Latest / Sports Avenue Twisted Podcast / SATP Ep. 35 feat. Kenny Van Doran

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SATP Ep. 35 feat. Kenny Van Doran · Sports Avenue Twisted Podcast

• 0:27
  Welcome to another edition of the Sports Ave.
• 0:29
  Twisted podcast. We have a returning guest that's
• 0:33
  been here in episode 6 of our our podcast.
• 0:36
  Kenny Van Doren, welcome back. It's an honor, it's a privilege.
• 0:40
  Just let the world know once again what you do and everything
• 0:43
  else. Yeah, thanks for going to have
• 0:45
  me back, Rocky and Rob, it's good to talk baseball with you
• 0:48
  guys. But yeah, I cover Astros
• 0:50
  prospects or Astros future. Got a podcast on Astros
• 0:54
  future.com and did some other stuff right now with
• 0:56
  yahoosportsandrivals.com covering Mizzou football,
• 0:59
  basketball but always love to talk to baseball with you guys.
• 1:04
  Yeah, thanks, man. It's been a while since we had
• 1:06
  you last on, but it's great to have you back and just excited.
• 1:11
  You know, we have a series tonight actually against the
• 1:13
  Astros, the Blue Jays do. So it's exciting.
• 1:16
  It's a good day to talk about some prospects and, and and dive
• 1:20
  into the Astro system. So thank you.
• 1:24
  Well, certainly, yeah. I was just looking actually at a
• 1:26
  photo of George Springer out there with the guys right now.
• 1:29
  Former Astro center fielder, of course, with the Blue Jays.
• 1:31
  So I know they're all having a good time.
• 1:33
  Mile straw, too. So there's some good overlap
• 1:35
  between those two teams. Awesome.
• 1:38
  Definitely. It'll be a fun series, but let's
• 1:42
  get great get to the questions here.
• 1:44
  And the first question I want to ask you is probably the most
• 1:48
  biggest trade probably in probably Astros history.
• 1:52
  One of right is the Kyle Tucker trade.
• 1:55
  I mean, he was a franchise player for a few years and he
• 1:59
  was drafted with the Astros in 2015.
• 2:01
  So Dana Brown ended up trading him because obviously he has one
• 2:04
  year left in the way the market was going.
• 2:06
  Like they didn't have much of A choice.
• 2:08
  But the centerpiece I believe in that deal is Cam Smith.
• 2:12
  But also they had they acquired Isaac Peretis and Hayden
• 2:17
  Wisneski. Like can you talk about those
• 2:19
  streets and specifically about Cam Smith and what he can
• 2:22
  provide because he was drafted last year, I believe, FSU.
• 2:25
  Yeah, I'll start off with just like, I mean, the magnitude of
• 2:28
  that trade, I definitely think in recent history that is the
• 2:31
  like, biggest trade, you know, for the Astros.
• 2:33
  It's hard to be, you know, when you look back in hindsight, the
• 2:36
  the Astros gave up pretty much nothing for Jeff Bagwell in the
• 2:40
  90s and, you know, ended up getting a Hall of Famer out of
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  it from the Red Sox. And then when you look at it
• 2:44
  now, it's more of like a magnitude.
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  The Astros haven't really done something like this.
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  They usually like guys like Springer, Garrett Cole, you
• 2:51
  know, Carlos Correa, Alex Bregman, even though Bregman did
• 2:54
  have an extension when during his early years to buy out some
• 2:57
  of those ARB arbitration years. You just haven't seen a trade
• 3:02
  like this, you know, getting rid of a guy.
• 3:04
  And I think that's just kind of with Dana Brown taking over,
• 3:06
  kind of giving that push for that Astros front office to make
• 3:09
  this move. And when you do that, I mean,
• 3:11
  it's something one of those things where it's not it's not
• 3:14
  where you're wanting to retool the farm system.
• 3:16
  Yes, you get 1 prospect top 100 guy, but you get 3 major
• 3:19
  leaguers out of that deal. And I think that's the biggest
• 3:21
  thing. You know, Kyle Tucker started
• 3:23
  off the season hot. I had, you know, something not
• 3:26
  as common for him, especially when he's with the Astros.
• 3:28
  But you know, he's having a pretty decent year.
• 3:30
  I mean, I think he's already approaching like 1 1/2 WAR last
• 3:33
  time I checked, depending on what website you use.
• 3:36
  And when you look at that, you want to see how that's going to,
• 3:39
  you know, translate for the Astros.
• 3:40
  Are they going to have guys that kind of can pick up on that WAR
• 3:43
  that they're losing? A Kyle Tucker.
• 3:45
  But, you know, I'll start with Cam Smith, though.
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  He's a, he's a, you know, naturally 1/3 baseman, like you
• 3:49
  said, drafted out of Florida State in the middle of the first
• 3:52
  round last year. And there was a stretch there
• 3:54
  where he hit like six home runs and six straight games.
• 3:57
  Like, the guy was on fire at high A, got up to AA fairly
• 4:00
  quickly, never played in AAA. The Astros here have been one of
• 4:05
  those teams with Dana Brown as GM, wanting these guys to go out
• 4:08
  there and fight for, you know, fight for competition, fight for
• 4:12
  a job and the big league cub, big league club.
• 4:15
  Talk about Drew Gilbert's and Jacob Melton the last couple
• 4:17
  years. Drew Gilbert, of course, with
• 4:19
  the Mets now traded for Verlander, Jacob Melton kind of
• 4:22
  dwindling in AAA. And so it was one of those
• 4:24
  things where there's like no way, you know, no way that Cam
• 4:27
  Smith would break camp and he did it.
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  I mean, he broke camp as a right fielder.
• 4:31
  Those kind of an interesting thing.
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  It kind of reminded me a. Little bit of.
• 4:33
  What the Cardinals did with Jordan Walker a couple years
• 4:36
  ago, guy with a lot of talent with the bat could play third
• 4:39
  base because he has that arm and they gonna put him out in the
• 4:41
  outfield. In my opinion, it did stunt the
• 4:43
  growth of a guy like Jordan Walker in the Cardinal system.
• 4:46
  But I mean, for the Astros, it's it's making kind of up and down
• 4:49
  for Camus Smith, of course, kind of get in the back going a
• 4:52
  little bit more. But he's just so freakishly
• 4:54
  athletic out there. He's a massive human being too.
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  I think everyone that season, they call him like an aircraft
• 4:59
  carrier, the big bodied 224 lbs six three.
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  I mean, you look at the guy and you're like, this is, you know,
• 5:05
  a massive human being like Zach Disenzo, another top prospect
• 5:09
  for the Astros. I believe he just graduated from
• 5:11
  prospect status. So it was with that, you know,
• 5:14
  you're getting a big bat, someone who's kind of struggled
• 5:16
  with ground ball right in the past, but he he was lights out
• 5:19
  in spring training and they just wanted to get him up with the
• 5:21
  big League Cup. They wanted that spark.
• 5:22
  They wanted to get his back going early.
• 5:25
  You know, you get a draft pick if he wins Rookie of the year in
• 5:27
  the American League. So there's a lot of, you know,
• 5:29
  moving parts there. And I think that was just the
• 5:31
  big thing with Cam Smith, you know, just quick notes on, you
• 5:33
  know, Hayden Wisneski and Isaac Peretis.
• 5:36
  It felt like the Cubs made that trade for Isaac Peretis from the
• 5:39
  Rays land the deadline last year just to flip him during the
• 5:42
  offseason. I mean, he did not fit Wrigley
• 5:44
  Field at all. He's a guy that was, you know, I
• 5:47
  mean, at some points just terrible, you know, with the
• 5:50
  Rays, with the Cubs. And he just really exploited the
• 5:53
  kind of a short, short area there at Tropicana and figured
• 5:56
  out what worked for him. And it's just pulling balls,
• 5:58
  pulling fly balls. And that exactly what fit the
• 6:01
  Astros profile at the trade deadline last year when they
• 6:03
  were kind of looking at guys maybe could take over for
• 6:05
  Bregman moving forward. And since they weren't really
• 6:07
  going to unload the bank on an aging Alex Bregman, someone who
• 6:11
  wasn't, you know, posting MVP numbers like he used to.
• 6:14
  And it just felt like the Cubs did that just to make a trader,
• 6:17
  you know, later down the road. So you know, he's a guy that's
• 6:20
  going to do that. You know, I think defensively
• 6:22
  he's not Alex pregnant, of course, but I'm still a good
• 6:25
  good hitter, a good streaky hitter.
• 6:26
  Hayden was Neski Houston kid wanted to be an Astro grew up an
• 6:30
  Astros fan. This is big for him and he's
• 6:31
  pitching great as of late. So I think that is a massive
• 6:34
  thing. This team has lacked good
• 6:36
  rotation depth the last couple years with.
• 6:37
  Some with some. Key injuries.
• 6:39
  So overall, I think, you know, it's kind of playing out OK for
• 6:42
  the Astros or, you know, it's a team that starts slow no matter
• 6:45
  who's on it. But you needed those three big
• 6:47
  leaguers. You wanted to compete now, not
• 6:48
  in the future. I want to ask you something
• 6:52
  about Cam Smith. So you know the expectations now
• 6:55
  high, right? Especially, you know, being the
• 6:58
  future of the future of this franchise.
• 7:01
  Like what are your expectations in his rookie season this year?
• 7:04
  Because you got the Jacob Wilson's, you got the Christian
• 7:06
  Campbell's, you got the Jackson jokes all competing in that
• 7:09
  rookie of the year race, right? And you would have to think Cam
• 7:11
  Smith is going to be part of that race throughout the year.
• 7:14
  So like, what are your expectations for Camstons this
• 7:16
  year? Yeah, I think you just want to
• 7:18
  keep seeing the back go up. I mean, just the the offensive
• 7:20
  numbers go up. He's already up to a 724 OPS,
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  which I think a lot of people have been kind of watching him
• 7:25
  on and off. Would be a little bit surprised
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  because he did really get off to a slow start offensively.
• 7:29
  The extra base hits weren't coming.
• 7:31
  But yes, he just, he doesn't even have a double this season,
• 7:33
  but he doesn't have a triple and three homers and and a lot of
• 7:36
  people don't buy stock too much in RBI's, but that's a, you
• 7:38
  know, decent category for him being at the bottom of the
• 7:40
  lineup. You know, I'm not expecting him
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  to be the American League rookie of the year that the A's just
• 7:44
  called up Nick Kurtz, another top 100 guys, someone who's
• 7:47
  drafted in the 1st 6 picks last year.
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  You know, I think, you know, if you ask me who who would be the
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  American League rookie of the year as of right now, I'm
• 7:56
  picking a guy who hasn't been played in a game yet, but at the
• 7:58
  point of recording this. So I think he's a guy that's
• 8:01
  going to be in that conversation kind of moving forward.
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  But at the same time, I'm not expecting, you know, too much
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  from a guy who's kind of going to struggle at times trying to
• 8:09
  get used to a new position. And that's OK.
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  I mean, you don't have to expect the world from him.
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  But I mean, any first round, are you kind of hoping to maybe some
• 8:15
  All Star appearances down the road?
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  And you know, for a guy like Cam Smith, I'm not going to, you
• 8:20
  know, set a set a ceiling for him or set a floor.
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  But he definitely has the tools to be a guy that can go back to
• 8:24
  third base at some point or just have that cannon in right field
• 8:27
  and get a little bit more used to playing defense out there.
• 8:32
  You mentioned about the Kyle Tucker trade and and, and, and
• 8:38
  Alex Bregman and the Astros mutually parted ways as as he's
• 8:42
  in Boston now. So what is this?
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  How does this change the dynamic of the Astros offense without
• 8:51
  without those two guys, you know, batting in the middle,
• 8:54
  middle of that lineup? I think I'll start it off just
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  with the Isaac Perez thing going back to him.
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  I think he was a big replacement there for for Alex Bregman.
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  You look at the offensive production over the years and of
• 9:06
  course battled some injuries in 2020 and 2021 and really just
• 9:10
  not really never returned to that form where he was just such
• 9:13
  a dominant force in 2018 and 2019 was one of the probably the
• 9:16
  best stretches you've seen from Nastros hitter in the last two
• 9:19
  decades. So, you know, it was kind of a,
• 9:22
  you know, probably a tough spot for the Astros, but it was a guy
• 9:24
  that kind of used that that short porch in the Crawford
• 9:26
  boxes pretty well too. And I think that's what they
• 9:29
  were kind of expecting out of Isaac Peretis.
• 9:31
  You know, they they are different hitters, different
• 9:32
  sizes, you know, like weight, height, but there's still two
• 9:35
  guys that can pull the ball well in the air.
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  And I think that was one of the things they're looking at with
• 9:40
  Kyle Tucker. It's still interesting, you
• 9:41
  know, that there is no other lefty bat on the team right now.
• 9:44
  You know, Victor Carratini, the the backup catcher, the Niners
• 9:47
  Diaz who's can play some first base can DH for you.
• 9:51
  He's the only other left-handed hitter besides Jordan Alvarez.
• 9:53
  You know, that's the interesting thing right now.
• 9:55
  You know, I think going into the roster crunches at the end of
• 9:59
  spring training, it was. Like, is it going to be Zach
• 10:00
  Disenzo? Or Cam Smith that makes the
• 10:03
  roster because in in hindsight, I mean, those are two guys
• 10:06
  they're very similar. They are big bodied right-handed
• 10:08
  hitters with a lot of power, with a lot of pole or just, you
• 10:11
  know, for high X of velocities the opposite way as well.
• 10:15
  Somebody can play first base, maybe a little bit of third and
• 10:17
  Zach Disenzo case. And I don't think he really
• 10:20
  found that guy that's going to replace the production of Kyle
• 10:23
  Tucker at all. So I think that's the one kind
• 10:25
  of downside to this. But I mean, it's been the same
• 10:27
  conversation these last couple of years.
• 10:29
  Who's going to be that other left-handed bat for the Astros?
• 10:32
  You DFA John Singleton, you didn't you didn't add Ben Gamel
• 10:36
  to that lineup. You don't really have many lefty
• 10:38
  options down in the minor leagues that are raking at the
• 10:40
  moment. So I think it's just going to be
• 10:42
  another one of those things you come August and you'll hear Dana
• 10:44
  Brown say again, you know, we need a left-handed back.
• 10:46
  That's what the Astros need. And I think it's going to be
• 10:48
  something that you might look to at the trade deadline, Rob.
• 10:54
  I think this is probably a little bit of an important
• 10:56
  question if you know some Astros fans are a little voice
• 10:59
  throughout the Altfield situation.
• 11:01
  I want to dive in a little bit on the depth aspect of the
• 11:04
  position of players. You mentioned about Disenzo
• 11:07
  already. Jacob Melton is on the horizon
• 11:09
  to be called up. I know he was injured with the
• 11:11
  back injury. Where does Bryce Matthew stand
• 11:15
  in this situation? Where does Jay Whitcomb stand in
• 11:18
  the situation? And if there's not anybody else
• 11:21
  that I mentioned, you could also mention about those guys.
• 11:25
  Yeah, You know, I'll start off with with Bryce Matthews, you
• 11:28
  know, regularly you can expect to maybe to play some second
• 11:31
  base or shortstop at the next level, maybe plug in it third.
• 11:34
  It really just kind of depends on what the roster looks like
• 11:36
  down the road. But like with everyone, you
• 11:39
  know, I mentioned earlier in the early in the show, Miles Straw,
• 11:41
  I mean, he was a he was a shortstop by trade, but moved to
• 11:44
  center field because he was that athletic.
• 11:46
  I haven't heard anything about Bryce Matthews doing that.
• 11:48
  But I mean, it wouldn't surprise me.
• 11:50
  This this is an organization that has thrived on position
• 11:53
  edition. And but in recent years, it's
• 11:55
  kind of been like they've little prioritized more one or two
• 11:57
  positions for guys. And I think with Bryce Matthews,
• 12:00
  I think that's maybe a guy that maybe does have that athleticism
• 12:02
  and move to center field at some point.
• 12:05
  With Jacob Melton too, I'm just I'm not really set on what's
• 12:08
  going to happen with him. I think that the power really
• 12:11
  diminished just offensively. But defensively, I mean, he's
• 12:14
  still a wizard. You know, he still has that
• 12:15
  range to kind of play in the outfield.
• 12:16
  He has a good arm. He can still play in center
• 12:18
  field. But I really think that that
• 12:21
  answer maybe for an outfielder kind of moving down down the
• 12:24
  line and into August, if this team is still going to be
• 12:26
  competing. I I don't think that outfielders
• 12:28
  on this team right now are in this organization that maybe
• 12:31
  you're looking for because. Yeah, I mean, even with, you
• 12:34
  know, Jose Altuve, I mean, you haven't seen too many, you know,
• 12:37
  I mean, I don't want to say errors, but, you know, misplays
• 12:40
  in left field right now. I think you're still kind of
• 12:42
  hoping to add another outfielder at some point by the end of the
• 12:45
  season with Shay Whitcomb. It's not natural.
• 12:48
  You know, he's not a natural outfielder.
• 12:49
  He's not a natural first baseman.
• 12:51
  He's AII think, you know, that some people have said, like his
• 12:54
  play at third base has kind of got, you know, a little erratic
• 12:56
  at times and it's just really hasn't fit him well.
• 12:59
  I mean, the future might be at second or just as a utility guy
• 13:01
  moving forward, but I just don't really think there is too much
• 13:04
  good outfield depth. You know, I like some of these
• 13:05
  guys, like on the lower end of the Miners right now for the
• 13:08
  Astros, Joseph Sullivan, who's the son of a former grandson of
• 13:13
  a former Heisman winner. I really like all the tools he's
• 13:15
  got there. Luis Baez kind of has some holes
• 13:17
  in his swing. So, you know, I'm not too, you
• 13:20
  know, excited right now just about him offensively, just with
• 13:23
  some of the issues he's had just over the last year and kind of
• 13:26
  where he's falling in prospect status.
• 13:28
  Kevin Alvarez is years away. I know you want to ask about him
• 13:31
  a little bit later, but there just really isn't, you know, too
• 13:34
  many outfield options right now. And I think that's where you're
• 13:36
  going to have to look at the trade decline.
• 13:38
  What what about Quincy Hamilton? I know that he's a bench guy,
• 13:41
  depth guy. He has some speed, he has some
• 13:43
  contact. Like what do you think about
• 13:44
  him? Yeah, I've, I've loved Quincy
• 13:47
  forever. I think, you know, besides just
• 13:48
  the play, he's just a kind of an awesome dude too.
• 13:50
  He's he's 26 now. He's going to be 27 this summer.
• 13:55
  You know, I was a little bit surprised.
• 13:56
  I thought maybe there was going to be a thing where he got gets
• 13:58
  left unprotected in the Rule 5 draft and in the sense of being
• 14:03
  selected in the AAA phase, maybe some team picks him up and put
• 14:06
  some on the AAA team. That didn't happen.
• 14:09
  The Astros didn't lose a single player in the Major League phase
• 14:12
  or the AAA phase in the Rule 5 draft, which kind of shows you,
• 14:15
  in my opinion, where there's kind of the depth of this minor
• 14:17
  league system stands right now. But it's just been another slow
• 14:20
  start for Quincy to start the year.
• 14:22
  You know, lucky for him, he didn't get sent down to AA
• 14:24
  again. So he isn't AAA right now, but
• 14:27
  one O 6 batting average, but four O 1 OPS through nearly 20
• 14:30
  games. It's been a tough stretch.
• 14:32
  You know, he's a guy that starts slow, but you know, he's been
• 14:35
  around, you know, for a long time now.
• 14:36
  I know he's a fifth round pick back in 2021 and you want to see
• 14:39
  him to take that next, the next step forward and he just hasn't
• 14:42
  yet. But I do like the speed.
• 14:44
  I like the character Quincy Hamilton.
• 14:46
  The swing is just so pretty when he when he when he gets when he
• 14:48
  gets it on the ball and you know, the tools are there just
• 14:51
  to do it. I think the power is kind of,
• 14:52
  you know, going away a little bit more as it gets a little bit
• 14:54
  older. But you know, if you can get
• 14:56
  that hit tool going, I think you're looking at a guy that
• 14:58
  maybe could be a plug in bench outfield back because you know,
• 15:01
  he's left-handed. You know, I think that's exactly
• 15:04
  what you need there. Yeah, I wanted to dive into some
• 15:08
  of the strengths you're pitching that you have a AA and AAA.
• 15:11
  You guys have always done a great job developing solid
• 15:15
  pitching. Ryan Gusto is finally getting
• 15:18
  his opportunity with you guys. You recently called up AJ
• 15:23
  Blubaugh has has dominated and he looks poised to be to be that
• 15:27
  next guy. Miguel Vilu, am I pronouncing
• 15:32
  that right? He's now you low, you low.
• 15:35
  OK, you low. OK, he's off to a slow start.
• 15:38
  Colton Gordon also stepped close to the majors.
• 15:41
  Then you have guys like James Hicks, Jackson Desert, Jose
• 15:45
  Flueria and Alejandro Torres. So where do you stand when it
• 15:49
  comes to the pitching depth? It looks like you guys are in a
• 15:52
  in a great spot going forward. Yeah, I think the whole the
• 15:56
  whole identity of this farm system right now, Rob is
• 15:58
  pitching, I mean, even look at the tops of some of these lists.
• 16:02
  And then of course it is a lot of position players at the top.
• 16:05
  But I'm a little bit more bullish on some of these arms.
• 16:06
  And I think the Astros scouting department did a really good job
• 16:09
  with finding some college pitchers last couple years, guys
• 16:13
  that can get up to the rotation a little bit faster.
• 16:15
  And if they don't stick the rotation, then you have some
• 16:17
  pretty dominant relievers who have a lot, a lot to throw.
• 16:20
  They can throw everything but the kitchen sink is what they
• 16:21
  say. So you look at some of those
• 16:23
  ones, you need to jump off the page and get you Lola.
• 16:25
  I'm a little bit higher on him than some people.
• 16:27
  I think he's even like a top three prospect in the farm.
• 16:31
  He had a little speed bump there in spring training where he left
• 16:34
  the mound in the spring breakout game, but looks to be back up to
• 16:38
  speed and I'm pretty high on him.
• 16:40
  I think he's a guy that it was a pitcher a couple years ago.
• 16:42
  He's still in the Astro system as a reliever at AAA and Mizzi
• 16:45
  Altamarez. But I think Miguel Uola kind of
• 16:47
  is picking up where Mizzi left off.
• 16:49
  He's a seventy grade fastball. He's gotten, you know, some
• 16:52
  comps to Christian Avier Astros starters coming back from Tommy
• 16:56
  John surgery at the moment. Fifty grade curve, 55 slider.
• 16:59
  I mean, those are good pitches, good pitches for Miguel and I
• 17:02
  think he's got got it going and he's just.
• 17:03
  Another one of those kind of. Bargain pitchers the Astros got
• 17:05
  in the international assignment period, only signed for 75 or
• 17:08
  $75,000. So I know it's a lot.
• 17:11
  Maybe just us, but you know, in the baseball world, especially
• 17:14
  just with premier prospects, you don't you don't see that too
• 17:16
  often to see these guys make it this far.
• 17:19
  I do like Anderson Brito, another bargain guy of
• 17:21
  Venezuela. He's in high a this year and he
• 17:24
  pitched in the DSL, the FCL and single a last year that that's
• 17:28
  just not seen. I mean, that's just the
• 17:29
  aggressiveness of the Astros trusting in a guy who didn't
• 17:32
  even sign at the International like signing period date when it
• 17:34
  opened in January 2023. He signed in November, which
• 17:38
  usually is just when the Astros. Have a little bit extra money
• 17:40
  or? You know, find maybe a diamond
• 17:41
  in the rough or just need a guy on the roster next year.
• 17:44
  And that's what it kind of felt like with Anderson burrito.
• 17:47
  I love Ethan Peko. He has a forearm strain right
• 17:50
  now, though, and he's he's out at AA.
• 17:52
  But you look at you need to go down the list.
• 17:55
  You like those guys. Jackson Nezu, same draft, James
• 17:58
  Hicks in that same draft, you know, now after the best starts.
• 18:00
  But Jose Flurry is an interesting one.
• 18:03
  Once the Arizona Fall League got kind of got beat, beat up a
• 18:06
  little bit, but he has a crazy good change up and I think
• 18:08
  that's what's going to carry him a little bit further.
• 18:11
  I wouldn't say it's like a make or break here.
• 18:12
  He's only 23 years old, but he's a guy that could really use a
• 18:15
  good AA campaign. He could, he's a guy that could
• 18:18
  use a really good season in the Texas League, which is make or
• 18:21
  break for a lot of people against, you know, double AI
• 18:24
  think AA competition is probably the best that you can kind of go
• 18:27
  as cuz there's a where the real prospects are.
• 18:30
  And I think he can carry that into a good season and maybe see
• 18:33
  AAA by the end of the year. I like to talk about the catcher
• 18:38
  dub of the Astros organization, right?
• 18:41
  Like I know Marty Maldonado was was the starting catcher for a
• 18:45
  few years until Janya Diaz took over last year.
• 18:49
  He's been off to a slow start, but we'll see where that goes.
• 18:54
  I mean, I think he will bounce back at some point this year.
• 18:57
  Victor Karen TV needs backup Caesar Selzer, but I like to
• 19:00
  talk about Walker Yanick who drafted last year and I know
• 19:03
  he's more known as a defensive prowess catcher, but his dad is
• 19:07
  starting to catch up a bit with his numbers.
• 19:10
  And John Garcia. I I don't think not too many
• 19:13
  people heard about John Garcia. I believe he's in AA that talk
• 19:17
  about him. And then Jantzo, Valor Royal, I
• 19:19
  think we talked about him a little bit last year and he's a
• 19:20
  lot further compared to the one we mentioned.
• 19:23
  Yeah, I'll hit him walk the on activity that the offensive
• 19:25
  number is a little bit weird. 297 average is 694 OPS.
• 19:29
  The on base percentage is just a bit, I don't want to say Bismol,
• 19:32
  but just really low 316 there's I mean he has a couple of multi
• 19:36
  hit games I think yeah, like 2-3 hit games in the last two weeks.
• 19:39
  So that's good to see for a guy who got off to a really slow
• 19:42
  start offensively out of the draft last year.
• 19:45
  Yeah, John Garcia is an interesting case too.
• 19:48
  He hit 5 double S in a game at high A last year, which has
• 19:51
  never been accomplished before in Major League Baseball.
• 19:54
  And we only have final league stats that go back to at least
• 19:56
  2005. But I think that's that's going
• 19:59
  to be changed here soon. So but.
• 20:01
  It was just one of those things that.
• 20:02
  Just hasn't been accomplished. So he just offensively looked
• 20:04
  great. I think he had a a shoulder
• 20:07
  injury last year, maybe a slide or something that that banged
• 20:10
  him up a little bit. But he's one of those guys, you
• 20:12
  know, I think 9th, 19th round of the draft back in 2022 or 23 and
• 20:18
  really just stuck around in the system and keeps moving up.
• 20:21
  And I like what there is there with John.
• 20:23
  I think he's pretty athletic. You know, he's a guy that didn't
• 20:25
  really play baseball for too long.
• 20:27
  And was that Grambling? And they really loved what they
• 20:29
  saw. I mean, just off the charge,
• 20:31
  good hit tool, which is good. I mean, you don't have to expect
• 20:33
  too much power from the catcher position.
• 20:35
  But if you're going to get a guy that can get on base and, you
• 20:37
  know, put the ball in play, that's probably a better thing
• 20:39
  than maybe, you know, a 30 or 40% strikeout rate.
• 20:42
  You know, with someone like Martin Maldonado, who, you know,
• 20:44
  really struggled offensive the last couple years but was still
• 20:47
  that good defensive backstop that, you know, catchers like.
• 20:50
  With John Seville Real. I still, you know, kind of, you
• 20:53
  know, up in the air about what his future position will be.
• 20:55
  He's an interesting size too. He's 5 foot 8176.
• 20:59
  I I don't necessarily think he but he'll stick Matt catcher.
• 21:02
  I think maybe first base or some outfield will maybe will maybe
• 21:05
  play well for him. And you know, if he can get that
• 21:07
  hit tool going and up past, you know, 45 grade, I think you're
• 21:10
  looking at a guy that has a lot of tools that you know, with
• 21:13
  that size too. You know, it's like an abnormal
• 21:15
  size for some of these, for these high, high, highly rated
• 21:18
  tools. I think he's can be very pretty
• 21:20
  versatile. Another catcher that's kind of
• 21:22
  been tossed around is Miguel Palm in the last couple years.
• 21:25
  He's really falling off just the prospect status and I don't I
• 21:28
  don't really have too much, you know, high hopes for him right
• 21:30
  now. I think, you know, when he's
• 21:31
  when he's electric at at the plate, I think that's his best,
• 21:34
  his best calling card And he you know, guys guys seem to love him
• 21:37
  in the clubhouse and they they seem to to love him behind the
• 21:40
  plate. One more guys calling Price, who
• 21:42
  was in big league camp this year, stuck around forever.
• 21:45
  But the guy is tall. He's a he is, you know, not the
• 21:48
  same, you know, size as a lot of other catchers that you've
• 21:51
  probably seen. I think he's 6 foot 6.
• 21:54
  So he has a lot of size behind him.
• 21:55
  Maybe we'll move to first base or center field.
• 21:57
  Like he played Matt Mercer getting that.
• 22:00
  Yeah, 6 foot five, 225 lbs. That's a big, big guy to be
• 22:03
  playing behind the plate, but hitting really well to start the
• 22:05
  year with 849 OPS. So I think of, you know, any
• 22:08
  catchers maybe on the horizon that aren't on the 40 man
• 22:10
  roster, I do like Colin Price. Who are some of the prospects
• 22:16
  that have performed in the lower levels that you haven't
• 22:20
  mentioned yet? Some potential, you know,
• 22:23
  diamonds in the rough per SE that you that you see like, you
• 22:27
  know, the Astros always do well with with finding these gems.
• 22:30
  So who are some guys that you, you know, you haven't mentioned
• 22:33
  that you like in the lower levels of the system?
• 22:37
  Yeah, I mentioned him a little bit earlier and it's kind of
• 22:40
  just a layup to just to throw out Burrito just with what he'd
• 22:43
  accomplished. But one name that I've heard a
• 22:45
  lot of positive reviews about is Bryce Mayer, who was a 16th
• 22:49
  round pick out of Missouri this past summer.
• 22:52
  I got a message. It just said that people think
• 22:54
  he's a revelation. I mean, that's a crazy thing to
• 22:56
  hear about a college pitcher on day three.
• 22:58
  But he's been, you know, pretty good so far at single A's going
• 23:01
  back to the he went back to Fayetteville after starting the
• 23:04
  year only making three appearances last year, but he's
• 23:07
  looked good so far. The ERA is is at 348.
• 23:11
  But his last time out he went three and a 30 innings with six
• 23:13
  strikeouts. I mean that that's a.
• 23:15
  That's a very. Good outing that's a career high
• 23:16
  for him in only in three and 30 innings is a good luck too.
• 23:20
  So he's a strikeout guy and wants to keep that whip low is
• 23:23
  what is what he's done well. So I'm, I'm pretty bullish of
• 23:25
  Bryce Mayer and just what I've kind of heard from him.
• 23:29
  One more guy that's, you know, not playing right now and this
• 23:31
  is my offensive guy throughout there is Neil Homar, Ochoa
• 23:34
  Junior, his dad's baseball career.
• 23:36
  I mean, the name might be familiar to some people.
• 23:38
  His dad fell off a horse and then that was what ended his
• 23:41
  baseball career. You know, decades later, his son
• 23:44
  living in Houston, was committed to the Houston Cougars, gets
• 23:47
  drafted by the Astros, kind of not maybe a bonus pool baby, but
• 23:50
  he was an 11th rounder and they gave him a little bit more money
• 23:53
  than what other people got, $300,000, which was double the
• 23:56
  slot. Value on day three and.
• 23:59
  He gave all that money to his dad to to take care of a, you
• 24:02
  know, a baseball complex in Houston to keep keep their
• 24:05
  dreams alive. And he was in a car accident
• 24:07
  though recently and he's kind of been banged up.
• 24:09
  So he hasn't played this year yet.
• 24:11
  But I do like the tools there. I think a sneaky, sneaky good
• 24:14
  tool there is the arm sixty grade right now.
• 24:17
  And he's going to be a good power hitter in the in right
• 24:20
  field if he keeps everything together and stays on the field.
• 24:23
  And he's only 19. I mean, I had a scout tell me
• 24:25
  he's like he came up to him. He's like the most developed
• 24:27
  teenager he's ever seen. He was 17 years old.
• 24:30
  He came to take some swings at the Astros pre draft workouts
• 24:34
  and he was just incredible first size.
• 24:36
  And I think the Astros are just really high on him, but they're
• 24:38
  also kind of, you know, letting him take his time.
• 24:41
  I want to mention another name. Chase Jaworski was drafted a
• 24:44
  couple years ago and he was he's classified as a second base
• 24:47
  outfield. What are your thoughts on him?
• 24:50
  Yeah, that's a good one too. I mean, he kind of falls in that
• 24:52
  same category with Neymar, same draft, you know, high school
• 24:56
  orders, you know, he's 20 years old now, which I cannot believe
• 24:59
  he'll be 21 this summer. And to me he still looks like
• 25:02
  he's 18. He's just a young guy.
• 25:04
  The first thing that jumped off the page when they when they
• 25:06
  drafted him was at speed. I mean, first and 3rd, just
• 25:09
  incredible times there. He got banged up with a finger
• 25:12
  injury last year and. Missed a lot of the second-half
• 25:14
  at single A but got up the high AI.
• 25:16
  Think he would have. Done a little bit more, he's
• 25:18
  really getting it going with the bat and I think that's the one
• 25:20
  thing they were kind of waiting on.
• 25:22
  I think feel like shortstop or center field is probably the the
• 25:24
  future for him. You know, you don't want to
• 25:27
  handcuff him to the outfield already, but you know, I think
• 25:29
  he's he's just so athletic that he could be an outfielder, could
• 25:32
  be a, you know, crazy good defensive center fielder if you
• 25:35
  don't want him to play a shortstop in the future.
• 25:37
  So there's a lot of good positives there just defensively
• 25:41
  with Chase and you know, he's a just a young kid still, it seems
• 25:44
  like, but I mean sixty grade run and I think the field is 55, but
• 25:48
  even could be a little bit better if he puts on a good
• 25:51
  clinic at high A this year. I want to, I want to talk about
• 25:56
  some guys that the Astros drafted last year.
• 25:59
  You mentioned about Bryce Meyer already, like Proctor Smith is
• 26:02
  another guy that's been drafted. He's fourth round pick.
• 26:06
  Cole Hurts, Hertzler I've heard a lot of things about.
• 26:09
  He was drafted in the fifth round.
• 26:10
  And then of course to Ryan Ferkucci.
• 26:12
  Juan Bellow was was part of the deal for Ryan Presley and Ryan
• 26:17
  Verdugo. I don't know if not, not too
• 26:18
  many people though. So what are your thoughts about
• 26:21
  those guys and where the future holds with these players and
• 26:24
  where they fit? Yeah, it's, it's an interesting
• 26:27
  thing. You know, you look back, I'm on
• 26:28
  that draft and you see all those those pitchers names like, OK,
• 26:31
  yeah, I remember that. But you really get to see them
• 26:33
  as much because with the draft being later, a lot of these guys
• 26:35
  are already shut down for the summer and don't get those
• 26:37
  opportunities. But Bryce Meyer still got it.
• 26:40
  Parker Smith still hasn't broken out of the complex yet, still
• 26:43
  down there with the team and in spring, the spring training
• 26:46
  complex in Florida. But I mean, I think the thing
• 26:49
  with him is just like he's just kind of, you know, middle of the
• 26:50
  road right now with a lot of those tools.
• 26:53
  Fifty grade pretty much on all of his pitches except his change
• 26:55
  up is his best one. But overall, I I think he he can
• 26:59
  be, you know, a good good arm. But I did, you know, not hearing
• 27:01
  like too many positive reviews coming after him.
• 27:03
  I felt like a little bit of a reach to get him there in the
• 27:06
  fourth round. But you know, Houston guy went
• 27:08
  to Rice. You know, I think that's a big
• 27:09
  thing. Went to Beller high School,
• 27:11
  which is a good baseball high school in Houston.
• 27:13
  So yeah, it's just one of those things where, you know, I just
• 27:17
  kind of see him keep that if efficiency moving forward.
• 27:19
  He's 22 years old, so maybe you'll hope that he moves kind
• 27:22
  of a little bit quicker in the system.
• 27:24
  You know, Cole Hertzler, another one, the second time they got a
• 27:27
  guy out of Liberty recently, that was Will Wagner who they
• 27:30
  traded for. You say, you say Kikuchi and
• 27:33
  that deal last summer, but another guy would just kind of,
• 27:35
  you know, there's really not much to, you know, look at so
• 27:38
  far with him to just he's only made three appearances, but 13
• 27:43
  2/3 innings and 19 strikeouts. I mean, that's incredible.
• 27:46
  I mean, that's a very good start for him.
• 27:47
  You want to see those high strikeout numbers early on.
• 27:49
  WHIP is at 17117 and that's good to just want to kind of see him
• 27:53
  limit some hits a little bit more.
• 27:55
  But the 19 to 6K K to strike or K to walk ratio is definitely a
• 28:01
  good thing to see. And you know, I think you got to
• 28:04
  be a little bit, you know, high on him too with, you know, a lot
• 28:06
  of pitches being a little bit middle right now.
• 28:08
  But he can touch 97 on that fastball.
• 28:10
  So it has carry, you know, arm side run, so a lot of movement
• 28:14
  on it. And I think that's what the
• 28:15
  Astros like. They like those fastballs that
• 28:17
  they've called in the past, like the invisible fastball.
• 28:20
  Another guy like Juan Bellow, everyone is pretty excited
• 28:23
  about, you know, these kind of prospects you never really hear
• 28:26
  about just maybe these arms down in single A or high A when you
• 28:30
  trade away, you know, any, any kind of major leaguer in Juan
• 28:33
  Bello is going to be a name that people are going to watch for a
• 28:34
  while. Curveball is just nasty.
• 28:37
  You can watch those highlights. There's some pretty, pretty good
• 28:40
  feel to it. He's another just kind of
• 28:41
  diamond in the rough with only signing for $10,000 out of
• 28:44
  Columbia with the with the Chicago Cubs.
• 28:45
  So you know, a lot of positives there with him and I think, you
• 28:49
  know, there's a lot of just under the radar arms, especially
• 28:51
  just from that draft. And I feel like that's kind of
• 28:53
  the identity right now, Rocky. I think that's just where this
• 28:56
  kind of farm system is. It's just there's just so many
• 28:59
  pitchers that just have so many pitches and just everything but
• 29:03
  the kitchen sink. You, the Astros have a have a a
• 29:07
  plethora of promising outfield, their prospects in your system,
• 29:11
  including Jacob Melton, Kennedy Corona, Zach Cole, you mentioned
• 29:18
  Neymar, Choa Junior, Pedro Leon, of course, Luis Baez.
• 29:24
  Who are some other where do they stand going forward?
• 29:27
  Who are some some promising names that that you've heard or
• 29:30
  that you like with it within the Oldfield core that is in the
• 29:34
  minors? It's kind of a tough one.
• 29:36
  I feel like the outfielders were kind of like the identity for
• 29:39
  the Astros maybe two years ago. Luis Baez coming back from the
• 29:43
  injury, Jacob Melton, you know, battling a lot of injuries too.
• 29:47
  And the powers kind of diminished.
• 29:49
  The swing looks a little bit different.
• 29:51
  They kind of, you know, slowed it down.
• 29:52
  I think he's kind of mentioned, I think he mentioned to me once
• 29:55
  like he has probably one of the more ugly swings, so left
• 29:57
  handers, but still got the job done really well in the PAC 12
• 30:00
  with Oregon State and just need to get him kind of going again
• 30:03
  and get that power stroke going. I do like Joseph Sullivan.
• 30:06
  I think he's a greedy kind of dirtbag outfielder too with a
• 30:10
  lot of a lot of good exit velocities and he has a really
• 30:13
  good run tool as well. He's kind of speed on the base
• 30:15
  paths and he had a very good spring as well.
• 30:18
  So I'm pretty high on on him. You know, so far this year, this
• 30:22
  is kind of like one of those things where it's funny about
• 30:24
  him. He's batting 150 through 13
• 30:27
  games. He is at 889 OPS, 475 slugging,
• 30:30
  414 on base percentage. He's walked 14 * 18 strikeouts.
• 30:35
  You know, he's just one of those guys where he has six hits on
• 30:38
  the year and five of them are extra base hits.
• 30:39
  That's just who Joseph Sullivan is.
• 30:41
  I think if you made me pick my favorite prospect in the system
• 30:44
  right now, it would be Joseph Sullivan.
• 30:47
  You know, I don't really mean Kenny Gomez is a guy I've been
• 30:49
  kind of high onto another one that I've thought has been a
• 30:51
  teenager his entire life. He'll be 20 next month, which is
• 30:55
  crazy to think. I remember when he was signed, I
• 30:56
  think 16 or 17 years old a couple years ago.
• 31:00
  And I still think it defensively.
• 31:02
  He's kind of a wizard and a guy that you're you're going to be
• 31:04
  high on for the next couple years just with just with the
• 31:09
  upside. There is just a defender and him
• 31:11
  kind of running in the walls and taking hits as well as he can.
• 31:16
  I'm not, you know, too high right now Maybe on Zach Cole and
• 31:18
  Pedro Leon. I don't really even kind of
• 31:20
  support Pedro Leon being in the just being just on this list
• 31:26
  anymore even to to start this year.
• 31:29
  Yeah, he hasn't even played yet. I forgot about that.
• 31:30
  He's on the injured list, but yeah, it's just been kind of
• 31:33
  rough go for him. Never really got it going.
• 31:35
  And I just don't really know where it goes from there is that
• 31:38
  Cole's another guy who's battled injuries and, you know, the arm
• 31:41
  and the run tools are just incredible.
• 31:42
  Like he could be a great defensive outfielder in the big
• 31:46
  leagues. Just the hit tools just kind of
• 31:47
  falling off so much. And I was really, I mean, I was
• 31:50
  sometimes higher on him as a hitter because I just thought he
• 31:52
  would just be a very good fishing guy that can give you a
• 31:55
  couple home runs and give you an OPS above 800.
• 31:59
  But it's really falling off. But I think you're just kind of
• 32:01
  relying on him to be more of a defensive guy.
• 32:03
  But you know, we wouldn't be surprised.
• 32:05
  You never really draft for need, but you can never go wrong with
• 32:08
  outfielders. I mean, they take up three spots
• 32:10
  in your your your nine positions.
• 32:13
  So I think moving forward, to think Astros wouldn't be afraid
• 32:16
  about, you know, trying to find a nice left-handed hitting
• 32:18
  outfielder, maybe a college guy at the top of the draft next
• 32:21
  summer. So the Astros made some
• 32:26
  international signings back in January and it headlined Kevin
• 32:31
  Alvarez, who's who was ranked 4th according to Baseball
• 32:33
  America and he seems like another power tool Z type of
• 32:38
  player that could be projected to be in a few years.
• 32:43
  At the same time, they did sign plethora guys by other guys that
• 32:46
  are more notable or Anthony Million, Omar, Damian, Juan
• 32:52
  Frieda, if you know any of those guys you could talk about and
• 32:54
  the ones that I did not mention, you could also mention.
• 32:58
  Yeah, this was a different class for me.
• 32:59
  I mean, I usually know a lot about those guys.
• 33:01
  A lot of the coaches and scouts and sources I knew just in the
• 33:05
  Dominican and in the international market have since
• 33:08
  like left the Astros or moved up or moved on.
• 33:10
  So it's just been a little bit different for me trying to get a
• 33:13
  better feel for that. But Alvarez has been a guy that
• 33:15
  we've known about for a while and just with his connection to
• 33:18
  the Astros, you know, this is one of those things where people
• 33:22
  have talked about the Astros being this kind of Cuban
• 33:24
  pipeline for a couple years now. I mean, outside of Yuli Guriel
• 33:28
  and you're Don Alvarez, who they they traded for.
• 33:31
  And I mean, is they still developed Jordan, but kind of an
• 33:33
  anomaly at this point. We look back on it.
• 33:36
  They just haven't had much success with Cuban prospects
• 33:39
  like whatsoever. I mean, they traded one for a
• 33:41
  catcher who capped out at AAA and Luke Berryhill when they
• 33:43
  gave it to CNL press for the Reds and and he ended up being a
• 33:47
  pretty good reliever for the Orioles a couple years later.
• 33:49
  So, you know, I'm not really too high on maybe what they've been
• 33:53
  able to find out of Cuba and that's not doing knocking on any
• 33:56
  of the players, but maybe just the player development and maybe
• 33:58
  the scouting of what they've been able to or who they've been
• 34:01
  able to bring in. But you know, people want to be
• 34:04
  excited. You know, be excited all you
• 34:05
  want. They gave Kevin Alvarez a lot of
• 34:07
  money over $1,000,000. But you just haven't seen the
• 34:10
  Astros develop even really an international bat in the last
• 34:13
  couple years. You know, like I said, it's
• 34:15
  really just been your horn on is out of that group.
• 34:18
  You know, Pedro Lyon really just never lived up to the billing.
• 34:21
  He's if he ever makes it back up to the major leagues, I think
• 34:23
  he's just a a depth guy, a bench player moving forward.
• 34:27
  So it is kind of hard just for me to, you know, give you much
• 34:30
  hope or assessment of these guys when the Astros just really
• 34:33
  haven't done the best with it. They keep doing well with these
• 34:36
  international arms, but just offensively with a lot of these
• 34:39
  players. And I feel like Yaner Diaz can
• 34:41
  kind of go in there as well, But they got him when he was in
• 34:43
  what, single a or high A from Cleveland.
• 34:45
  He's already out of out of the international ranks.
• 34:49
  So looking at some of those other guys too, they they really
• 34:54
  like the athleticism. You said lean build right now.
• 34:56
  So he hits the ball on, you know, really good line drives to
• 35:00
  all fields. And I think that's what really
• 35:02
  stood out for the Astros there. Plus.
• 35:05
  Speed. 2 So he can be, you know, look right on the base paths if
• 35:08
  he's not putting the ball in the air too much and maybe keeping
• 35:11
  you on the ground and, you know, he'll give you opportunities to
• 35:14
  steal bases. Damiani is another guy.
• 35:16
  I mean, you can say probably a lot, a lot of these guys,
• 35:18
  they're really tall and lanky. I mean, they're, they're,
• 35:20
  they're teenagers. I mean, there's a lot of, you
• 35:22
  know, young prospects coming out of the international ranks.
• 35:24
  So the command is a big thing. That is a big, big thing.
• 35:27
  That the Astros liked about. Him and getting that command and
• 35:30
  you know it's getting a scouting director just someone on the
• 35:33
  scouting aside for the Astros and the international ranks to
• 35:36
  say that about someone is massive because you can go and
• 35:38
  watch these games and look at the stats on the DSL game days
• 35:43
  and you will see like there's a lot of you know issues with
• 35:44
  command early on because they are young kids.
• 35:46
  I mean they have young kids with.
• 35:47
  Very, very live. Arms and having a command early
• 35:50
  is big. Yeah, I feel like command is
• 35:53
  like always like the hardest thing for a pitcher to to
• 35:57
  really, you know, and if you got that early, you got, so you
• 36:00
  might have something there, you know, especially with all the
• 36:03
  other tools. But you've mentioned tons of
• 36:06
  names so far, I mean a plethora of guys.
• 36:09
  But are there any other names that you haven't mentioned that
• 36:13
  you want to mention that you haven't talked about yet that
• 36:16
  could be, could be guys going forward that you really like in
• 36:20
  your system? Yeah, I kind of feel bad I
• 36:23
  glossed over this one from Rocky, but you did throw out
• 36:26
  there Ryan for Coochie, who had a Tommy John and don't think
• 36:30
  they really expecting him to pitch this year.
• 36:32
  But you know, it is one of those interesting cases where you use
• 36:35
  your second round run a guy you're not going to see.
• 36:37
  And the Astros, it's just kind of a weird trend going right
• 36:43
  now. The Astros have had like no
• 36:44
  successful second rounders like through different general
• 36:47
  managers, through different scouting directors.
• 36:49
  It's just kind of been a weird little like median for the
• 36:51
  Astros haven't done well in the second round.
• 36:53
  And I think you're kind of expecting something a little bit
• 36:56
  bigger from him in sorry, not second round because the Astros
• 36:59
  did lose their second round pick, but he was the second pick
• 37:01
  in the draft, the Astros being 1/3 rounder.
• 37:03
  So that's just like an interesting thing.
• 37:05
  You lose your draft pick, then you with your second pick in the
• 37:08
  draft, you draft a guy who's Tommy John.
• 37:09
  So it was a Friday starter. There's a lot of things to be
• 37:13
  excited about with the fastball and this fastball slider mix
• 37:16
  will probably be a good combo for him moving forward.
• 37:20
  Just he's a low release height. And like I said before, 97 with
• 37:24
  Kerry is just what the Astros want with arm side run.
• 37:27
  It's just the exact same thing. I mean, if I was good at
• 37:30
  identifying someone with 97 arm side run, I could probably tell
• 37:33
  you might be on the Astros board.
• 37:34
  So it's a team that went over slot on a guy who's not going to
• 37:36
  pitch this year is so or maybe it might be I think maybe the
• 37:41
  expectation maybe pitched at the end of the season, but that's
• 37:43
  probably the guy I want to touch on.
• 37:44
  I think there's. Still a lot of hype.
• 37:46
  Behind Ryan and you know, once he's healthy and on the field, I
• 37:49
  think there's gonna be a lot of eyes on him because you look at
• 37:51
  it the second round pick a couple years ago, Alonzo
• 37:53
  Treadwell really dealt with injuries and I think he's kind
• 37:55
  of falling off some top 30 list. And so you want to see some of
• 37:58
  those high-ranking Astros pitchers or, you know, high
• 38:01
  draft pick ones really pay out. Before we move on from the
• 38:05
  Astros, I want to ask you about comparisons to James Click to
• 38:10
  Dana Brown. You know that Dana Brown was,
• 38:12
  you know, in a in a situation where he's in a wit now mode.
• 38:17
  And you look at James click, he's drafted guys.
• 38:20
  He traded for certain players. Like, for example, like you
• 38:23
  mentioned, Yaner Diaz was part of the mile straw raid or or he
• 38:26
  drafted low Profito or or some of the other players.
• 38:29
  Like how would you compare those two?
• 38:31
  And where do you where, how do you see Dana Brown building this
• 38:34
  team moving forward? I think they were very similar
• 38:38
  in the sense of draft minds, you know, they you know, it's hard
• 38:42
  to give all the credit to them. And it's a lot of guys on their
• 38:44
  staff too. And there's some similarities
• 38:45
  there with guys have kept or retained or moved on from.
• 38:49
  But I think in the same sense they are both draft oriented
• 38:51
  guys. They are, you know, good about,
• 38:53
  you know, building for the future.
• 38:55
  I think in the same sense, Dana Brown is definitely more
• 38:57
  aggressive. I think he's a guy that in the
• 39:00
  Astros case is different from click in that sense that, you
• 39:04
  know, he will he will pull the trigger when when he needs to
• 39:08
  and doesn't really always have to have someone, you know, step
• 39:11
  in in that sense of Jim Crane, you know, maybe stepping in and
• 39:13
  saying, Hey, I want this to happen.
• 39:16
  You know, the the more like it happens, you know, I mean not
• 39:18
  too high on him. And I think in hindsight, you
• 39:20
  know, I think a lot of people were a little bit, you know,
• 39:23
  worried about Click kind of moving forward because he just
• 39:25
  wasn't as aggressive. But I think he was just such a
• 39:27
  good talent evaluator and trade evaluator that I think that's
• 39:32
  what the Astros are kind of losing, You know, what they lost
• 39:34
  in him. It was a good deal with the
• 39:36
  Cubs, you know, getting three major leaguers, getting a
• 39:38
  prospect with a lot of with a lot of upside, being a first
• 39:42
  rounder and just what everything Cam Smith possesses.
• 39:45
  But the same time and he got miles, he gave up miles straw
• 39:48
  for Phil Maiton, Niner Diaz. Like, I mean that that's just
• 39:52
  like, you know, who would have thought that, you know, then,
• 39:54
  but now it's just like, that's an incredible trade.
• 39:56
  He got. I mean, the trade he made with
• 39:58
  Seattle too in 2021, giving up Abraham Toro for two good
• 40:02
  relievers and one reliever being one that was DFA Ed.
• 40:05
  And you know, it was the Astros fault for giving Montero that
• 40:08
  extension without a general manager.
• 40:09
  But Rafael Montero was an incredible reliever in 2022.
• 40:12
  And you know, the staff that James Click had in place.
• 40:15
  I think that's just what the Astros are kind of missing right
• 40:18
  now, in my opinion. I think they're just just
• 40:20
  missing those guys that we're kind of just finding a lot of
• 40:22
  these under the radar players and, you know, finding things
• 40:26
  that worked. It would work well for them that
• 40:28
  wasn't working well for other teams.
• 40:32
  I want to talk about the the outer Broadview of other farms
• 40:37
  and other other prospects. So over this past year since we
• 40:41
  last talked to you, who has intrigued you the most when it
• 40:45
  comes to like improving their farm system?
• 40:49
  Yeah, that's a good question. There's a couple teams that, you
• 40:52
  know, you look at it now, like how many top 100 prospects they
• 40:56
  have now compared to maybe a couple of years ago.
• 40:58
  And you know, the Cubs are still up there with, you know, I think
• 41:02
  they might have the most right now.
• 41:03
  The world's have kind of fallen off, of course, with more guys
• 41:06
  leaving the Phillies. And this wasn't even like them
• 41:10
  going out and getting players. But I mean, they 4 top 100
• 41:12
  prospects, Andrew Painters really just coming around.
• 41:15
  I think this summer they're expecting them to come up and be
• 41:17
  a part of that rotation. So I'm a little bit high on the
• 41:19
  Phillies. I think that one's, you know, I
• 41:21
  think that's a good system for a team that's fighting for a World
• 41:24
  Series, not just fighting for. I think it's a team that's
• 41:27
  content without even winning the East.
• 41:29
  But you know, they just want to make it to the postseason
• 41:30
  because that that is a roster. It's always built for the
• 41:32
  postseason. I love Aiden Miller.
• 41:34
  I think the him kind of still sticking at shortstop is a
• 41:37
  really good sign for the Phillies.
• 41:39
  Justin Crawford, I'm not, you know, super high on him.
• 41:42
  I think he does keep the ball on the ground a little too much.
• 41:44
  But I think he's a guy that's, you know, you know, chomping at
• 41:46
  the bit to be up in the major leagues.
• 41:48
  And I think he's just right around the corner there.
• 41:51
  And I I've been high on Eduardo Tate, who's a catcher.
• 41:53
  He's still 18 years old at single AI really liked him when
• 41:57
  he was in the FCL last year. And so he's a guy.
• 41:59
  I mean, that's a team where you just talk development.
• 42:02
  You know, I think that was one where Adrian Painter came back
• 42:03
  around. He's a top 10 prospect again
• 42:06
  after having Tommy John and missing a lot of time.
• 42:08
  And you know, he's looking strong as well.
• 42:11
  The Marlins 1 is a little bit interesting because they did
• 42:13
  make a lot of trades, but not a lot of those guys are in the top
• 42:15
  100 right now. But I do love Thomas White.
• 42:18
  I think he's one of the best left-handed pitchers in the in
• 42:22
  the minor leagues. You know, Noble Meyer is still
• 42:24
  in there and they think, you know, he's kind of slipping down
• 42:26
  a little. Bit, but still a little.
• 42:27
  Bit bullish of him, just kind of going through a lot of these and
• 42:30
  just looking at some other teams.
• 42:31
  But yeah, I think the Dodgers just continuously somehow just
• 42:36
  can have just great farm systems.
• 42:39
  I mean, you look at it on here as well.
• 42:40
  I mean, this is a team that, you know, went out, spent a lot of
• 42:42
  money last couple off seasons. There are two.
• 42:45
  You know, back end or two of the three back end guys in their top
• 42:49
  100 right now, just in the top 100 that are Dodgers were
• 42:53
  acquired in a trade. So that's always a good thing
• 42:56
  probably just for a team that is continuing to want to win right
• 42:58
  now and that's Jackson Ferris since I hope I'm very high in
• 43:02
  Zyer hope. I think the him being a high
• 43:04
  score and posting, I mean, was a teenager last year and having
• 43:07
  400 foot homers. Very good sign, especially with
• 43:10
  a wood bat. We all touched on the Blue Jays
• 43:12
  too. I think I think I don't really
• 43:13
  have much to say other than what we talked about last time with
• 43:16
  Arjun Namala and Treya Savage. You know, those are two guys
• 43:19
  back-to-back right now in the top 100 on MLB pipeline, 83 and
• 43:22
  84. I think he you love what you saw
• 43:25
  from Treya Savage. He's a he's just a baseball
• 43:27
  player. If I listen to Treya Savage
• 43:29
  talk, doesn't know always have too much much to say, but you
• 43:32
  know, he's I think he's going to be a good, you know, I wouldn't
• 43:34
  say frontline. I don't want to, you know, put
• 43:36
  that cap on him, but he's going to be a guy that's going to be a
• 43:38
  rotation for Toronto at some point.
• 43:40
  And that's, you know, where I kind of see him.
• 43:41
  I just think he's a guy that's very efficient and East Carolina
• 43:44
  did a really good job with him and Arjun Amala, him going down
• 43:48
  and coming back up last year from the FCL to single A was
• 43:51
  massive for him and getting up to high end this year too will
• 43:54
  be very good for him. And last team I'll put on there,
• 43:56
  and this is one that really just kind of answers that question is
• 44:00
  Seattle. Oh man, yeah, I am.
• 44:02
  I look at Seattle's I kind of start drooling like I'm just
• 44:05
  like this is this is a really good farm system.
• 44:08
  This is a team that has an opportunity to win the West.
• 44:10
  It's a very weak division. I think the Angels will fall off
• 44:12
  eventually. I feel like this is kind of the
• 44:14
  Angels teams a couple years ago with John Madden with at the
• 44:17
  managers pot, but Colt Emerson, Lazaro, Montes, Cole Young,
• 44:21
  Harry Ford, Thelon and Celestin. And I love him.
• 44:23
  I think he was incredible in the FCL And you know, that's one of
• 44:27
  those things you can't buy too much stock in the rookie level
• 44:29
  ball, but the guy is just so smooth.
• 44:32
  And Johnny Farmelo, who is battling the injury and he's
• 44:34
  coming back, and Michael Arroyo, who is, you know, I would say
• 44:38
  probably be in the top three for a lot of systems.
• 44:40
  He said he can hear the bottom of the top ten and he's still a
• 44:43
  top 100 prospect. So I think, you know, from last
• 44:46
  year when we look back on it and this is a team that really
• 44:48
  didn't go out and just make it better in the sense of trading
• 44:51
  for guys, but really just did a really good job developing in
• 44:54
  the spring training and getting getting good rave reviews from
• 44:57
  scouts and everyone. And I really like Seattle.
• 45:01
  Speaking of Seattle, I want to ask you something.
• 45:04
  What are what are your thoughts on Durango since she and and
• 45:07
  and? Do you feel like he has what it
• 45:09
  takes to be a starter long term? Or do you think he's more of a
• 45:14
  bullpen arm with the switch pitching ability?
• 45:16
  Or do you think he he actually has what it takes to be that
• 45:19
  that starting pitcher to rotation?
• 45:23
  Yeah, it's an interesting case. For those that don't know how
• 45:25
  it's kind of working out for him, you know, he's the only
• 45:27
  switch pitcher in baseball right now.
• 45:28
  He's not even a top 100 guy. We're coming out of Mississippi
• 45:32
  State. You know, he's pitching from
• 45:33
  both sides as a starter. And you know, I, I don't have a
• 45:36
  hard time, you know, buying into stats sometimes, especially just
• 45:39
  an SEC play, just with how talented that league is.
• 45:42
  But you know, but even that like he's, you know #9 in the system.
• 45:48
  But for him right now it's the focus is pitching primarily
• 45:51
  left-handed during the week. So he just pitches twice a week,
• 45:54
  once during the the weekend and that's as a starter.
• 45:57
  And he's going to give you a little bit of left from the left
• 45:59
  side, but most of the time it is going to be right-handed.
• 46:01
  But during the week he's just strictly a left-handed reliever
• 46:04
  in one outing. So it's kind of where, you know,
• 46:06
  his plan is right now and they're kind of just letting him
• 46:08
  work, you know, do his own thing.
• 46:09
  But it seems like it could be a lot, you know, of workload too.
• 46:13
  You know, I think you're still going to get a bullpen from
• 46:16
  starters in the middle of week, especially if they're going to
• 46:18
  be your weekend guys in the minor leagues.
• 46:20
  But you can look at the end of the year.
• 46:21
  And I was listening to a podcast at MLB Pipeline is the the, the
• 46:27
  show before the show, which is the milb.com podcast.
• 46:29
  And they were talking like you might see the numbers in the
• 46:31
  year, like what the heck is going on?
• 46:32
  Like you've never seen something like this when you look at the
• 46:35
  the starts compared to the innings pitch.
• 46:38
  But I think he's a lot more dominant from the right side.
• 46:40
  I think, you know, if you look at the the future of him, the
• 46:44
  fastball wise, it is 10 grade, you know, 10 points higher on
• 46:47
  the grade scale for him. Slider is good from both sides,
• 46:51
  but control maybe it's a little bit of the issue.
• 46:54
  They're just from both. You know, that's something you
• 46:55
  want to see him continue to improve on command.
• 46:59
  You know, it is tough when you're pitching from both sides
• 47:01
  and that, you know, honing in on one.
• 47:03
  But Mariners seem to have a good plan with him and they're going
• 47:05
  to let him take his time. You know, even though he is a,
• 47:07
  you know, college guy, he's 21 when he entering the season.
• 47:11
  So they, they do have a 2027 ETA on him.
• 47:15
  So that gives him a good amount of time.
• 47:16
  You know, I think one of the interesting things that I don't
• 47:19
  think has been talked about and, you know, I think this will
• 47:22
  definitely, you know, change maybe the, the course of it, But
• 47:25
  like what happens if there's an elbow injury?
• 47:27
  You know, that's one of the, my big question just with Durangelo
• 47:29
  is, you know, if he does hurt his right elbow and I think his
• 47:32
  right arm is definitely his better arm, will he switch to
• 47:35
  the left side while he's still rehabbing the right arm?
• 47:37
  Because you know, you're not throwing with your right arm,
• 47:39
  but you're still moving it and everything you're doing.
• 47:40
  And I'm not a doctor, I'm not a rehab, you know, position for
• 47:44
  any of these teams. But it is definitely a question
• 47:46
  I've kind of had, you know, how will injuries affect just his
• 47:49
  kind of outcome? Because, I mean, it's incredibly
• 47:51
  hard to avoid it, especially when you're pitching from both
• 47:53
  sides. So it is a definitely a weird,
• 47:56
  you know, funky thing to see. And I think it'll be really cool
• 47:59
  to see those stats at the end of the year.
• 48:02
  Yeah, it's, it's fascinating. Where do where do I want to ask
• 48:07
  you about teams like like the White Sox, like Chris Getz?
• 48:11
  I feel like he he's done a low key pretty good job trying to,
• 48:15
  you know, refill that farm draft everything.
• 48:19
  You mentioned the Marlins a little bit Mike Grizzle with the
• 48:23
  Nationals. Obviously we know what the job
• 48:25
  he's done and the Rockies and and after, after drawing a blank
• 48:31
  on the on the GM that left the Rays.
• 48:36
  Peter Bendix. Yeah, yeah, Peter Bendix when he
• 48:39
  left the Rays. Like how?
• 48:41
  How do those teams stand going forward in your opinion?
• 48:45
  Yeah, that maybe the White Sox one was maybe a little bit
• 48:48
  better answer than White Sox and Mariners are two really fun
• 48:51
  systems to look at to Rocky's question earlier.
• 48:54
  And I just, I think with the White Sox do that is one of the
• 48:57
  better answers of saying, you know, this is a team that went
• 48:59
  out, traded guys in the offseason, definitely retooled
• 49:02
  it. I mean, Edgar Cuero, who made
• 49:04
  his Major League debut this past week, he probably would be top
• 49:06
  three, maybe top one for a lot of the teams at the bottom half
• 49:10
  of the farm system rankings. And he's #6 in the system he
• 49:12
  operated Montgomery, get Kyle Teal from the Red Sox.
• 49:15
  You get close to Montgomery a couple years ago.
• 49:17
  And I'm still maybe Uber excited about Coulson just as a hitter
• 49:21
  right now. And I really thought he was
• 49:23
  going to be like Cody, not Cody Bellinger.
• 49:24
  Excuse me, man, Seaver with the OR Seger, excuse me with the
• 49:30
  Ranger that just thought he had a lot of that good power from
• 49:33
  the left side, but it's kind of just been kind of dwindling and
• 49:35
  he's, you know, battled his own kind of hiccups down the road.
• 49:37
  But having two dominant left-handed pitchers at the top
• 49:40
  of your system and Hagen Smith and no Schultz, no Schultz is
• 49:42
  exciting. I think this is going to be a
• 49:44
  team that a lot of people will will look down the line and look
• 49:47
  back on this top ten in a couple years and you'll be like, Oh
• 49:51
  yeah, this is this is one of those things where that
• 49:53
  definitely panned out. Having two catchers in your top
• 49:56
  ten along with a lot of these good arms.
• 49:58
  And Grant Taylor is just another one on there that I think would
• 50:00
  probably be top three for the Astros.
• 50:03
  It's just a good, good farm system at the top.
• 50:05
  And I think this will be something when you look down the
• 50:08
  line maybe in two or three years from the White Sox are trying to
• 50:11
  make a, you know, turn the page kind of moment after.
• 50:14
  I think I think we could call it a failure from 2020 to 2023 with
• 50:18
  how good that team should have been.
• 50:20
  I think we will definitely be looking at like, OK, this one
• 50:23
  checked off with the Rockies, though.
• 50:25
  I'm not, you know, super excited, just with, you know,
• 50:28
  maybe some of the guys in the Rocky system.
• 50:30
  I do like Brody Brick, the guy they got from Iowa last year in
• 50:33
  the first round. Cole Carrig seems to be able to
• 50:35
  play any position you you want him to play.
• 50:38
  Chase Dolander, you know, I think once he gets going in the
• 50:41
  major. Leagues, it's just so tough.
• 50:43
  To for the Rockies to develop pitchers, you look down the
• 50:46
  line, I mean, how many arms around Major League Baseball
• 50:49
  right now? We're from the Rockies and are,
• 50:51
  you know, still playing well. And I think that's just kind of
• 50:54
  one of those things where I just don't really know where you kind
• 50:57
  of go from here with Colorado. It's just I don't think you
• 51:00
  would even past maybe the the 15 mark on the Rockies system is
• 51:04
  maybe not too many guys to be excited about.
• 51:07
  Maybe there'll be some of these guys that maybe diamonds in the
• 51:09
  rough or ones that do end up being good major leaguers and
• 51:13
  not not saying stars, but starters.
• 51:14
  I think that's one thing that you could say maybe about the
• 51:16
  rocky system and they just kind of lacking a lot of that star
• 51:19
  power because guys like Zach V never really lived up to the
• 51:22
  hype and definitely in the major leagues.
• 51:23
  Now Amador, another guy that was a top 100 guy, young Kale
• 51:27
  Fernandez, who's flirting with it as well.
• 51:30
  And it just really never know. They never really stuck in the
• 51:33
  top 100 and I think it's just one.
• 51:36
  It's still a question mark on how the Rockies are developing,
• 51:38
  guys. What what about a team like the
• 51:42
  Rays? You know how they operate.
• 51:43
  They trade guys who are two or three years away from being free
• 51:47
  agents and they love to manipulate the situation.
• 51:50
  Like, for example, when you saw Tyler Glass now he was traded
• 51:54
  for Papio and Johnny, Johnny Leducca, right, who had six
• 51:58
  years of control each. And that's why Dodgers were
• 52:00
  like, oh, we got to extend them or we're not going to do that
• 52:03
  trade. So I mean, what do you think
• 52:05
  about the Rays organization? I know there's some guys like
• 52:08
  Savior, Isaac Carson, Wissing Hunt, Brady Taylor, like the
• 52:11
  list goes on. And they got Joe Boyle just got
• 52:13
  called up. And could you see them trade
• 52:16
  guys like Brandon Lau or Yandy Diaz or even Shane Mcclanahan
• 52:20
  once he's healthy? Yeah, so that's an interesting
• 52:23
  thing. I was thinking about Shane the
• 52:25
  other day and just kind of when he was going to come back, and I
• 52:27
  wish that would affect the rotation or just kind of moving
• 52:30
  forward. I think one of the big things to
• 52:31
  the Rays right now is they have a lot of position players that
• 52:34
  just do a lot of different things.
• 52:35
  You see on the top 100 Braden Taylor and Carson Williams.
• 52:39
  I think Carson Williams sticks a shortstop.
• 52:40
  He's a good glove first guy. Xavier Isaac when he's on, he's
• 52:44
  on offensively and you know, I think he's just such a good
• 52:47
  offensive pat bat and don't really know if you need him
• 52:50
  playing my first base too often. But at the same time you have
• 52:53
  another guy in there and Trey Morgan, who is a defensive
• 52:55
  wizard at first base, which you don't see very often.
• 52:58
  I mean, there's not a lot of real traditional first base
• 53:00
  prospects that are good offensive and defensively and he
• 53:02
  is one of them. And they played him in the
• 53:04
  outfit a little bit too to kind of get him going.
• 53:06
  And Theo Gillan and Aiden Smith, they're down down at the bottom
• 53:10
  being a single A and high A respectively with 19 to 20 year
• 53:13
  olds. And I think those guys are maybe
• 53:14
  a little bit more comparable, even though they they hit from
• 53:17
  on the different sides of the plate, but still 2 good, good
• 53:19
  young outfielders in that system.
• 53:21
  But it's kind of lacking, you know, top pitching prospects.
• 53:24
  And that's where I kind of wonder where, you know, like you
• 53:27
  mentioned, maybe trading big leaguers, but I wonder if they
• 53:29
  do kind of maybe offload on some of these high end position
• 53:32
  players they have as well. Chandler Smith is a little bit
• 53:34
  of a top 100 adjacent. You know, it's hard to put a guy
• 53:37
  probably on a top 100 list that has a twenty grade power tool,
• 53:40
  which I mean they would never give someone.
• 53:41
  Zero, but he's a guy that just. Doesn't rely on it you know he's
• 53:44
  he's speed first hit tool 1st and you know, you want to see
• 53:47
  Brody Hopkins take that step forward this year and continue
• 53:50
  what he's kind of been doing and coming over, you know this past
• 53:55
  year, so past two years. So yeah, I do wonder that is a
• 54:00
  good question about, you know, are they going to trade with you
• 54:02
  and I I've, you know, heard people joke before if the race
• 54:05
  call you got a prospect hang up because they they know something
• 54:08
  that you probably don't. Yeah, I think they're, I do
• 54:12
  wonder, you know, if they're going to maybe move some of
• 54:14
  these position players for some better arms.
• 54:17
  I want to talk about some positional players.
• 54:19
  I know you already mentioned a couple names up in the horizon.
• 54:22
  You mentioned about the Taylor Savage.
• 54:24
  Another guy in the Jay system that that's been playing really
• 54:27
  well was Cal Steven and then I'll I'll mention other names.
• 54:31
  Chase Burns, who just got promoted to AA.
• 54:34
  You just saw Logan Henderson made his debut yesterday.
• 54:37
  Zebby Matthews. He's he's probably a step
• 54:39
  closer. K4 and Jacob Pencil, Rouse, Cash
• 54:41
  J Field, like if you could dive into those guys, that'll be
• 54:45
  good. And if there's other names that
• 54:47
  you believe could be up in the majors this year, you could
• 54:49
  mention about those names as well.
• 54:51
  Yeah, I'll start with Chase. You know, getting up to AA
• 54:54
  pretty quickly is, you know, a good sign.
• 54:56
  And it's just kind of like what Wake has been doing with a lot
• 54:59
  of these pictures, especially someone who and pretty much gave
• 55:02
  up on an opportunity to win the the national championship with
• 55:05
  Tennessee to go to a pitching lab in Wake Forest.
• 55:07
  And he's really turned it turned it up.
• 55:10
  And I think he's just been so efficient is what you love from
• 55:13
  Chase Burns and very open guy from what I've heard and what
• 55:16
  I've listened to from just listening to him talk.
• 55:18
  And I think with a lot of these these arms is, you know,
• 55:21
  especially his college ones. You know, Zebby Matthews was
• 55:24
  kind of just like a it's just Mr. consistency and I think
• 55:27
  that's what you kind of like about some of these college arms
• 55:29
  recently. A lot of these guys are just
• 55:31
  Uber consistent and what they're doing and command wise and
• 55:35
  everything that they've kind of been able to put together.
• 55:37
  And I think you got to be kind of a little bit, you know,
• 55:40
  excited about where the the future is.
• 55:42
  Some of these pictures and it thinks Abby Matthews and I don't
• 55:44
  have the numbers in front of me, but he went like 20 some odd
• 55:48
  starts without a walk or something, or he was like under
• 55:50
  ten walks the entire year. That's exactly what you got to
• 55:53
  love about some of these guys. And I mean, can you throw out
• 55:56
  some of those names again, Rocky?
• 55:59
  Bubble would you mention bubble cash Mayfield from the Padres is
• 56:02
  another one. Kate Horn from the Cubs.
• 56:06
  Well, I mentioned about Logan Henderson he made and and they
• 56:08
  did call up another prospect today from AAA the Brewers.
• 56:13
  The Brewers are like a pitching factory.
• 56:14
  Like there's they just bring up guys like Jacob Mara.
• 56:17
  Zorowski is another big name and I think Robert Gas, who's who's
• 56:21
  under Tommy Johnny was part of that deal with the Padres.
• 56:24
  You could mention those names and if there's anyone else that
• 56:27
  comes in mind that you believe, like a Drew Hackenberg or
• 56:30
  whoever's out there, or or Andrew Painter from the
• 56:33
  Phillies, right, or whoever, like you could mention those
• 56:36
  things as well. Yeah, hit him Bubba Chandler
• 56:39
  real quick too. I think the competitive nature
• 56:42
  of him is really what's going to get him going to Yeah, we look
• 56:44
  at all the grades. Seventy grade fastball, great
• 56:46
  curve, 60 slider, 55 change. Like the guy's got it all going
• 56:50
  for him. But I think one of the big
• 56:52
  things about him is a competitive chip he brings.
• 56:54
  You know, I don't even know if he's joking, but we've heard
• 56:57
  that he's he's told Paul Skeens, you know, like enjoy pitching on
• 57:00
  opening day this year because it's not going to happen next
• 57:02
  year. You know, the guy just wants
• 57:03
  wants that opportunity to be up in the big leagues and he wants
• 57:06
  to take full advantage of it. So I think you like what you see
• 57:10
  from from him. I haven't really seen too much
• 57:13
  of cash Mayfield yet. You know, he still is on the
• 57:14
  younger side for me to to really just be watching and really
• 57:18
  paying attention to. But I do like Brandon Sprout
• 57:21
  from the Philly or from the Phillies that the Mets and they
• 57:25
  call him Sprout Sprout Goat came over from Florida, one of those
• 57:31
  one of those SEC arms sixty grade change up.
• 57:34
  And I love that he was doing a AA last year really kind of hit
• 57:37
  hit a Rd. roadblock and got up to AAA with Syracuse 753 OPS and
• 57:42
  seven starts last year, but fine start this year, 331 or not OPS,
• 57:47
  excuse me, ERA, 6 1/3 innings, 12 strikeouts and eight walks.
• 57:51
  And so, you know, I just want to see those those numbers, you
• 57:54
  know, kind of going opposite directions.
• 57:56
  You want to see those KS go up in those walks go down.
• 57:58
  They do not need to be close to each other for a guy with his
• 58:00
  kind of stuff. I do like Drew Hackenberg.
• 58:03
  I like they brought him up. I did write about him once.
• 58:06
  I think he is a strikeout machine too.
• 58:07
  I think he's very underrated. I think there's a good video out
• 58:10
  there. If you guys ever heard of Jolly
• 58:12
  Olive, he does like these really cool videos on YouTube.
• 58:15
  And he did one just about the Brewers and what they've just
• 58:17
  kind of, you know, lost over the years and how they just continue
• 58:20
  to find pictures. And I and I think that's going
• 58:23
  to be a big thing about Atlanta moving forward.
• 58:25
  You know, how are they going to build a rotation with maybe some
• 58:27
  of these unheralded arms? And I think that'll be something
• 58:30
  to definitely keep some eyes on. With the call UPS today of Nick,
• 58:34
  Nick Kurtz with the A's, Augusta Ramirez, the Marlins, you know
• 58:40
  recently Zach Veen with the Rockies, Chase Metter off got
• 58:44
  called up with the White Sox and you had Drake Baldwin and
• 58:48
  Christian Campbell make their respective teams on the training
• 58:51
  camp. Who are some other position
• 58:53
  players that you feel are on the cusp or on the horizon of, of of
• 58:58
  getting that call to the show? Yeah, You know, we mentioned
• 59:02
  Andrew Painter a couple times. You know, he'll get up
• 59:05
  eventually this summer, just once he's ready, kind of getting
• 59:07
  back moving, you know, at his speed position player wise, he
• 59:11
  can kind of go down, you know, the top 100.
• 59:14
  And I think one of the big ones is Roman Anthony.
• 59:16
  You know, if the Red Sox find a spot for him in the outfield, I
• 59:18
  think he's going to break. He is a guy that has has a lot
• 59:22
  of tools going for him. You know, we've kind of heard
• 59:24
  about Roman Anthony for a long time and I'm not that maybe the
• 59:27
  biggest fan of maybe like a guy like rookie Sasaki, nothing, you
• 59:30
  know, against that's what he's kind of accomplished, but I
• 59:32
  haven't even kind of seen him as a prospect anymore.
• 59:34
  Just with what you know, they the hype around him and just
• 59:37
  with what he accomplished in Japan.
• 59:38
  But you know, sixty grade hit tool, sixty grade power and you
• 59:41
  know, above average fielding and running for Roman Anthony is a
• 59:45
  good sign for Boston. And I think, you know, if he's
• 59:47
  one of those guys like Christian Campbell where he comes off
• 59:50
  just, you know, you know, balls the wall just looks like, you
• 59:53
  know, a really good position player.
• 59:55
  You know, don't be afraid to extend him to, you know, keep
• 59:58
  the keep these young core together.
• 59:59
  You trade away Kyle Tail for a reason to get an arm, you know,
• 1:00:02
  find a reason why to keep some of these guys together at the
• 1:00:05
  top of that system. Jordan Lawler has been
• 1:00:07
  incredible recently. Jordan Lawler has been a top 10
• 1:00:10
  prospect for a long time now. You came up for the World Series
• 1:00:14
  in 2023 with Arizona and he was on the Prospect Team of the Week
• 1:00:17
  this past week at second base. So I think he might see some
• 1:00:19
  time at second base and I could tell Marte is was banged up a
• 1:00:22
  little bit. But I think he's a guy that's
• 1:00:26
  going to be a good infielder for Arizona moving forward as long
• 1:00:28
  as he's staying on the field. He's been a guy that's had his
• 1:00:30
  own injury issues and extended injury issues, but I think he is
• 1:00:33
  just right around the corner about getting back up to the
• 1:00:35
  majors. He's already made that debut.
• 1:00:38
  Kobe Mayo's another name to throw out there with Baltimore,
• 1:00:40
  someone that will probably be back up eventually at some
• 1:00:43
  point. Matt Shaw, too, kind of
• 1:00:45
  struggled in his first cup of coffee with the Cubs.
• 1:00:48
  I wouldn't be surprised if we do see a guy like Jack Caglione
• 1:00:53
  make it up to the major leagues this year.
• 1:00:55
  I could see that too. Yeah, yeah.
• 1:00:57
  I don't I know we don't want to buy too much stock into the
• 1:01:00
  start of the season for the Royals and this is it.
• 1:01:01
  I mean, last year, I mean the Royals were really good too and
• 1:01:04
  it was a really well constructed roster and they got bounced by
• 1:01:08
  the Yankees. But I do still think that there
• 1:01:11
  is an opportunity for the Royals to just turn around that season.
• 1:01:13
  It's a, you know, I think the real competition is right now is
• 1:01:17
  is is Detroit, Minnesota is just so banged up.
• 1:01:20
  I just don't know if if they're really the competition right
• 1:01:23
  now. But if the role is really
• 1:01:24
  turning around no matter what, I think it would move them to
• 1:01:26
  maybe give Caglione a look offensively at the end of the
• 1:01:29
  year. But it's still a guy with a 2026
• 1:01:31
  ETA along with another first rounder in the Midwest and JJ
• 1:01:35
  Weatherholt. I'll just look maybe at one more
• 1:01:38
  guy just on here and just top 100 wise who might be knocking
• 1:01:41
  at the door and that's Dalton rushing.
• 1:01:43
  Very interesting case for him because he he's not going to
• 1:01:45
  play catcher, you know, consistently every day for the
• 1:01:48
  Dodgers if he makes it up with the Dodgers again.
• 1:01:51
  But. He's a guy.
• 1:01:52
  That can play in the outfield. I just I really think there's an
• 1:01:55
  opportunity there for him to to make his Major League debut just
• 1:01:58
  in the outfield. I really like what he's kind of
• 1:02:01
  done offensively. And yeah, like a concussion
• 1:02:05
  issue a couple years ago and he really didn't let it like define
• 1:02:08
  him and rattle him and good left-handed swing.
• 1:02:10
  And I think it's just a matter of, you know, consistency with
• 1:02:13
  him offensively. And I think he'll be a, you
• 1:02:15
  know, fine addition to a Dodgers team that's trying to make
• 1:02:17
  another run. So it leads up to my next
• 1:02:21
  question and the question I was going to ask is which other
• 1:02:25
  prospects that don't get talked about who's playing at a high
• 1:02:28
  level? And there's a couple names that
• 1:02:30
  come in mind that, you know, while I was doing some work to
• 1:02:34
  prepare for this podcast that the Detroit Tigers, the team you
• 1:02:39
  mentioned the same division as the Kansas City Royals.
• 1:02:42
  They got some intriguing guys. Obviously you got the Max Clark.
• 1:02:45
  He's probably their top prospect.
• 1:02:47
  But what about a guy like Joe Zhu Briznez narrow He's he
• 1:02:51
  played so well in the AFL, like he's come to an occasion and
• 1:02:54
  Kevin Mcgonagle like like those type of guys.
• 1:02:56
  Like if he could talk about those guys and if there's
• 1:02:58
  anybody that you think that doesn't get talked about, you
• 1:03:01
  think could be on the horizon this year.
• 1:03:04
  Yeah, Jose Braseno is just like, I mean, just kind of came out of
• 1:03:07
  nowhere for me. I.
• 1:03:09
  Think I took a. A fair amount of time watching
• 1:03:11
  tigers prospects last year just with with my job and working
• 1:03:14
  those games and it didn't really seem too too often, but the
• 1:03:17
  tools just really showed off and they was in a fall league and I
• 1:03:21
  think maybe the future is at first base.
• 1:03:22
  But sixty grade power is really good at that corner infield
• 1:03:25
  position. I think that's exactly what the
• 1:03:27
  tigers need in their future. Of course, you know, a couple
• 1:03:29
  years away, probably 2027 ETA still at high a this year.
• 1:03:33
  But offensively, you know, I think it probably will stick it
• 1:03:36
  at at first base or maybe ADH role and really just give you a
• 1:03:39
  catching spot if you really need it.
• 1:03:41
  But I think Theron Lorenzo, who they got from the Dodgers is
• 1:03:46
  probably the the better spot of catcher moving forward with
• 1:03:49
  Kevin Mcgonigle. It's a little bit interesting
• 1:03:51
  than a guy that's been beat up by injuries and he's he's hurt
• 1:03:54
  again. And I don't think there's an ETA
• 1:03:55
  right now when he's going to get back.
• 1:03:57
  But him and Max Clark are moving together at the same time.
• 1:03:59
  You know, both 20 year olds are drafted in the same year.
• 1:04:03
  They are good friends from what we've seen on social media and
• 1:04:05
  what Max says about him. And it's just one of those
• 1:04:09
  things where he is just such a good hitter and he's such a good
• 1:04:11
  defender at shortstop. You know, if you can just stay
• 1:04:13
  on the field, I think that is the best course of action.
• 1:04:16
  But it's just, you know, you can't knock him for it, But it's
• 1:04:19
  just kind of what his body's kind of reacted to it.
• 1:04:22
  Yeah. I'm just kind of going down on
• 1:04:23
  this list. Yeah, I think a little bit of
• 1:04:25
  the back end of this Tiger system now is some guys that,
• 1:04:29
  you know, used to be at the top when you look at Time AD and
• 1:04:31
  who's still in the top 30, Troy Melton as well.
• 1:04:34
  Maybe some guys that expected to be a little bit higher.
• 1:04:38
  But I mean, no one's really jumping off the page for me.
• 1:04:41
  I did kind of like what Max Anderson brought the last two
• 1:04:43
  years in the minor leagues, but you know, there's no one really
• 1:04:46
  jumping off the page for me with Detroit besides those guys at
• 1:04:49
  the top. What what about a guy like Tommy
• 1:04:53
  Troy from Arizona like that or Kellen Lindsay, like some of
• 1:04:57
  those guys that like I know they're like deeper into the
• 1:05:00
  into the farm or or a Judd Fabian or Bacillos hasn't really
• 1:05:05
  been talked about enough, which is surprising because he was
• 1:05:08
  considered he to me, I think it had the best tools compared to
• 1:05:10
  Kobe male. But what do you think about
• 1:05:12
  that? Yeah, One quick thing just on
• 1:05:15
  Tommy Troy, I mean he's one of those guys where he was kind of
• 1:05:17
  banged up too and just really never responded.
• 1:05:19
  He was the 12th overall pick in 2023.
• 1:05:21
  He was a top one under guy. He's going to fall into eighth
• 1:05:24
  in the the diamondback system. But you know, good got some good
• 1:05:27
  bounce back time at certain points last year.
• 1:05:30
  But you know, just overall just at high it just wasn't working.
• 1:05:33
  Gets up to AA this year through 15 games, he's batting 322 with
• 1:05:36
  a nine O 8 Opsi mean that is a great start for a guy that
• 1:05:39
  needed it. That is a guy who needed that
• 1:05:41
  start to prove that, you know, he can be one of those middle
• 1:05:43
  infielders the future and maybe an interesting thing kind of
• 1:05:45
  moving forward to. How did the Diamondbacks address
• 1:05:48
  that with Katel Marte there? But you know, he's aging as
• 1:05:52
  well. But you know, how will Jordan
• 1:05:53
  Lawler and and Troy Tommy Troy kind of factor into that?
• 1:05:58
  And you know, you look at it, you know, Baltimore as well and
• 1:06:02
  you know, I'm it's just one of those kind of systems just with
• 1:06:05
  Kobe Mayo too, where, you know, I just don't know where you go
• 1:06:08
  from here. You know, it's a look at the
• 1:06:11
  back end of that top ten saw the guys maybe people aren't as
• 1:06:13
  familiar with and Kobe Mayo's tools wise.
• 1:06:15
  You know, I'm so I'm so high on Kobe Mayo.
• 1:06:17
  You know, I think he's a guy that even the start this year,
• 1:06:20
  you know, 835 OPS maybe expecting a little bit more
• 1:06:22
  power, but I think he's just one of those guys where the power
• 1:06:27
  and the the arm are really going to, you know, keep them at that
• 1:06:30
  hot corner in my opinion. What have you heard about Drew
• 1:06:35
  Jones? Speaking of the Arizona
• 1:06:38
  Diamondbacks system, we haven't really heard much much about
• 1:06:42
  him. Top prospect.
• 1:06:44
  Just what have you heard from him?
• 1:06:47
  We know he was hurt last time we heard, but like, what's going on
• 1:06:50
  with him? Yeah, I mean, not too much.
• 1:06:53
  I was I was kind of a surprise. He's just he's just falling out
• 1:06:56
  of the the the top 100 as well. But you know, hi, a this year,
• 1:07:00
  first time, first stop there played all of last year.
• 1:07:03
  I'm at single. And I think one of the biggest
• 1:07:05
  things is just didn't really take that step forward
• 1:07:07
  offensively. But near the end of the year he
• 1:07:08
  did. I mean, he was one of the better
• 1:07:10
  hitters in the California League at the end of the season.
• 1:07:13
  Now he's up in Hillsboro 313 average to start the year.
• 1:07:17
  Just the thing you're just going to have to kind of go moving
• 1:07:19
  forward with him is you know the power really isn't there right
• 1:07:23
  now. 359 slugging percentage, but the on base percentage is
• 1:07:25
  39389. It's exactly what you kind of
• 1:07:28
  want to see from a guy who's a little bit more of a glove first
• 1:07:30
  guy little bit like his dad was in the big leagues and only four
• 1:07:35
  stolen bases are kind of expected a little bit more
• 1:07:37
  speed. Just the guy with what he's been
• 1:07:38
  able to post with the 70 grade run tool that, you know, I think
• 1:07:43
  just kind of moving forward with Drew Jones is one of those
• 1:07:45
  things where don't expect too much power wise and kind of just
• 1:07:48
  really lean into what he's able to do on the base paths and
• 1:07:51
  defensively. I'll wrap up this episode with
• 1:07:55
  this last question. I want to dive into a little bit
• 1:07:57
  of the 2025 MLB Draft. Who would you consider top
• 1:08:02
  names? I know the popular names are out
• 1:08:04
  there. It's Jace Laviolette from Texas
• 1:08:05
  A&M, Ethan Holiday, Jackson's younger brother, Matt's kid, of
• 1:08:09
  course, Jamie Arnold from FSU and Seth Hernandez has come out
• 1:08:15
  of nowhere and risen to the occasion to be considered a top
• 1:08:18
  player as well at this year's draft.
• 1:08:20
  What do you look into those guys and if there's other name that
• 1:08:23
  that you think could be considered like top prospects or
• 1:08:25
  top players at this year's draft, you can mention them as
• 1:08:28
  well. Yeah, one of the big things
• 1:08:30
  right now is that I don't really know who's going to go #1 you
• 1:08:33
  know, I think it's one of those things where at the top one
• 1:08:35
  hundreds, what will change here soon just ranking wise.
• 1:08:38
  And you'll see guys fluctuate, especially some of the some of
• 1:08:40
  those pictures that might have not had the best spring so far
• 1:08:43
  with their respective teams. And with Ethan Holiday, I think
• 1:08:47
  a lot of people say that's a safe bet.
• 1:08:48
  Just very good tools. And he didn't get off the best
• 1:08:50
  start in Stillwater this year at his high school.
• 1:08:53
  But you know, 6065 great power tool for a high schoolers is
• 1:08:57
  pretty good. I think he's little bit a little
• 1:08:59
  bit of different size and his brother, he's a little bit
• 1:09:01
  bigger coming out of high school and you know, he's a little bit
• 1:09:03
  different of a player. And you know, of course, Jackson
• 1:09:06
  sticking at second base, maybe there is an opportunity for
• 1:09:09
  Ethan to maybe stick on that left side of the infield just
• 1:09:11
  with that armed tool being a slightly better.
• 1:09:15
  We Chase Lavlyette, they kind of call like Lord Tubbington over
• 1:09:18
  at Florida A&M. He seems like, I think he has
• 1:09:21
  like 80 grade character of what I've heard too.
• 1:09:23
  So what I've listened to him. He's he's he's an interesting
• 1:09:27
  cat, but the power tool is incredible.
• 1:09:29
  And, you know, sticking with A&M is a good thing for him too.
• 1:09:33
  Just, you know, sticking with his hitting coach who took over
• 1:09:35
  as the head coach for the Aggies.
• 1:09:38
  Yeah, Seth Hernandez has really come out of nowhere.
• 1:09:40
  I listen to the MLB Pipeline podcast a lot and Jim Callas
• 1:09:43
  and, and, and Mayo, Jonathan Mayo, they, they talked about
• 1:09:46
  him and they were just saying like, yeah, he was just the most
• 1:09:48
  dominant guy there. I, you know, I wouldn't be
• 1:09:50
  surprised. Maybe he gets enough, you know,
• 1:09:53
  room behind him that he is one of those top five picks.
• 1:09:56
  It's kind of hard to really go high on a high school arm.
• 1:09:59
  And a lot of people move away from it.
• 1:10:02
  You know, he's 18 years old. He'll be 19 this summer.
• 1:10:05
  But one of the big things is even then, I've heard no one
• 1:10:08
  checks for your ID on the pitcher's mound.
• 1:10:10
  So, you know, don't get don't get, you know, too worked up in
• 1:10:13
  ages, especially just for pitchers coming out of high
• 1:10:15
  school. I know you want the the youngest
• 1:10:17
  guys so you can develop them and you have young guys moving
• 1:10:19
  forward, but he's a guy that's very developed for a 18 year old
• 1:10:23
  in high school. Of course, the Vanderbilt
• 1:10:24
  commit. One name I'll just throw out
• 1:10:27
  there that wasn't mentioned is Ava Arquette.
• 1:10:29
  You know, you think maybe oh, the, the, the, the Oregon Oregon
• 1:10:32
  State pipeline is dead. It's not.
• 1:10:34
  They got another top ten MLB draft prospect, a six foot 5
• 1:10:39
  right-handed hitting middle infielder most likely.
• 1:10:43
  And yeah, I think the the tools are just very even right now,
• 1:10:46
  just with, you know, 5055 grades just offensively, but good arm
• 1:10:50
  tool for a second baseman primarily with 60 grades.
• 1:10:54
  So it's just another another infielder that Oregon State is
• 1:10:57
  producing. Kenny, we appreciate you doing
• 1:11:01
  this again. This was a great episode, man.
• 1:11:03
  We dived in deep into the Astra stuff and and the rest of the
• 1:11:07
  MLB man. So where can we find you?
• 1:11:09
  In social media, social media and everywhere else.
• 1:11:12
  Yeah, I primarily just use Twitter for that kind of stuff,
• 1:11:14
  but you guys can follow me at the The Vandalorian or just
• 1:11:17
  search my name, Kenny Van Dorn. There's space between Van and
• 1:11:20
  Doran. And you know, thank you.
• 1:11:22
  Thank you guys for having me back on.
• 1:11:23
  It's always a pleasure to talk with y'all.
• 1:11:25
  Yeah, it was fun, man. Glad to have you on again.
• 1:11:29
  It was good, good conversation about the about all things
• 1:11:33
  baseball, especially the Astros. And good luck.
• 1:11:36
  Tonight's game, man, tonight's series is going to be fun.
• 1:11:39
  It's going to be fun to watch the Blue Jays, the Astros always
• 1:11:42
  love that match up. So good luck there.
• 1:11:45
  Yeah, definitely James. Click bowl is what it is and I'm
• 1:11:49
  sure you guys will be watching too.
• 1:11:51
  It'll be a fun one. We will place the description
• 1:11:54
  below where you can find Kenny Van Doren, but until next time,
• 1:11:58
  take care, be kind to each other signing up on the Sports Ave.
• 1:12:01
  Twisted podcast.