Who Am I?

Yulieski Gurriel

Infielder

Age: 32

Height: 6′ 0″

Weight: 190

Bats right, throws right

How Did I Get Here?

Gurriel was signed by the Astros as a free agent on July 16, 2016; he debuted on August 21.

Why Am I Here?

Gurriel was signed to play third base. A funny thing happened on the way to that goal: Alex Bregman looked like one hell of a third baseman. So Gurriel has picked up a first baseman’s mitt and will start the season in the footsteps of Astro legends Jeff Bagwell, Lance Berkman, and D. WARD.

What Are My Strengths?

Gurriel was one of the most feared hitters in Cuba for over a decade. He hit 20 homers when he was 20 years old – and keep in mind, the Cuban season is shorter. The bidding on him as an MLB free agent went as high as it did for a reason.

What Are My Weaknesses?

He didn’t show any of that power upon his arrival in Houston. Part of the issue appeared to be that he was not getting any elevation on the ball; perhaps a minor mechanical change to his swing path is in order.

Loves to hit: We don’t have much of a sample size, but he saw curveballs very well – going 5 for 15 with 2 doubles and a homer.

Hates to hit: Surprisingly, Gurriel had a reverse split against lefties, going only .220/.220/.317 in 41 AB against southpaws.

What is my projected 2017 performance?

Not surprisingly, there’s quite a difference in projecting a 32-year old hitter with only 130 at bats outside of Cuba. But that difference is quite stark. The average first baseman last year posted a .259/.337/.453 shah line last year; so you’re likely looking at the difference between “league average” and “losing your job to AJ Reed.”

Who else would I remind you of?

I honestly haven’t seen enough of him for a good comp. But Mike Lamb showed up on his comp list at Baseball Prospectus, and it’s always to hear from our old friend Clank.

Who Am I?

Marwin Gonzalez

Infielder

Age: 28 (boy, would I have guessed wrong on that one. Martin has always seemed at least 33 to me)

Height: 6′ 1″

Weight: 205

Switch hitter, throws right

How Did I Get Here?

Marwin was originally signed by the Cubs as an international free agent in 2005. In 2011, he was selected by Boston in the Rule 5 draft, and immediately traded to Houston in exchange for Marco Duarte (anyone remember him? Anyone?) He split time between Houston and AAA in 2012 an 2013, and has been a fixture on the roster since.

Contract Status:

Gonzalez avoided arbitration by agreeing to a $3.725M contract for 2017 that includes a $5.125M team option for 2018. He will be eligible for free agency after 2018.

Why Am I Here?

Every team needs a super-utility player, especially now as teams like the Astros insist on carrying 13 pitchers in an effort to turn the sixth through ninth inning into a parade of relievers beyond Tony La Russa’s wildest fantasies. Marwin will do his best Bugs Bunny impersonation by filling in at short, third, first, left field, and perhaps bullpen catcher and/or radio play-by-play.

What Are My Strengths?

The aforementioned utility. Marwin has done an admirable job of making himself a credible fielder no matter where you put him. He’s also developed some surprising pop, with 25 homers over the past 2 seasons.

What Are My Weaknesses?

That pop has come at a price. Marwin was never the most selective hitter, but he’s coming dangerously close to “Chuckie be hackin'” territory. 22 walks in 518 plate appearances last year. If you ask me which will be higher in 2017 – Marwin walks or McCullers wins – I’m thinking for a long while about that bet.

Loves to hit: Up in the zone. Marwin likes fastballs, but he really likes them middle up. If you look at his zone chart as a 3×3 grid, the top 6 boxes are all glowing bright red.

Hates to hit: Curveballs. Only 3 for 32 last year. Honorable mention to sliders, where he was 10 for 59. Put these together with his hot zone, and you get a clear picture: of over 1900 pitches Marwin faced in 2016, a full 57% either caught the lower corner of the zone, or missed low. The book is out on him.

What is my future with the Astros?

Marwin has a good couple years at least as the Astros’ designated utility guy. Do you extend a player like that into his 30s? Judging by the way Moran and White are scheduled to play around the diamond in AAA, I question whether such an offer will come Marwin’s way.

What is my projected 2017 performance?

Who else would I remind you of?

I will address him by his proper name: The Great Bill Spiers.

Who Am I?

Carlos Correa

Shortstop

Age: 22

Height: 6′ 4″

Weight: 215

Bats right, throws right

How Did I Get Here?

Correa was the first overall selection of the 2012 draft, and was called up in June 2015.

Contract Status: Correa will be eligible for arbitration in 2019, assuming the Astros don’t work out a contract with him by that time.

Why Am I Here?

Not to put too fine a point on it, but to lead the Astros to a World Series victory. When you’re the first overall pick of the draft, that’s the expectation.

Correa will start at short and bat cleanup, barring lineup changes by AJ Hinch.

What Are My Strengths?

Correa is a classic five tool player. It would not be surprising to see him post a .300/30HR/30 SB season, and he has answered most all of the questions about his abilities at short.

What Are My Weaknesses?

Correa tends to hit more ground balls than you would like to see in a player with his power. If you were to look at his launch angle breakdown (via Statcast or Daren Willman’s invaluable Baseball Savant), you would see that Correa hits most balls at a 5 degree angle or lower. Compare that to Miguel Cabrera – a hitter I would hope Correa could emulate – who hits mostly line drives between 10 and 20 degrees.

Loves to hit: Anything middle in. If you look at the breakdown of the hitting zone, Correa is a .300+ hitter from on the inner two thirds of the plate. He drops under .250 on the outer third.

Hates to hit: Curveballs. Correa saw 251 curveballs in 2016. He didn’t homer on a single one.

What is my future with the Astros?

If you’re reading this, you’re more than likely an Astros fan. If you’re an Astros fan, you more than likely remember what it’s like to watch two Hall of Famers spend their careers together.

But I also spent a couple of years in Detroit in my childhood – formative years that led me to be a lifelong fan of Lou Whitaker and Alan Trammell. (Both of whom should be in the Hall of Fame, but that’s a story for another day.) And let me tell you, there’s something magical about watching two elite players at the keystone day after day, year after year. They know each other’s movements before they happen. It’s like watching Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers at their peak.

When I think of the next ten years for the Astros, that’s my vision for Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa.

What is my projected 2017 performance?

Who else would I remind you of?

It’s the easy answer, but it’s the right answer. I still see Alex Rodriguez. I just pray it’s without the controversy.

Who Am I?

Alex Bregman

Infielder

Age: 22

Height: 6′ 0″

Weight: 180

Bats right, throws right

How Did I Get Here?

Bregman was the second overall selection of the 2015 draft – a draft pick that the Astros received as compensation for their failure to sign Brady Aiken with the 2014 draft’s first overall selection. (So if you want to think of Bregman as, effectively, the Astros’ 2014 pick, I wouldn’t argue with you.)

Bregman was added to the 40-man roster and called up in July 2016.

Contract Status: Bregman still has three option years remaining and will not be eligible for arbitration until 2020.

Why Am I Here?

Bregman can play either spot on the left side of the infield, and is slated to be the Astros’ third baseman (and, barring surprises, second hitter).

What Are My Strengths?

Bregman is a gifted, polished hitter – as evidenced by his move from college to the majors in only one year. He displayed surprising power upon his arrival – if you look at his last 39 games, once he broke out of his initial slump, he hit 13 doubles and 8 homers; that would translate to 55 doubles and 34 homers over a full season.

What Are My Weaknesses?

Bregman has a slightly below-average arm for third, and his footwork appeared to get away from him a few times; this may be a result of the transition from short to third.

Bregman also has less speed than I would have expected from someone of his size.

Loves to hit: The first pitch. Bregman put the first pitch in play 34 times for a .455/.441/.818 line (there was one sacrifice fly.) It will be interesting to see if Bregman adopts a more patient approach as pitchers adjust to him.

Hates to hit: Sliders. Bregman went only 3 for 34 (2 singles, 1 double) against the slider.

What is my future with the Astros?

It would be easy to say that Bregman is the Astros’ third baseman of the future. He certainly looks like he can handle it defensively, and his bat seems good enough. I don’t think it is that simple.

First of all, the Astros already spent over $40 million on someone they thought would be their third baseman of the future – Yuli Gurriel. Neither of them have even half a season in the majors, so it’s premature to say that either one has the job locked down.

Secondly, many people have long predicted that Carlos Correa will need to move to third base. If Bregman can handle short, you might see the two switch places.

But most importantly – a player who CAN play shortstop, but is NOT playing shortstop, is potentially more valuable to other teams than to this team. With a front office that is willing to quantify everything possible, it hardly seems out of the question that Bregman could be included in a trade – more than likely, for a front-line starting pitcher.

What is my projected 2017 performance?

Who else would I remind you of?

As a hot infield prospect who immediately changed positions upon coming to the majors, I’m reminded a bit of Brett Lawrie.

Who Am I?

Jose Altuve

Second baseman

Age: 26

Height: 5′ 6″

Weight: 165

Bats right, throws right

How Did I Get Here?

Altuve was signed by the Astros as an international free agent in 2007, and debuted with the big club in 2011.

Contract Status:

Altuve has easily the biggest bargain contract (for those eligible for arbitration) in the majors. It’s not even close. Altuve will earn $4.5M this season, and the Astros have team options for 2018 and 2019 at $6M and $6.5M, respectively. It’s such a no-brainer to exercise that option that FanGraphs ran a column examining how bad Altuve would have to be in 2017 for the Astros not to exercise his option. Their conclusion? It would take the worst season in major league history – not just offensively, but running and defensively as well.

That takes care of Altuve through 2019. However, he just switched agents to one Mr. Scott Boras. Let’s fast forward to the offices of Scott Boras in 2019:

Why Am I Here?

Altuve will play second base, likely bat third, and hopefully mount another serious challenge to Mike Trout as the American League’s Most Valuable Player.

Think back to when Altuve debuted, in 2011. Back then, he was a novelty act. “Oh, the Astros are bringing up a cute little midget at second? I wonder who will replace him when they’re actually competitive?”

Now look back at his vitals above. The height is no longer what jumps out to this writer. No, the amazing thing to see is this:

Age: 26

Yes, Jose Altuve is entering his age 27 season – the season when hitters supposedly reach their peak. And all he’s accomplished in his 5 full seasons is:

• 4 All Star appearances
• 3 Silver Sluggers (all ENTIRELY deserved)
• 3 seasons receiving MVP votes, peaking in a third place finish last season that might have turned into a win if the pitching staff had done its part to make the playoffs
• 3 seasons leading the league in hits
• Oh… and he’s a career .311 hitter.

What Are My Strengths?

Altuve started out with a plus hit tool, and has expanded that to being a complete player. His uncanny ability to make contact will always stand out, but at this point, his greatest strength is his willingness to work on individual facets of his game to make the move from good to great, and great to… who knows. Last year, it was improving his pitch selection; his previous career high was 40 walks, and that jumped to 60.

What Are My Weaknesses?

Honest to goodness, this isn’t a short joke, just a fact of life: Altuve is never going to have great range at second.

Loves to hit: The obvious answer is “everything”, and it’s really true – Altuve didn’t slug less than .382 against any pitch last year. But specifically, Altuve is a fastball hitter. In 2016, Altuve hit .374 and slugged .657 against the fastball; he recorded just 34 swings-and-misses in 865 fastballs he faced.

Hates to hit: Curveballs. Altuve hit only .220 against the curve in 2016… but then again, he slugged .439. Most hitters would put that on the plus side of the ledger. For Altuve, he probably programmed a pitching machine to throw him a thousand curveballs every day in the offseason.

What is my future with the Astros?

I cannot bring myself to envision Altuve leaving the Astros when his contract is up. This will be THE defining negotiation of the Crane/Luhnow tandem. Yes, Scott Boras is going to make us all cringe. Yes, the dollars will seem ungodly. But Crane and Luhnow will need to get the deal done. Why?

Because the bottom line is, Houston just saw its first player inducted to the Hall of Fame. A guy that plenty of people didn’t think could play second base, or turn in to the player he did… and a guy for whom, we now forget, it was a very open question whether he would remain in Houston as he was about to reach free agency.

And it may seem borderline sacrilege – hell, it may get me kicked out of bed tonight – but we may be watching a second baseman who’s even better.

What is my projected 2017 performance?

Who else would I remind you of?

Who Am I?

Max Stassi

Catcher

Age: 26

Height: 5′ 10″

Weight: 200

Bats right, throws right

How Did I Get Here?

Stassi was a 4th round pick by the A’s in 2009. He was then traded to Houston along with Brad Peacock and Chris Carter in exchange for Jed Lowrie and Fernando Rodriguez. He debuted with the Astros in 2013 and has had sips of espresso each season since.

Contract Status:

Stassi is out of options.

Why Am I Here?

Stassi is still on the 40-man just in case Gattis or McCann suffer an injury prior to Opening Day.

What are my strengths?

When he was drafted, and when the Astros acquired him, it appeared that Stassi would be a slugging catcher. Stassi hit .277 with 17 HR as a 22 year old in Corpus. Things looked good. Unfortunately…

What are my weaknesses?

… the hitting disappeared at AAA, where he has never cracked a .300 OBP or a .400 SLG.

Loves to hit: AA pitching.

Hates to hit: Any more advanced pitching.

What is my future with the Astros?

I hope he enjoyed the new Spring Training facility, because when the spring is over, he’s going on waivers. The only question is whether someone will claim him. That is almost entirely dependent on injuries across the league – he’s never shown enough for someone to take a flyer on him as a prospect at this point.

What is my projected 2017 performance?

Who else would I remind you of?

The band you heard in college that you really, really thought was going to make it big. I know… you can’t remember their names any more. Such is the way of life.