Castro stands out at the Futures Game

Rick Hummel at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch remarks on Castro and his performance at the Futures Game.

One of the most impressive players on either side was Castro, the top pick of the Astros last year who already is in Class AA. He has hit .295 for basically one year of minor league ball, but, perhaps more significantly, has thrown out 49 of the runners who have tried to steal against him.

[Ozzie] Smith made a whistling motion when he described Castro’s throwing motion. “Vinny (former base-stealing champion Vince Coleman) would have a hard time stealing on him,” Smith said.

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Onward and upwards

Justice provides some commentary on Jason Castro and on his performance at the Futures Game.

He’s the son of a California firefighter and has played all over the field but was always drawn to catching because of the extra responsibility.

How’d he end up a catcher?

“I’d caught when I was real young and always had catching in my back pocket. You’re the one back there controlling things. It’s exciting and keeps you on your toes.”

What has it been like at Double-A?

“When I first got to Double-A, I didn’t know what to expect. Now having been there a month or so, I’m kind of settling in and getting more comfortable.”

What does he still need to work on?

“Obviously, I need to improve in all aspects to keep advancing, to continue to refine my skills, not just as a hitter, but I need to work on the small things that make you a big league catcher.”

Castro on being invited to the Futures Game:

“It’s an honor to be invited. It’s exciting to be in here with all these guys.”

And on his performance:

“I was excited to get in there. It puts things in perspective a little bit. You get to see some other talent. It’s a good opportunity to go out and compete. I was fortunate enough to have some things go my way.”

Astros Scout Joe Graham talks about the intangibles:

“Obviously, anyone can see the tools. He’s more of a quiet leader. He has intangibles you look for in a catcher. He’s not a rah-rah guy. He has a calm demeanor and helps calm the pitching staff down.”

Bobby Heck chimes in as well:

“The more we watched him, the more we appreciated him. *** It’s his makeup, preparation and intelligence. He was involved in game plans at Stanford. A lot of times amateur catchers don’t call their own games. The more we looked at him, the more our guys talked, there was a common thread. He’s a good teammate. He gives the same effort every game.”

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Who is better, Lyles or Seaton?

A Baseball America subscriber asks Jim Callis about Lyles, Seaton and Mier.

Lyles and Seaton in BA’s top ten Houston prospects list:

When both were coming out of high school a year ago, we regarded Seaton as a first-round talent and Lyles as a fifth- or sixth-rounder. *** After their pro debuts, we ranked Seaton No. 3 and Lyles No. 6 on our Houston Top 10 Prospects list.

Pitching performances at Lexington

Seaton has the better ERA (2.57, fifth in the South Atlantic League), but Lyles is having the better year. Lyles, who has a 2.92 ERA, has superior numbers in more important categories: strikeouts (118, second in the SAL, in 96 innings), K-BB ratio (118-21), opponent average (.238), groundout/airout ratio (1.04) and homers per nine innings (0.4). Seaton’s strikeouts are surprisingly low (55 in 95 innings), but SAL hitters haven’t made hard contact against him.

Comparing Lyles and Seaton

Lyles’ fastball sat in the high 80s for much of last spring, but he pitched at 90-96 mph in his debut and has shown similar velocity this year. Seaton, who threw at 90-94 mph in high school and pitched just four innings after signing last summer, has worked more in the high 80s in his first extended taste of pro ball. His slider is better than Lyles’ curveball, but I’d give Lyles the edge as a prospect right now because he has more present velocity, more projection remaining and better results in 2009.

What does Lyles project as?

Scouts definitely think more highly of [Lyles] these days, and he projects as a possible No. 3 starter, maybe more.

Will Jiovanni Mier crack BA’s next Houston top ten prospects list?

As for Mier, he’ll probably rank around No. 5 on our next Astros Top 10. He was the best defensive shortstop in the draft and he’s off to a nice start with the bat (.327/.422/.509) at Rookie-level Greeneville.

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Lyles cracks the Baseball America Prospect Hot Sheet (again)

Coming in at number four this time.

Lyles’ overpowering fastball has helped him rack up 118 strikeouts in 95 2/3 innings, good for second in the league, and he’s allowed three or fewer runs in all but two of his 17 starts on the season.

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Concussive power

Mark Maloney at the Lexington Herald-Leader writes about Jay Austin’s power surge.

Perhaps Jorge De Leon knocking Jay Austin upside the head wasn’t a bad thing. DeLeon, a shortstop, collided with the Lexington Legends center fielder as both pursued a fly ball on May 30. Did DeLeon knock a “hitting sense” into Austin? Not really. But since his return, Austin has been H-O-T.

Austin on his problems early in the season and the changes he’s made to get past them:

“I was getting out in front [of the ball]. After talking to Lawless, he helped me out a lot. So now I’m staying back behind the ball, seeing it better. … He tells you how it is. No sugar-coating or anything.”

“It was hard coming in every day and playing. My confidence was low, but you’ve just got to grind through it. I never doubted myself.”

Manager Tom Lawless says Austin is on the right path:

“There’s a lot of learning involved in what he’s got to do before he gets to play at the big-league level/ He’s definitely on the right path of understanding what everybody is trying to get to him — the information and knowing how to play the game.”

“He did a lot of work … and he made a few changes in his swing. You could probably say he’s the best player on the team right now.”

Ricky Bennett on Austin’s first full year of pro ball:

“We knew the first half of the season would be a learning curve for him. A young kid going into his first (full) year. There was a lot of things that we felt he needed to learn and, as the season went along, we were hoping that he would start to pick things up a lot quicker, apply things a lot quicker. Since he’s come back from the DL, he’s really done that and we’re really happy with where he is. We’re going to continue to work with him every day and continue to feed things to him. Hopefully, he’ll continue to make progress.”

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Hitting the links

The Hooks official website highlights the performance of Castro and Lo at the Futures Game.

Zach Levine provides a progress update on this years signed draftees.

The Greenville Astros do a good deed.

Astros sign ‘em quick, but that is not true with other teams and their Oklahoma draftees.