Wecome to the off season at The Bus Stop where the season never really ends. I will be trying to keep you up to date with comings and goings, winter league, and instructional league updates.
MILB.com give us a glimpse into what the Astros are working on with young Jordan Lyles. Assistant GM Ricky Bennett is quoted as saying:
(Lyles) had a very good changeup for a 17-year-old,” Bennett added. “He has the potential to have three average to plus pitches.
The pitch they are focusing on him developing during the 6 weeks of instructional league is his breaking ball, which is rated as “average and inconsistent” at this point.
“At some point next year, he’s going to need to use his breaking stuff and command it for strikes. So we’re focusing in on that. He’s got good rotation. He just needs to command it in the zone and, hopefully, we can get that accomplished before we leave. I don’t think he had to throw many breaking balls or changeups in high school.”
We have not been able to obtain a complete list of who is among the 40 players at Instructionals. We hope to have it shortly.
Good things are happening to a former Astros farm hand. Beau Torbert, who played indy ball in the American Association after being one of the final cuts out of spring training, had his contract purchased by the Detroit Tigers. He will go to spring training with them trying to make their AA or AAA clubs.
Beau Torbert, a former 17th round draft choice (2004) of the Houston Astros, was named American Association Most Valuable Player this past year on the strength of his .324 batting average (fifth in the league), 19 home runs (tied for third), and 71 RBI (tied for third). In addition, Torbert led the league in slugging percentage (.568) and went 14 of 19 in stolen bases. In seven post-season games, Torbert hit .346.
“Beau did it all for us this year, said (Manager) Steve Shirley. “He played every outfield position well and was a big presence in the middle of our line-up. Beau was dinged up virtually the entire second half, but he still wound up playing in 90 of our 96 regular season games. He didn’t seem to get a fair shake in AAA back in ’07, so we hope that this time he can show them his complete game.”