Friday, November 1, 2013

An Interview with Astros 3B Tyler White

I didn't get the opportunity to see 3B Tyler White in action this season, primarily because he was a man on the move. Drafted this year by the Astros in the 33rd round out of Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina, White spent only 18 games at his first stop with the GCL Astros and another 18 with the Greeneville Astros before being promoted to the Tri-City ValleyCats for the final 28 games of the season. I was looking forward to watching Tyler play, but he received that final promotion a mere four days prior to my arrival in Greeneville.

And who wouldn't want to get a look at White? In the three venues in which he played, he hit a combined .322/.406/.456 with 14 doubles, six home runs and a whopping 52 RBI in only 64 games. He walked 27 times and only struck out 24 times. White turned 23 earlier this week.

I reached out to White via email to ask him about his whirlwind season and this is what he had to say ~

WTHB: Can you tell me something about your draft experience? Did you know that the Astros were interested? Were you drafted as a junior?

TW: My draft experience was very good but also a little surprising. I had never talked to the Astros besides a medical questionnaire. I was a senior sign for the Astros. I had never talked to any teams before this year and had only spoken to one other team this year.

WTHB: What was the biggest surprise for you in your first season of professional ball?

TW: The biggest surprise was how every time I was promoted to a different level I started playing the day I was moved up and batted in the 3 hole. There was no transition period to the team or anything like that.

WTHB: This season you walked more than you struck out and you hit equally well against right-handed pitchers as you did lefties. [Note: Tyler is a right-handed hitter.] You were also rather good with RISP (which was reflected in a healthy RBI total). Was all of that the case in college?

TW: The only difference from college to pro ball was my hitting off of lefties. In college my numbers against LHP were very good. In college, my final two years, I was very good with RISP, and my senior year I believe I was second in the conference with 66 RBIs on the season.

WTHB: Since I haven't seen you play yet, can you tell me what I will see when I do?

TW: I am not your typical looking baseball player, I am a big guy that gives 100 percent, and actually plays a lot more athletic than I look. [Note: Tyler is listed as 5'11" 225lbs.]

WTHB: You were in the unique position of getting two quick promotions this season so you saw a lot of Astros farmhands. Were there a couple of players (new or established) who really stood out?

TW: Some of the players that really stood out to me were Michael Feliz as a pitcher. He sat 94-96 touching 97 with good control and a pretty good secondary pitch. The position player I came across that stood out was Teoscar Hernandez. He had a lot of power and also very good tools for a very young player.

WTHB: What pitcher that you saw on the three teams you played for would you least like to hit against?

TW: Probably [LHP Reymin]  Guduan or [RHP Jandel] Gustave. They are pitchers that throw very hard and are effectively wild.

WTHB: What would you do if you couldn't play baseball?

TW: If I couldn’t play baseball, I would probably be coaching and giving lessons. I would also like to run an organization, whether it is kids ages 10 to 18 or a minor league type organization. I would love to be in charge of it and make sure it runs smoothly and still get to be around the game on a daily basis.

WTHB: Can you tell me something about yourself that most people don't know and might be surprised to hear?

TW: I don’t have very many big secrets or anything like that. Something that does normally surprise people is my athleticism, and I have always been pretty good at other sports. I started on my soccer team in high school, and I have always been pretty good at basketball, just didn’t want to waste time on it because that season was right before baseball season.

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Thank you for your time, Tyler, and the best of luck in the 2014 season. If you stay still long enough, maybe I'll get to see you.

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