but it is harder to get these days especialy after the Astros turned their team around with high contact, decent to good power guys.

My guess is that the Astros are just sifting through dirt trying to find gold. Maybe it fails. Maybe it doesn't.

 

Not entirely sure it is shifting through dirt -- Brown really likes bat speed and quick wrists. That isn't to say that he doesn't value tools outside of that, but he looks at bat speed and athleticism heavily when look at amateur players - and does something similar with pitching. That is a big reason he took Matthews in the 1st round when was seen as a 2nd rounder by a lot of people. It is part of why he wanted Cam Smith so badly, and why they took Neyens #1 in 2025.

No idea if it will work -- but having really good bat speed is a huge cushion for mistakes, and plate discipline and even contact to a point can be improved with experience and coaching. It is very frustrating as a fan to watch a guy swing and miss over half the time though. Zach Cole is one of the oddest players I have even seen from a skill standpoint though, he can absolutely crush baseballs and not always on pitches and locations that should result in hard hit balls. It shows how special truly great players are -- because Cole has like 90% of what is needed, but that 10% he lacks could keep him from even being a big leaguer beyond this season.

 

He is 28 years old.
And he has played for 4 teams.
That is all I will say

I'm not hating on him, but if he was more than a JAG I think he would have been established by now
Your mileage may vary.

Just my opinion

 

Maybe dirt isn't the right way to put it. The Astros are placing more value on bat speed than other teams, in general, which has led to the Astros ending up with a lot of high bat speed players with other weaknesses. Basically, the Astros are trying to find undervalued assets in a Moneyball like fashion.

I'm just not sure if they are correct or not.

 

I will say that despite the high k%

There is hope for some of these young guys (matthews , smith, cole) based on their approach.

We gotta make sure they aren't listening to yainer

Our original toolsy prospect for our chip runs was springer . He swung out of his shoes at times , but eventually developed a strong approach and had great walk rates eventually started striking out less.

Gotta keep developing our eyes and putting together good at bats .

I also think that springer was a better athlete at call up to when he left than almost any other astro. He was like 24-5 when he got called up tho , so guys like cam and matthews have a couple more years to challenge him

Pena just put together a great athletic season .

Honestly Bryce may be too small .

Cam is springers size tho

 

Trammell is a MLB #5 OF. If he starts more than 25% of the games, the Astros will be having some issues.

 

If we could get a great reliever for meyers I'm not at all opposed to having trammell be a stopgap at CF while Cole and Smith and Matthews get some burn there

 

Blueballs getting shredded

 

Trade him now while his ST stock is high

 

I’ve been a big Diaz supporter, because I never want a black hole hitting catcher again, but man it is frustrating that he can’t seem to get his swing at everything approach changed. Hope one of the recent draft picks can replace him before we have to pay him.

 

When is Yordan gonna play? Why tf is he sitting out? Precautionary?

I want him mashing when the season starts. Can’t have him working out kinks in April. The team isn’t good enough for that luxury anymore.

Not saying he has a bad April every year. Just saying I want him in peak-ish form on opening day.

 

JR posted the tweets above when everyone’s playing. He’s not playing until next week.

 

Word. My bad.

I withdraw my half-cocked tantrum and submit that I will read threads first in the future.

 

this forum would cease to be with that kind of decorum

 

4 stolen bases in 9 PAs for Cole. That pretty good for 3 partial games with no hits at all.

If all his walks turn into stolen bases and his hits are for homeruns, I don't care if he bats .200.

 

Yep with his baserunning and defense and walks, he could be easily be a 2+ win player even with a really low batting average.