6. Cionel Perez, LHP
Birthday (age on opening day 2018): 4/21/1996 (21)
2017 teams/levels played for: low-A Quad Cities River Bandits, high-A Buies Creek Astros, AA Corpus Christi Hooks
2017 Stats: 21 G, 16 GS, 93 2/3 IP, 4.13 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 6.9% BB, 21.3% K
Info: After a long negotiation with the Astros that at one point was considered “off” due to medical concerns, Perez signed with the Houston Astros out of Cuba. He made his stateside debut in 2017 and put up pretty numbers at times.
Perez offers a fastball that reaches the upper 90s and sits in the mid-90s with wicked movement, especially low in the strike zone. Perez features a wicked slider as well, though the slider seemed to get a lot more weak contact than it did swing and miss in 2017.
The big drawback on Perez is his size (5’11”, 175 pounds listed, though both could be generous). Due to his size, his delivery has some effort to generate the velocity and break he gets on his pitches, and that leads to some injury worry.
The Houston Astros could bring up Perez in a relief role in 2018 at some point as that could maximize his fastball/slider combo, but he has a high ceiling as a starter due to the quality of his first two pitches, such that the Astros would be served leaving him in the rotation until he forces his way out of it.
Perez will likely open 2018 in the upper minors, whether that’s AA (where he tossed just 13 innings) or all the way up to AAA.
5. Yordan Alvarez, 1B
Birthday (age on opening day 2018): 6/27/1997 (20)
2017 teams/levels played for: low-A Quad Cities River Bandits, high-A Buies Creek Astros
2017 Stats: .304/.379/.481, 391 PA, 12 HR, 8 SB, 42/77 BB/K
Info: After losing out on Alvarez to the Dodgers, the Houston Astros worked out a deal to acquire Alvarez from LA in a trade that sent reliever Josh Fields to the Dodgers.
Alvarez had a 16-game introduction to pro ball in the DSL in 2016 where he crushed the ball. Then he jumped up to low A ball immediately. He struggled with a wrist injury roughly the same time that he moved up to Buies Creek, which affected his power numbers.
The thing that is underappreciated about Alvarez is that he is an excellent athlete
Alvarez has tremendous bat speed and his large frame would lead to power projection regardless of his injury. He does have a swing more tailored for pounding out doubles and hitting for a high average than knocking out 30+ home runs, in spite of his massive size (6’5″, 225 pounds listed).
In spite of his swing, he has the kind of natural strength and bat speed that he will likely generate 20+ home runs and 40+ doubles at the major league level once he gets there along with a high contact rate.
The thing that is underappreciated about Alvarez is that he is an excellent athlete, very possibly able to handle the outfield long-term. He probably isn’t going to see a lot of stolen bases through that athleticism as he is more fast once underway than quick in his first few steps, but he would likely see more triples than you’d expect from a big guy due to that athleticism.
Alvarez will open the season most likely in AA, and he could push for a September call up this season at just 21.
Next: #3 and #4