Scouting the New York Mets Houston Astros J.D. Davis trade

Cody Bohanek

After a sophomore season at Illinois-Chicago where Bohanek hit .314/.425/.351 and showed off excellent defense up the middle, many figured he’d be a pick in the first two days of the 2016 draft, but he slumped badly in his junior year and went undrafted. A slight bounce back to .297/.411/.448 got him picked in the 30th round by the Astros in 2017.

Bohanek has a definite high floor, as he’s a guy with a good eye at the plate, posting high walk rates so far in his minor league career. He had his first full season in 2018, working across both A-ball levels, finishing with 11 games at the AAA level to help with a playoff run. He had a good OBP delta with an OBP 110 points over his batting average, but his overall line of .214/.324/.293 certainly isn’t going to turn a lot of heads.

Bohanek defensively could be an elite contributor at second or third base, and he has an above average arm that would work at third defensively. He can handle short, but he would grade right around average at short, whereas he grades above-average to plus at second or third.

While the glove can carry him, and his on-base abilities will certainly help, Bohanek needs to use his instincts on the bases well like he did in 2018 (14 steals in 19 attempts) to maximize his chances at a possible bench career, but beyond a utility bench role, the upside is quite limited for him.

Now to the Astros return…