WTHB Under-the-Radar Roster: Position Players

Yesterday, I caught up with my long-neglected Under-the-Radar Pitchers. Today, let's take a look at how the position players are faring.

CATCHERS:

Tyler Heineman S/R
.283/.322/.355 in 22 games for the AA Corpus Christi Hooks and 47 games for the AAA Fresno Grizzlies (promoted 5/22)
15-2B; 1HR; 27 RBI; 2 SB; 14 BB; 18 SO
36% Caught Stealing (25 SB; 14 CS)

Heineman has been a little slow to catch up with AAA pitching, but he has managed to hold his own. A switch-hitter, he is hitting better from the left (.286/.323/.370 with one home run and 13 of his 15 doubles), and he is hitting .300/.344/.433 with two outs and RISP.

Alfredo Gonzalez R/R
.322/.410/.383 in 13 games for the Low A Quad Cities River Bandits and 27 games for the Advanced A Lancaster JetHawks (promoted on 5/7) and 26 games for the AA Corpus Christi Hooks (promoted 7/5)

6-2B; 1-3B; 2 HR; 34 RBI; 5 SB; 1 CS; 34 BB; 46 SO
48% Caught Stealing (26 SB; 24 CS)

Gonzalez had previously established his defensive bona fides, but this season his bat has caught fire. He doesn't have a lot of power (but should develop a bit more on that front), but his on-base percentage has been consistently high as has his batting average.

Alfredo Gonzalez - May 2015

Photo by Jayne Hansen

CATCHING RESERVES:

Jacob Nottingham R/R (Traded to the A's in July)
.326/.387/.543 in 59 games for the Low A Quad Cities River Bandits and .324/.368/.606 in 17 games for High A Lancaster JetHawks (promoted 6/30)
24-2B; 2-3B; 14 HR; 60 RBI; 1 SB; 2 CS; 21 BB; 61 SO
40% Caught Stealing (30 SB; 20 CS)

This could very well be one of those trades that comes back to bite the Astros one day with Nottingham going to the A's.

INFIELDERS:

1B/3B Matt Duffy R/R
.305/.380/.488 in 118 games for the AAA Fresno Grizzlies (68 games at 3B and 33 at 1B)
28-2B; 2-3B; 17 HR; 99 RBI; 4 SB; 1CS; 48 BB; 82 SO

Duffy started off the season a little slowly, but has gotten better and better throughout the season. (Click the chart to enlarge it.)

One very good sign is that he has walked 29 times while striking out 28 times in July and August. In the first three months of the season, he walked only 19 times to 54 strikeouts. That improvement in plate discipline was really the last piece of the puzzle for him.

Matt Duffy - May 2015

Photo by Jayne Hansen

1B/DH Chase McDonald R/R
.283/.359/.586 in 96 games for the Advanced A Lancaster JetHawks
26-2B; 1-3B; 27 HR; 73 RBI; 2 SB; 1CS; 40 BB; 109 SO

McDonald has had an uneven season. In August, he is hitting .258/.314/.688 with five doubles, one triple and 11 home runs in 25 games.

3B Nick Tanielu R/R
.309/.356/.429 in 107 games for the Low A Quad Cities River Bandits
26-2B; 4-3B; 5 HR; 68 RBI; 2 SB; 7 CS; 30 BB; 61 SO

Tanielu, on the other hand, has been consistently good since getting past that first cold Midwest month of April. He was recently named a Midwest League Postseason All-Star.

SS/2B Mott Hyde R/R
.294/.379/.425 in 50 games for the Low A Quad Cities River Bandits and 66 games for the Advanced A Lancaster JetHawks (promoted 6/9)
37-2B; 5-3B; 3 HR; 63 RBI; 5 SB; 6 CS; 57 BB; 102 SO

In 23 games in August, Hyde is hitting .380/.469/.570, and he leads the Astros minor league system in doubles.

2B/SS Kristian Trompiz R/R
.251/.286/.363 in 103 games for the Low A Quad Cities River Bandits
18-2B; 4-3B; 5 HR; 37 RBI; 7 SB; 2 CS; 18 BB; 74 SO

Trompiz is almost two and a half years younger than the average Midwest League position player and it has shown at times. He is hitting .296/.329/.366 in 21 games in August.

IF Joe Sclafani S/R
.292/.371/.340 in 66 games for the AAA Fresno Grizzlies and 3 games for the AA Corpus Christi Hooks (currently at Fresno)
2-2B; 3-3B; 21 RBI; 4 SB; 1 CS; 25 BB; 35 SO

Sclafani got a slow start this season, likely adjusting to his role as more of a bench player, but in July and August, he has been hitting .360 in his 24 games.

INFIELD RESERVES:

3B/1B Tyler White R/R
.327/.446/.496 in 59 games for the AA Corpus Christi Hooks and 47 games for the AAA Fresno Grizzlies (46 games at 3B, 26 at 1B and 32 at DH)
24-2B; 1-3B; 12 HR; 88 RBI; 1 SB; 1 CS; 77 BB; 65 SO

White was on my reserves because he left the team early in the season for a family matter and I wasn't sure of his status. Otherwise, he would have been a starter on my Under-the-Radar roster and, in looking at his stats, you can probably see why! He is hitting .373/.479/.571 since his promotion to Fresno and just recently debuted at #30 in MLB Pipeline's Top 30 prospect list.

SS/2B Chan Moon S/R
.263/.353/.350 in 17 games for the Advanced A Lancaster JetHawks, 70 games for AA Corpus Christi and 2 games for AAA Fresno (currently at Corpus Christi)
11-2B; 2-3B; 3 HR; 24 RBI; 20 SB; 7 CS; 39 BB; 56 SO

OUTFIELD:

LF/RF Brandon Meredith R/R - Released in July
.248/.331/.369 in 40 games for the AA Corpus Christi Hooks
4-2B; 1-3B; 4 HR; 23 RBI; 2 SB: 4 CS; 18 BB; 38 SO

Shortly after being activated from the DL in early July, Meredith was released.

RF/LF Ronnie Mitchell L/L
.295/.364/.515 in 102 games for the Advanced A Lancaster JetHawks
26-2B; 10-3B; 12 HR; 69 RBI; 1 SB; 3 CS; 41 BB; 81 SO

Mitchell is hitting .344/.380/.613 in 24 games in August and, with Brett Phillips having been traded, now leads the Astros minor league system in triples.

Ronnie Mitchell - May 2015

Photo by Jayne Hansen

CF/LF Bobby Boyd L/R
.280/.349/.345 in 107 games for the Low A Quad Cities River Bandits
15-2B; 4-3B; 1 HR; 35 RBI; 33 SB; 11 CS; 43 BB; 95 SO

Boyd is another player having a hot August; he is hitting .350/.430/.388 in 20 games. He is also second only to Jonathan Villar in stolen bases in the Astros minor league system.

CF/RF James Ramsay L/L
.315/.379/.459 in 119 games for the Advanced A Lancaster JetHawks
28-2B; 4-3B; 10 HR; 57 RBI; 16 SB; 11 CS; 49 BB; 82 SO

Ditto on the Hot August ... .375/.442/.548 in 25 games.

OF/IF Marc Wik L/R
.266/.370/.424 in 86 games for the Advanced A Lancaster JetHawks
17-2B; 4-3B; 7 HR; 39 RBI; 9 SB; 5 CS; 47 BB; 94 SO

And yet another good August ... .320/.393/.440 in 21 games.

OUTFIELD RESERVES:

RF/LF Jon Kemmer L/L
.326/.420/.572 in 97 games for the AA Corpus Christi Hooks
25-2B; 3-3B; 17 HR; 59 RBI; 8 SB; 1 CS; 45 BB; 83 SO

Did I mention something about hot Augusts??? Try .386/.485/.699 with 11 doubles, three triples and three home runs in 23 games.

With several teams heading into postseason play, and all these hot bats, things could get very interesting!!!

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For background information on these players and more information regarding their selection, see my prior posts on Pitchers and Position Players.

WTHB's Under-the-Radar Roster: Position Players

On Tuesday, I introduced WTHB's Under-the-Radar roster, first looking at the under-the-radar pitching staff. Today, let's see what position players made the cut.

As a reminder, my self-imposed rules were that the player could not be on any of the top prospect lists noted here nor could they be on the 40-man roster nor could they be a draft pick from the top 5 rounds. And the final rule was that each player had to have been assigned to one of the full season team rosters. (I hope to establish another roster when the short season teams break camp.) The plan is to check in on them periodically to see how they are doing as a group for the season.

Ronnie Mitchell - June 2014

Photo by Jayne Hansen

Catchers:

Tyler Heineman (23) S/R

Drafted in the 8th round in 2012 out of the University of California in Los Angeles

Switch-hitter who hits better from the left with a good offensive upside; excellent defensive skills and caught stealing rate

Alfredo Gonzalez (22) R/R

Signed as an international free agent in 2008

Excellent defensive skills with a very good arm; solid offensively with good plate discipline, a little pop and good speed for a catcher

Catching Reserves:

Jacob Nottingham (20) R/R

Drafted in the 6th round in 2013 out of Redlands High School, Redlands, California

Roberto Pena wasn't eligible for the roster as he was included as a top prospect in Baseball America's Prospect Handbook. I also strongly considered Jamie Ritchie, but he is also being used at first base and DH. Brett Booth is another under-the-radar guy that intrigues me.

Infielders:

1B/3B Matt Duffy (26) R/R

Drafted in the 20th round in 2011 out of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee

Solid defensively at both first and third and can hit for average and for power

1B/DH Chase McDonald (22) R/R

Drafted in the 12th round in 2013 out of East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina

Has some serious power potential; can hit to all fields; handles first base adeptly

3B Nick Tanielu (22) R/R

Drafted in the 14th round in 2014 out of Washington State University in Pullman, Washington

Solid hitter with developing power; has transitioned to third base well

SS/2B Mott Hyde (23) R/R

Drafted in the 26th round in 2014 out of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia

Low strikeouts, high walks and decent power; very good defensively

2B/SS Kristian Trompiz (19) R/R

Signed as an international free agent in 2012

Good doubles power and plate discipline; can play third base in addition to the middle infield

IF Joe Sclafani (25 yesterday) S/R

Drafted in the 14th round in 2012 out of Dartmouth in Hanover, New Hampshire

Better defensively in the middle infield, but can handle third base and the outfield in a pinch; hits for average with good on-base skills, a little pop and good instincts on base; low strikeouts and high walks

Infield Reserves:

3B/1B Tyler White (24) R/R

Drafted in the 33rd round in 2013 out of Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina

SS/2B Chan Moon (24) S/R

International free agent signed in 2009

White would likely have been on my starting roster, but he was only activated a couple of days ago. Alex Hernandez and Jack Mayfield also received consideration.

Outfield:

LF/RF Brandon Meredith (25) R/R

Drafted in the 6th round in 2011 out of San Diego State University in San Diego, California

Can hit for power with manageable strikeouts and a good walk rate; can play a solid first base in addition to the outfield

RF/LF Ronnie Mitchell (23) L/L
Drafted in the 30th round in 2013 out of Dallas Baptist University in Dallas, Texas
Good developing power and great on-base skills; good defense with a plus arm

CF/LF Bobby Boyd (22) L/R
Drafted in the 8th round in 2014 out of West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia
Good bat speed, good speed on the bases and good range in centerfield

CF/RF James Ramsay (23) L/L
Drafted in the 7th round in 2013 out of the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida
Excellent defensively with great routes and a good arm; great speed that results in lots of doubles, triples and stolen bases

OF/IF Marc Wik (22) L/R

Drafted in the 21st round in 2012 out of Chabot College in Hayward, California
Super utility with good on-base skills, a little pop and a little speed; solid defensively at several positions with a strong, accurate arm

Outfield Reserves:

RF/LF Jon Kemmer (24) L/L

Drafted in the 21st round in 2013 out of Brewton-Parker College in Mount Vernon, Georgia

I also considered Sean McMullen and would have put Jason Martin on the roster in a heartbeat if he had broken camp with the full season teams.

The best part of this exercise is seeing how much depth there is in the system. There are a ton of good players in this system who do not technically qualify as top prospects!

Composition of the Astros System: Position Players

I'll admit it. I like to look at details that most people don't care about, and for the most part, probably don't matter very much either. But I still find these things interesting. And maybe you will as well. Or maybe not. All information includes both major league players and minor league players in the Astros system as of the end of the 2012 season. I may be missing one or two players but the underlying data should be pretty darned accurate.

ASTROS POSITION PLAYERS (140)

PLACE OF BIRTH
83 - United States (25 states and the District of Columbia)*
31 - Dominican Republic
11 - Venezuela
9 - Puerto Rico
2 - Colombia
2 - Nicaragua
1 - South Korea
1 - Australia

*U.S. Breakdown
24 - California
10 - Florida
8 - Texas
6 - Georgia
5 - Ohio
4 - Illinois
2 each - Indiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Virginia, Washington
1 each - Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Maryland, Mississippi, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Washington DC

WHEN/HOW SIGNED
The dates may be off on an occasional winter signing or a Latin free agent who did not play until the following year, but this should still serve to give you a general idea.

• 2005 - Drafted (2 - 1 college & 1 community college)
• 2006 - Latin American Free Agents (2)
• 2007 - Latin American Free Agents (2)
• 2008 - Latin American Free Agents (5); Drafted (4 - 3 college & 1 high school)
• 2009 - Drafted (11 - 6 college & 5 high school); Latin American Free Agents (2); Pacific Rim Free Agent (1)
• 2010 - Drafted (10 - 5 high school & 5 college); Latin American Free Agents (10); Trades (4); U.S. Non-Drafted Free Agents (2); Free Agent (1); Waiver Claim (1)
• 2011 - Drafted (17 - 15 college & 2 high school); Latin American Free Agents (8); Free Agents (5); Trades (4); Waiver Claims (2); U.S. Non-Drafted Free Agent (1); Rule 5/Trade (1)
• 2012 - Drafted (17 - 12 college, 3 high school & 2 community college); Latin American Free Agents (9); Trades (8); Free Agents (6); Waiver Claims (2); U.S. Non-drafted Free Agents (2); Pacific Rim Free Agent (1)

Totals
42 - Drafted out of College
16 - Drafted out of High School
3 - Drafted out of Community College
38 - Latin American Free Agents
2 - Pacific Rim Free Agents
5 - U.S. Non-Drafted Free Agents
16 - Trades
12 - Free Agents
5 - Waiver Claims
1 - Rule 5/Trade (Marwin Gonzalez was a Rule 5 pick by the Red Sox and then was immediately traded to Houston)

DRAFT PICKS BY ROUND
In addition to those players drafted by the Astros, there have been numerous players added to the system that were drafted by other teams. For example, in addition to seven first round picks (including supplemental first rounders) drafted by the Astros, there are an additional nine players who were first round picks by other teams that are now in the system. Here is the breakdown by round. (As a reminder, this is for position players only).

16 - 1st round
4 - 2nd round
4 - 3rd round
3 - 4th round
3 - 5th round
5 - 6th round
3 - 7th round
3 - 8th round
2 - 9th round
1 - 10th round
3 - 11th round
3 - 12th round
3 - 13th round
3 - 14th round
2 - 15th round
2 - 16th round
1 - 17th round
1 - 18th round
2 - 19th round
2 - 20th round
2 - 21st round
1 - 22nd round
2 - 23rd round
1 - 24th round
1 - 25th round
2 - 27th round
1 - 28th round
2 - 29th round
2 - 31st round
2 - 35th round
2 - 36th round
1 - 41st round
1 - 45th round
1 - 49th round

BATTERS
87 - Bat right-handed
36 - Bat left-handed
16 - Switch hitters
1 - Unknown

POSITION
63 - Infielders primarily
50 - Outfielders primarily
27 - Catchers

Up next - Pitchers

WTH 25-Man Roster Update - Position Players

It has been far too long since we've checked in with the WTH 25-man roster to see how they're doing. [Note - The What the Heck 25-man roster was compiled through reader votes throughout the off-season.] First the position players ~



Jon Singleton still leads the WTH crew in on-base percentage and slugging percentage, but Austin Wates is now our leader in batting average. George Springer is the WTH RBI leader with 41 while Jon Singleton is a close second with 38. Adam Bailey leads in doubles with 16, George Springer in triples with six, and Springer and Singleton are tied with 11 home runs each. Delino DeShields has the most walks (35) and stolen bases (37), while Springer has the most strikeouts (73). The worst strikeout to walk rate belongs to Jonathan Meyer, the best to Brandon Wikoff with Jordan Scott a close second.

Since we last checked in, Adam Bailey has been promoted from Lancaster to Corpus Christi and Brandon Wikoff was activated from the DL. Chris Wallace spent most of May on the DL as well, and hasn't gotten into a groove at the plate since his return.

Jonathan Villar's batting average has improved vastly since we last checked in on him and he is hitting .279 over his last ten games as well. Roberto Pena is also showing slow but steady improvement in his hitting. Kody Hinze continues to struggle and Chase Davidson has yet to make his season debut.

WTH 25-Man Roster - Position Player Update

As promised, let's check in with the position players from the WTH 25-man roster and see how they're doing. [Note - The What the Heck 25-man roster was compiled through reader votes throughout the off-season.]



100 AB's into the season Jonathan Singleton leads the WTH crew in average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. With a minimum of 100 AB's, only three players in the Astros system have higher averages - Brandon Barnes, Matt Duffy and Fernando Martinez; no one has a higher on-base percentage; and only Brandon Barnes and Telvin Nash have higher slugging percentages.

George Springer leads this group with 23 RBI's. Zach Johnson leads all Astros minor league players with 31 RBI's. No one has more stolen bases than our one-two punch of Delino DeShields and Jonathan Villar.

Jonathan Meyer has continued to hit well after his strong start. Kody Hinze and Roberto Pena have continued to struggle. And Jonathan Villar is showing signs of improvement. I've not seen any word about Brandon Wikoff's DL status so we'll leave him on the roster for now.

WTH Roster - Position Player Update

Now that we're two weeks into the minor league season, let's check in on the position players from the WTH 25-man roster and see how they've done so far. [Note - The What the Heck 25-man roster was compiled through reader votes throughout the off-season.]



Everyone who thought that, two weeks into the season, Jonathan Meyer (who had a .264/.343/.399 batting line in 2011) would lead this roster of studs in batting average, slugging percentage and OPS, raise your hand.  I see one hand there in the back and it appears to belong to Meyer's gammy.  With our lack of depth at third base, it's nice to see Meyer showing some encouraging signs although it's obviously too early to read much into his numbers.

The results are a mixed bag with strong starts from Wates, Singleton and Scott and slow starts from Villar, Wallace and Hinze.  Santana hasn't been off the DL all that long so his numbers are an extremely small sample size.  Other than Meyer, Delino DeShields (who only hit .220 last season) has had the most encouraging start at the plate, plus he already has eight stolen bases to boot.  Springer doesn't have flashy numbers, but he does lead this roster in RBI's with 11.

Two players not on the WTH Roster who have had really great starts are Telvin Nash (who really should have been our DH instead of Chase Davidson - no offense intended, Chase) and Brandon Barnes.  These two lead all of the minor league players in OPS (minimum of 50 plate appearances) with Telvin Nash having a 1.062 OPS and Brandon Barnes having a 1.046 OPS.

Other Astros minor leaguers with notably good starts at the plate are Zach Johnson, Fernando Martinez, Jose Martinez, Erik Castro and Jake Goebbert.

Comeback/Breakthrough Position Player for 2012

The votes are in and you picked Jio Mier to be the breakthrough position player for the 2012 season.  Count me among those who hope Jio can take that next step this season. Jay Austin and Kike Hernandez also received a good amount of votes.  Rene Garcia came in last.  More info on these players can be found here.

2012 Comeback/Breakthrough Candidates - Position Players

I looked through all of the current Astros minor league players and identified some of those who either showed early promise before getting bitten by the injury bug or who have not been able to make a decisive step to the next level.  I looked at those who have played in at least parts of three seasons and I capped it at age 22.  I looked at pitchers last week.  This week, let's look at the position player candidates I identified:

SS Jio Mier (21)
A first round pick in 2009, Mier has never quite been able to recapture the .276/.380/.484/.864 batting line from his first season at Greeneville that excited so many, but there were glimpses at the end of last season that he was starting to get in a groove after coming back from an earlier injury.  When I interviewed Jio during the off-season, he felt good about his results at the plate after simplifying his approach.  At 21 (he'll be 22 in August), it's a little early to give up on the first round pick.  Could this be the year that he takes that next step in his development?

LF Jay Austin (21)
Up until a couple weeks ago, I would have picked Austin as a good favorite for the breakout player for 2012, but that was before it was reported that he broke his hand.  A second round pick in 2008, Austin had his best batting average (.267) and OBP (.320) in 2009 at Lexington and, unsurprisingly, had his best slugging percentage (.414) at Lancaster in 2010.  In 2011, he only hit .242/.313/.336/.649 between Lexington and Lancaster, but he did get his walk rate up.  But it was his Arizona Fall League results that really stood out as he batted .311/.385/.444/.829.  It may have only been 11 games, but it was against the best of the best.  I hope that the hand injury doesn't derail his progress and that he can build on that AFL experience.

C Rene Garcia (just turned 22 on 3/21)
Garcia's best season was his first.  After being drafted in the 35th round out of high school in Puerto Rico in 2008, he hit .295/.340/.386/.727 in a brief 18 games at Greeneville.  He has put up some fairly respectable numbers since, but nothing really showy until this winter.  In the Puerto Rican League, he hit .333/.409/.487/.896 in 21 games.  Can he build on that success in the coming season?

LF Enrique Hernandez (20)
A sixth round draft pick in 2009, Hernandez put up very good numbers in both his first season in 2009 with the GCL Astros (.295/.336/.396) and in 2010 at Tri-City (.280/.322/.398) before a rather dramatic fall-off in 2011 at Lexington (.247.341/.326).  The good news is that his OBP ticked up and he increased his walks from 14 walks in 246 AB in 2010 to 31 walks in 215 AB in 2011.  The bad news is that he had a very, very bad winter in the Puerto Rican League.  Hernandez doesn't turn 21 until August so a rebound is a definite possibility.

SO/BB Ratio for Position Players

I don't think anyone will be surprised to see in black and white that Humberto Quintero strikes out a lot more than he walks or that J.B. Shuck walks a lot more than he strikes out.  But how is the rest of the group doing?  I included the national league average so you can see who falls above and below that line.

Here's a look at the 2011 SO/BB Ratio for all position players in the Astros system.  If the player played for both the major league club and a minor league club, both sets of stats are included.  For those players traded to the Astros during the season, only stats while with the Astros organization are included.  The lower the number, the better.