Despite their early season struggles, the Houston Astros’ depth in the minor leagues is shining brightly; plus more minor league notes.
Sometimes it pays off to suck. Unless it’s the NBA draft lottery, but that’s a different discussion. It may not pay off right away, but it’s been widely recognized that being really bad at baseball now can mean you’ll be really good later.
The most obvious examples are the Chicago Cubs, Kansas City Royals and Houston Astros. The Cubs are cleaning house in the National League Central and the Royals are the defending World Series champions. Both teams were terrible not too long ago. The Astros surprised everyone with their playoff run last season, and even though they’re off to a rough start in 2016, the evidence that they’ve prepared themselves for years to come is all over their minor league system.
Monday I discussed shortstop prospect Alex Bregman’s chances of making his major league debut this season. He’s currently dominating the Double-A Texas League with nine home runs and a 1.126 on-base plus slugging (OPS).
In that discussion, I also mentioned that third baseman Colin Moran could make his major league debut, which he did Wednesday, going 0-for-3 with a walk. Tony Kemp, who could fill a super-utility role for the Astros, made his MLB debut Tuesday as a pinch runner and was 2-for-3 with a double yesterday. For a team that entering Wednesday was last in the majors with a 25.7 percent strikeout rate, Kemp’s 15.0 percent K-rate and .410 OBP in Triple-A is a welcome addition.
Pitcher Joe Musgrove has a microscopic 0.57 earned run average between Double-A and Triple-A. That’s just 0.34 if you only take his Double-A innings into account, and those came with a 10.0 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He’s scheduled to make his second Triple-A start today against the Memphis Redbirds.
The Astros’ depth is evident in the lower levels of the minors as well. Kyle Tucker, an outfielder whom the Astros drafted with the fifth overall pick in the 2015 draft, is hitting .323/.399/.436 and is leading the Midwest League in stolen bases with 18.
Add in David Paulino’s miniscule 1.74 ERA and 5.67 K/BB at Double-A, and most of the team’s top-10 prospects are living up to their billing. And with that, let’s get to some additional juicy minor league notes.
Next: Triple-A