I agree with the "lesser Tony Kemp" assessment for Yamal Encarnacion, and he's gonna get chances because no one's really in his way for playing time. For me, there's still a faint glimmer of hope for Jeron Williams because no one's really in his way in Sugar Land, but at 25 in AA, it's make-or-break for him now and he's got to show that he's over his injuries.
https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/...s.com/documents/2026/3/31/AMCC_vs_CCH_Box.pdf Joseph Sullivan and Pascanel Ferreras homered against A&M Corpus last night in a 4-4 tie. Will Bush was 1-2 with 2bb. P Jackson Nezuh gave up 3 earned runs but struck out 8.
The lack of walks is encouraging, hopefully he keeps it going. They pulled him right after he gave up his first hit, then Jose Fleury gave up a HR to the next batter to cost him the shut-out. Fleury only went 0.1 IP, so I wonder if he's moved to the pen now? Maybe short stints and his change up will make him serviceable?
I think Fleury was just a victim of a full AAA rotation and his own poor performance in AAA from last year. His stock really plummeted, not exactly sure why everyone seems to have given up on him so quickly.
Shay Whitcomb hit 2 HR today. If I were a team like the Rockies or Nats I would definitely call the Astros to see what they wanted for him.
I think it was Rogelio Armenteros that taught me that solid command of a 90 mph FB and a good change up seems to play much better in the minors than the big leagues. I'm worried that Fleury just doesn't have the fastball to make it work in the majors; it averaged a higher exit velocity than pitch velo last season in AAA. The RH soft-tossing change up specialist is a rough profile, I think.
It's opening day for AA and High A today. James Hicks goes for the Hicks and Cole Hertzler goes for the Tourists. FCL OF Karniel Pratt and High A IF Wilton Lara were both placed on the full season IL today, leaving 10 players in roster limbo: Pitchers Ethan Pecko, Glenn Otto, Alonzo Tredwell, Nico Zeglin, and Danny Trehey C Carlos Cauro IF Edwin Diaz, Reylin Perez, and Jeron Williams OF Mason Lytle It's pretty safe to assume they are all injured.
https://www.mlb.com/astros/news/whe...pects-will-start-2026?t=mlb-pipeline-coverage This article indicates that Pecko has Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. There are varying degrees of severity but it can be a severe and potentially career ending injury; if it requires surgery it usually means a recovery timeline similar to Tommy John surgery (12-18 months). The article also says Tredwell has a shoulder strain.
Forccuci apparently has a back injury, per the link. Which is a bummer. Pecko's TOS is too. Two of the players I think a lot of us were really excited to follow this year.
Good first outing of the year for Cole Hertzler: 4.2 IP, H, 2 BB, 5 K He could be a mover (which can be said for any pitcher, tbh) if he stays healthy this year.
Astros signed OF Parker Chavers and he is in the lineup for sugar Land tonight replacing Whitcomb on the roster. Former Cubs 7th rd pick, seems like a 4th OF profile. Hes 27 so there’s not much reason for optimism with him, just org depth until guys get healthy.
Nehomar Ochoa Jr is playing 1B for Fayetteville tonight. Their lineup looks stacked and I am expecting big things. Kenni Gomez is not in the lineup for opening day. Ethan Pecko was sent on rehab to Fayetteville today, so his TOS must not have required surgery and hopefully he’s a week or 2 away from joining Sugar Land’s rotation.
