The Astros 2004 draft class was marked by a number of draftees making a strong debut in the system and leading their respective teams to a league title (Greeneville) and a league final and runner-up (Tri-City). Hitting, both for power and average, and strong pitching were the hallmarks of this draft class’s first season. We begin our 2004 Draftee Round-up with the outfield.
Outfielders
This is the cream of the Astros draft crop. Three of the first four draft picks were used to select outfielders. Former General Manager Gerry Hunsicker wanted to upgrade the speed and power departments in the Astros farm system. He did so by drafting Hunter Pence first, Jordan Parraz second, and Mitch Einertson fourth. Pence and Einertson demonstrated tremendous hitting prowess throughout the season. Parraz meanwhile stumbled out of the chute then came on in the second half of the season.
Hunter Pence hit .296 and slugged .518 in 199 at bats for Tri-City. He walked 23 times and struck out 30 times. Hunter hit 8 homers as part of his team leading 27 extra base hits. Several of his homers were of the tape measure variety. He finished third on the team with 37 RBI. Pence struggled to hit in his first couple of games, 0 for 13, but after that took off. Pence played both leftfield and centerfield over 51 games. Defensively he committed four errors. Pence will be given ample time to hone is offensive and defensive skills and spent time in the Instructional league doing so. We expect to see Hunter start the 2005 season at Lexington though he does have a shot at high A-Salem. If he tears up low-A ball it would not be surprising to see a mid-season call-up to Salem.
Jordan Parraz hit .244 with a .349 OBP and .400 SLG for Greeneville. But that doesn’t tell the whole story. It was actually a tale of two seasons for Parraz. Over June and July, 92 at bats, Jordan hit just .196 with 2 homers, 3 triples, and 3 doubles. In August, 88 at bats, he hit .295 with 2 homers, 2 triples, 3 doubles and had an 11 game hitting streak. He played mostly rightfield over 51 games and made just one error. Parraz played in the Instructional league as well this winter and at 20 for the 2005 season will be given as much time as possible to become a better ballplayer. Though he has an outside shot at the Lexington squad, expect to see Jordan at Tri-City to start 2005.
The best offensive season by an Astros 2004 draftee was from Mitch Einertson. Most people could see that Mitch could hit and had some power, but no one, except maybe Mitch, thought he could produce the kind of offense he generated. Mitch was a bit streaky in 2004. In August his batting average dipped down below .270. However, he did finish the year hitting .308 and slugging a ridiculous .692. He led his team and the league in homers, 24 and RBI, 67. Mitch had a good year defensively, playing mostly centerfield and committing 5 errors. If you want to find a chink in the armor, you could point to the 70 strikeouts on the year. But, as Einertson is still very raw and developing the Astros are going to give him plenty of time to try to cut down on the K’s. Also, our diggings have led us to believe that Einertson needs to mature as a person and take his career more seriously. As he’s young and only a year removed from high school, you would expect some of this. But, it still bears watching. After abusing Appalachian League pitching, it’s a good bet the Astros will give Mitch a fair shot at the Lexington outfield. If our suppositions are correct a Pence/Einertson outfield could be quite explosive.
The Astros did not select another outfielder until the 17th round with Wallace Torbert. Beyond that the Astros selected and signed Ryan Reed, Brandon Barganier, and James Cooper. None of these players distinguished himself offensively as they were used mainly as 4th or 5th outfielders. However, the Astros did send Reed to the Instructional league.
Infielders
Of the Astros first 10 selections in the 2004 draft only two were infielders. Ben Zobrist was the Astros 5th selection (6th round) , a senior out of Dallas Baptist. Assigned to Tri-City he promptly went to work smacking New York Penn League pitching around. He finished with a league leading .339 average and a .438 on base percentage. He walked 43 times while striking out just 31 times. Defensively he committed 14 errors in 68 games. For his efforts he was named team MVP. Zobrist played the 2004 season as an advanced 23 year old, a little old for the league. For comparison, Wade Robinson, the Salem starting shortstop and 2 leagues ahead of Zobrist, is the same age as Ben. Zobrist has to show he can produce offensively and defensively at a higher level in order to keep the Astros attention. Ben will be given a shot at the starting shortstop position for Salem during spring training.
Jonny Ash was the second infielder selected (10th selection; 11th round). Jonny played both third base and second base for Tri-City. He committed 15 errors in 58 games at the two positions and hit near .300 with little power. The Astros consider Ash a high intangibles player, but is likely looking at being a utility player if he makes it to the majors. Bryan Triplett reported to Greeneville following the College World Series. He played second, third and shortstop committing 11 errors overall. He hit fine without much power. Stephen Sutton, at Tri-City, was red-hot to start the season, his average peaking at over .400. However the rest of the season was not as kind and Sutton finished the season hitting .280. Chris Uhle at Greeneville spent most of his playing time at shortstop and was unimpressive at the plate.
Ole Sheldon (1B) and Brandon Averill and Patrick Sellers(3B) were the corner infielders drafted by the Astros. Sellers hit .285 and got on base at a .387 clip but hit for little power. All three were fine in the field, but Sheldon and Averill did not distinguish themselves at the plate.
Catchers
Catchers were the other commodity Hunsicker wanted to upgrade in the Astros farm system, and to that end the Astros drafted six catchers, four of who signed. Lou Santangelo was the first catching draftee tabbed by the Astros. Selected in the fourth round amongst the highly touted outfield crop, Santangelo was assigned to Tri-City as the primary backstop. Lou’s strengths are his defense, strong arm, gamecalling, and makeup. The Astros are very high on Lou for these aspects. Over 44 games he made just 2 errors. Offensively Santangelo has a lot of work to do. He hit around .200 with 35% of his at-bats resulting in strikeouts. That’s the worst percentage among regulars in the Astros system. On the other hand, Lou’s power potential cannot be denied. 40% of his hits were for extra bases. The Astros will give him time to develop his offensive skills. Lou may begin the trek upward in 2005 by catching in Lexington.
Eric Cavers was drafted in the 10th round and missed a great deal of time during the 2005 season. He caught just 10 games and had 45 at-bats. The Astros like his athleticism and had him working at the Florida Instructional League. Robert Clark was drafted in the 18th round and spent most of his playing time at DH for the Tri-City club. He did catch a few games but was injured and used mostly as one of the backups to Santangelo. Justin Towles, drafted in the 20th round caught more than half the games at Greeneville, 37. Sources say he’s a solid catcher, committing just 1 error. He didn’t hit particularly well but had a .370 on-base percentage. He demonstrated no power. Scouts must see a lot of potential as he has been drafted three times, twice by Oakland. Justin’s the youngest of the Astros catcher draftees signed, and they will likely move him slowly, probably spending next season at Tri-City.
Pitchers
Pitchers took an uncharacteristic back seat in this draft. With the Astros organization focused on adding depth in other positions they did not select a pitcher until the seventh round. Most of the pitchers signed were drafted after the 20th round.
The first pitcher taken (7th round), Andrew Alvarado, had a solid season at Tri-City. He finished the season 4-3 with a 3.58 ERA. He threw one complete game over his 50 1/3 innings pitched. He gave up 47 hits, 24 walks, with 41 strikeouts. Andrew started the season slowly giving up a number of his walks in the first half of the season. He finished the season on a high note winning three straight games and earning a spot in the playoff rotation. Alvarado will likely compete this spring for a spot on the Lexington pitching staff.
Evan Englebrook was the second pitcher taken, an eighth round selection and second of three straight pitchers selected. Evan finished the season 2-4 with a 3.94 ERA. He threw 61 2/3 innings giving up 58 hits, 28 walks and recording 71 strikeouts. Evan’s season was up and down as might be expected. Evan was a big-time swimmer in high school and did not take up baseball as a primary interest until his senior year of high school. He is a developing pitcher but given his age we wouldn’t be surprised if he were assigned to Salem in 2005 but Lexington is not out of the question.
Troy Patton, ninth round, was the only high school pitcher signed by the Astros. Patton spent most of his year with Greeneville and helping them win the Appalachian League tournament. Following that tournament he was promoted to Tri-City and pitched in just a few games. At Greeneville Troy was 2-2 with an excellent 1.93 ERA. He threw 28 innings and gave up 23 hits and 5 walks. He also recorded 32 strikeouts. As most of you know Patton was a later signee and so spent less time in Greeneville than most of the other players. He went to Fall Instructional League to get in more work under the watchful eye of the Astros development staff. He’s young but talented with all the plusses and minuses that go with it. We will not be surprised if the Astros take their time with Troy, moving him up the ladder slowly. Although it’s possible he could be assigned to Lexington for 2005, we believe he’s more likely headed to Tri-City to start the season.
All the other Astros pitching draftees were used primarily or exclusively in the bullpen. Chad Reineke, used only as a reliever, had a good season for Tri-City. He finished with a 2.45 ERA and 3 saves. In 36 2/3 innings pitched he gave up 27 hits and 23 walks, indicating he still battles control problems. However his power arm was evident in racking up 52 strikeouts. Garrett Murdy split time between Greeneville and Tri-City. At Greeneville he was very hittable but upon promotion to Tri-City he settled down and helped give support to the pitching staff. Jeff Wigdahl did a fine job at Tri-City serving for most of the season as the ValleyCats only lefty. He finished the season with a 3.51 ERA and 1 save over 33 1/3 innings. Casey Brown also did a yeoman’s job at Tri-City. Chris Sotro and Brad James spent all season at Greeneville with Sotro doing good work out of the pen, and James doing a good job mostly in the rotation. Anthony Dewitt, like Murdy, split time between Greeneville and Tri-City, but unlike Murdy, was consistently good for both teams. Brad Chedister did not pitch well at Greeneville and was released following the season. Matthew Brown and Jared Brite did not pitch.
Every year there are feel good stories somewhere in baseball and last season the Astros had one in Anthony Adler. He was a 45th round selection expected to not do much at all in the organization. Recall, from the Draft Review, that Adler was with Rice’s and South Carolina’s baseball teams for one year each before blowing out his elbow. Following that he quit baseball for a while before deciding to pitch one year at UT-Dallas while he still had eligibility. As it turned out his elbow held together, and he became the ace of the Comet’s staff. So following his being drafted Anthony reported to Greeneville. However, Adler far exceeded expectations recording a 1-0 record and 1.59 ERA over 17 innings. He nailed down 4 saves while giving up just 8 hits and 3 walks. He also recorded 10 strikeouts. The Astros rewarded him with a promotion to low class-A Lexington, making him the first Astros in his draft class to play for a full-season affiliate. At Lexington Adler continued to perform well. His 1-3 record belies a 3.14 ERA with 28 2/3 innings pitched and 2 saves. He gave up 27 hits and just 6 walks while recording 25 strikeouts. If his elbow stays together Adler could see a steady rise through the system.
Overall the first season of this draft class makes it one to watch and could be one of the best overall draft classes in the past 10 years. Time will tell how each of these players do, but we certainly hope for the best.