C- Jason Castro Showing he can hit with some pop this year. When he was drafted, I thought we'd be lucky to get .275/10hr/65rbi. 1B- Jonathan Singleton No brainer here. Singleton should be a 25-30 hr type guy who draws walks. 2B- Jose Altuve Probably been our most consistent guy the past 3 years. Hope he sticks around. 3B- Carlos Correa Correa should be able to stay at SS, but Rio Ruiz hasn't done squat yet at LoA and honestly, I wasn't too happy with Ruiz at that pick. Ruiz didn't put up monster stats in highschool, granted he played against very good competition, but for someone given $1.85M, I'd expect them to hit more than 3hr in a high school season. Correa is still growing and developing, and I think his 2014 year will be the year he blows up. SS- Nolan Fontana Will Jonathan Villar ever develop into a consistent player? Maybe, maybe not. Fonanta is more of a glue guy who will hit in the 8 hole in this lineup, but he draws walks, provides solid defense, and his bat isn't a complete liability ala Adam Everett. LF- Preston Tucker A sleeper because he was a senior sign, but he's got a great track record in college and all he's done is hit since he's signed. CF- Delino Deshields Does he stay at 2B? I'm not sure if he can displace Altuve, but hopefully he's ready for the show in 4 years. Been a little slow to develop, but I think we're wasting his athleticism at 2B. Put him back in the outfield and let him run around with Springer flanking him. RF- George Springer Still needs to cut down on the strikeouts, but he still hits for a high average, hits with power, plays great defense, and steals bases, and draws walks. At worst, he's Mike Cameron. P- Bud Norris Should still be in his prime. Not a true number 1, but he's proven he can pitch in the bigs. P- Mike Foltyniwizwfwed Absolutely blowing up the past 2 years. Has reached 100mph on the gun. Let's see if he can develop his breaking ball. P- Jordan Lyles Really surprised me with his velocity jump last year. Still lacks a true out pitch. If he ever masters that curveball, he could be a #1. P- Nick Tropeano Similar to Lyles, had a jump in velocity after signing and is in the 90-93mph range with a very good changeup, but doesn't have a true out pitch. P- Asher Wojcieceowewnf I don't know much about him, but the Astros seem to like him. Workhorse type guy who pounds the strikezone, but lacks a true out pitch. CP- Lance McCullers Has a fastball-breaking ball combo. Will he ever develop a changeup and the command to be a starter? Not sure, but his bulldog mentality would fit great in the pen. Notable Players Jonathan Villar- Strikes out a tad much, doesn't walk enough, doesn't hit consistently enough, and makes too many errors. Big upside, but he might not get there. Domingo Santana- I'm not sure if I believe in his bat. Big power, but strikes out alot and doesn't walk enough. Still very young and has lots of time to develop. Jarred Cosart- Sooner or later, he's gonna be put in the pen. Vincent Velasquez- Really like this kid. Huge upside and has shown it in spurts. Has been a little off lately, but I think he has #2 type upside.
I'll tell you after tomorrow... Also not all of our young guys are going to work out so that is where Craine is going to have to spend a little money to bring in a player to fill in those gaps.
If both Cullers and Cosart are in the pen.... we are in for a much longer ride back to respectability.
yeah, and predicting mccullers for the pen and not starter/possible front-of-rotation starter seems like a guess based on nothing. i'd love the idea of bud sticking around and being a veteran presence and our #4 or 5 starter by the time everybody develops. and i'll admit, that's a prisoner-of-the-moment'ish view of bud.
pitchers like Bud (hard throwers) have to learn to pitch. It is not that crazy to think he could put it together over time and become a front end pitcher. As it stands now I feel he is a strong #3. Light's out at home, learning on the road. If he gets it on the road - watch out. I like the idea of keeping Bud because we have several legit prospects coming up soon and the reign of pathetic is almost over. If we trade bud and harrell (which I'm fine with harrell being gone) - we have to develop a full new rotation. I could see a rotation next year and a fairly competitive team of the following (and this is next year - not 3 down the road) 1. Bud (defacto - new pitchers have to develop) 2. Cosart 3. Wojo 4. Clemens (i really like him and think he could be great from the pen, but more valuable as a starter 5. Lyles 1b Singleton 2b altuve ss villar 3b dominguez rf barnes/martinez cf singleton lf wates they will struggle early on as pitchers and hitters adjust, but will be fun and competitive late
C: Castro 1B: Singleton 2B: Fontana 3B: Dominguez SS: Correa LF: J.D. CF: Springer RF: Santana DH: Altuve 1. McCullers 2. Folty 3. Nitro 4. Woji 5. Cosart Bench: Tucker Bench: Stassi Bench: Jose Martinez Bench: Aplin BP: Musgrove BP: Stoffel BP: Chapman BP: Quevedo BP: Long BP: Clemens CL: Velasquez
Perhaps we put Tucker at DH and have Wates or Aplin in LF. Should be a pretty fast outfield if DD is in CF.
Hopefully McCullers can get there. Right now, looking at our organization, we have nobody to be our future closer (maybe that's Cosart, I don't know). I saw a need, McCullers seems like he'd be a perfect fit, so I stuck him there.
I'd rather keep him as a starter. Also you're missing one thing, we are talking about 2017. I don't know about you, but I think there are more drafts and time to sign players. I'd rather not move a high potential starter to closer, just because we need a closer.
Closer isn't a position you need to map out long term. If you have a home grown closer, he's probably a failed starter which is what you're implying would happen to McCullers.
You guys are far too optimistic about prospects. Most of them are gonna miss, thats a simple fact. If 1/3 of out current top 10 lives up to expectations we should be thrilled.
We can't be realistic. This is 4 years from now. Obviously a large portion of that team is not with the organization yet.
I just hope singleton I more than a 25-30 hr guy, not that there I anything wrong with that. But him or springer needs to be a true star, a 35+hr guy that hits for average and drives in 120
Those guys are mostly a thing of the past. Consider only 9 guys hit 35HR last year, and 2 of them had awful averages.
I didn't predict stats. I didn't predict success. I predicted a team with potential that is more fun to watch than what we've had in a long while. If by next year my projections aren't true - the train has derailed.
