In an ongoing look at the minor league depth in the Astros system, next up are the middle infielders. There is definitely some overlap and there are a few players that profile more as utility players rather than having a fixed position (such as Carlos Perdomo, Raoul Torrez, Joe Sclafani and others) and I will address them later. With that said, let's look at the second basemen first, sorted from high to low by on-base percentage.
As you can see, there is really only one pure second baseman right now who ended the season at the higher levels. Jose Martinez and Jake Elmore were both lost to free agency; and Delino DeShields was moved to the outfield. We may see some of the utility players take over at the position or there is always the possibility that a shortstop in the system may be moved over to second.
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Kiké Hernandez, the sixth round 2009 draft pick, did not adjust to the Texas League quickly, but he appeared to be turning the corner with a hot bat in August, hitting .298/.352/.488 in that month. In winter ball in Puerto Rico, he hit .260/.321/.393 over 37 games. Kiké has solid defense and doubles+ power and only turned 22 in August.
Kiké Hernandez - May 2013
Photo by Jayne Hansen
Austin Elkins, a 19th round draft pick from 2012, may have a somewhat lackluster batting average, but he leads this group in on-base percentage thanks to a fairly prolific walk rate. Elkins was coming on strong at the end of the season, putting up a .299/.382/.519 batting average over 23 games in August. He's got a little speed, a little pop and he's a solid defender.
Austin "Catfish" Elkins - April 2013
Photo by Jayne Hansen
Tony Kemp, the 2013 fifth round draft pick out of Vanderbilt, put up good numbers (.282/.355/.362) in his 48 games with Tri-City, earning him a late season promotion to Quad Cities where he showed some regression at the plate. However, the lefty hitter continued his season-long trend of hitting well against lefty pitchers, hitting .344/.475/.438 against them at Quad Cities (.312/.420/.398 for the season).
Tony Kemp - July 2013
Photo by Jayne Hansen
Jean Estrella is definitely a player who should be fun to watch. A Latin free agent from the Dominican Republic, Estrella had an excellent first pro season for the Dominican Summer League Astros, hitting .306/.380/.341 in 50 games and leading to his promotion to the Gulf Coast League Astros for the final eight games of the season. Estrella, who won't turn 18 until April, is another lefty who hits well against lefty pitchers. He managed a .338/.419/.369 batting line against southpaws.
Juan Santana signed with the Astros out of the Dominican Republic in 2010 and only turned 19 in August. He leads this group of players in fielding percentage and range factor per game with Hernandez coming in a close second. Santana's Greeneville teammate Parker Hipp, a product of New Mexico State, signed with the Astros as a free agent in 2013. He did not see a great deal of playing time and spent a portion of his time at third base as well.
Juan Santana - August 2013
Photo by Jayne Hansen
Later this week, we'll look at the shortstops in the system.
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