Ethan Pecko was the only pitcher age 23 or younger in AAA last season who had >12 k/9 and <4bb/9 (min 15 ip). I’m really surprised he didn’t get a ST invite and there hasn’t been more hype around him.
https://www.mlb.com/astros/news/ast...discusses-farm-system?t=mlb-pipeline-coverage One of the least informative interviews I’ve ever read. Basically: “Is the farm system better than advertised?” “Yes, we think so.” “Will the farm get better after the next draft?” “Yes, we think so.” “How does Xavier Neyens look?” “He’s adjusting. We’ll see.” “What do you want to improve?” “New ideas.” “Like, what new ideas?” “Nothing specific.” I sure hope MacTaggert didn’t spend too much time writing that.
Alvarez’s swing looked quicker there than other clips I’ve seen. He obviously has great bat control and swing path, but other clips I felt like his bat looked slow, but not on that clip. I also thought Kyle Tucker’s swing looked slow and that ended up being fine.
List of young hitters I think legitimately have enough power to hit 30+ HR at peak of everything goes right: Zach Dezenzo Shay Whitcomb Cam Smith Will Bush Luis Baez Caden Powell Ethan Frey Anthony Huezo Justin Thomas Nick Monistere Tyler Whitaker Xavier Neyens Nehomar Ochoa Jase Mitchell Kevin Alvarez Eduardo Perez Most of those guys wil strike out too much to ever reach the majors much less hit that many HR, but there is a lot of power in Houston’s system right now. If you lowered the bar to 25 HR there’s probably another 5-10 guys you could add (like Joseph Sullivan).
