Who Am I?

Carlos Beltran

Designated hitter / “left fielder”

Age: 39

Height: 6′ 1″

Weight: 215″

Switch hitter, throws right

How Did I Get Here?

With a career this long, we’re going to bullet points:

• Beltran was a 2nd round pick by the Royals in 1995. When the man was drafted, the Braves were still playing in Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium… that was two stadiums ago for them.
• Beltran came to Houston in June 2004 in a three-team deal that sent Octavio Dotel to Oakland and John Buck to Kansas City, with some spare parts going from Oakland to KC.
• You may have forgotten this, but Beltran then signed with the Mets as a free agent following the 2005 season.
• At the end of his Mets deal in 2011, he was traded at the deadline to San Francisco for Zack Wheeler. (Note: I legitimately did forget that he was ever a Giant.)
• A free agent again, Beltran signed with the Cardinals following the 2011 season.
• He actually made it all the way through a contract with one team, leaving the Cardinals for the Yankees after 2013.
• The Yankees then traded him to Texas at the 2016 deadline in exchange for Nick Green, Erik Swanson, and Dillon Tate.
• Beltran finally signed as a free agent with Houston in December 2016.

For those scoring at home.. since his last stint in Houston, Beltran has been a Met, (a Giant), a Cardinal, a Yankee, and a Ranger. He was one Braves uniform away from hitting for the “I hate these guys!” cycle.

Just how long has Beltran been playing? When Beltran debuted on September 14, 1998:

• Google was 10 days old.
• Only two Harry Potter books had been published.
• Only three Star Wars movies existed.
• The biggest news in technology was that America Online was interested in buying Netscape.
• We hadn’t yet learned that Gerry Hunsicker would not trade Scott Elarton and Richard Hidalgo to get Roger Clemens.

Contract status:

Beltran signed a one year, $16M with the Astros.

Why Am I Here?

But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let us have a feast and celebrate.  For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ 

Let’s make one thing absolutely clear: the Carlos Beltran of 2004 is not walking through that door. The Carlos Beltran who played with the Astros for the summer and fall of 2004 put on the finest stretch of defensive center field I could ever hope to see. He put the Astros on his back and damn near willed them to the World Series.

(Oh, you think I’m exaggerating Beltran’s effect on that stacked team? In the NLCS:

• Bagwell – 7 for 27, no home runs
• Biggio – 6 for 32, 1 home run
• Jeff Kent – 6 for 25, 3 home runs
• Beltran – 10 for 24, 4 home runs, 4 steals without being caught… .417/.563/.958
• The Astros scored 31 runs in the series; Beltran scored 12 of them.
• Oh, and they went to seven games despite the fact that Brandon Backe started twice and Pete Munro started twice.)

This is all a roundabout way of saying: yes, Carlos Beltran broke Houston’s heart when he signed with the Mets.

GET OVER IT.

He’s back. It was 12 years ago. The man put on one of the most otherworldly displays of baseball I could ever hope to see at Minute Maid Park unless Mike Trout somehow becomes an Astro in his prime and plays way over his usual standard. Be glad he’s back. If you’re still booing him, that says a whole lot more about you than it does about him.

Oh, what is his role? Beltran is the team’s everyday designated hitter, and Hinch says he will be put into left field 20-30 games during the season.

What Are My Strengths?

That beautiful swing you may remember from both sides of the plate? It’s still there. He may not be 100% of the hitter he used to be, but just to throw the comparison out there:

• Beltran, 2004: .258/.368/.559, 2.3 wins above replacement
• Beltran, 2016: .295/.337/.513, 2.0 wins above replacement

He’s not quite as patient. He’s not quite as strong. But he can still hit the ball. Oh… and let’s throw one more comparison out there:

• Houston designated hitters, 2016:  /.219/.299/.378

What Are My Weaknesses?

The defense? Gone. Beltran can barely cover left field… when placed there, he will be a liability.

The speed? Also gone. I mean G-O-N-E gone. Beltran will likely be relieved for a pinch runner in critical late inning spots.

Loves to hit: Beltran has been pretty even from both sides of the plate in his career, but last year he definitely preferred left handed pitching, posting a .338/.380/.589 line against southpaws, versus a .279/.321/.484 performance against right handers.

Hates to hit: No pitch jumps out, but as you might suspect form a hitter getting up there in years and losing a little bat speed, Beltran is weaker against pitches up in the zone than your average hitter.

What is my future with the Astros?

It’s a one year contract. Maybe they revisit it, but it seems more likely that he’s here as a stop gap until some of the younger hitters like Kyle Tucker or Derek Fisher are ready.

What is my projected 2017 performance?

Who else would I remind you of?

As we close out this series, I’m not answering this question for Carlos Beltran. I’ve never seen anyone that does what he did in his prime. I’ll choose to remember him that way.

Who Am I?

Preston Tucker

Left fielder

Age: 26

Height: 6′ 0″

Weight: 215

Bats left, throws left

How Did I Get Here?

Tucker was Houston’s 7th round pick in 2012, and made his major league debut in May 2015.

Contract status:

This is Tucker’s last option year and he will be eligible for arbitration no earlier than 2019.

Why Am I Here?

Perhaps no player better exemplifies Houston’s rapidly improving depth than Preston Tucker. In 2015, he was a contributor to a playoff team, even if he only made three pinch-hit appearances against the Royals. In 2016, he struggled to make contact, a problem likely associated with a shoulder injury that ultimately ended the season. So one injury and a couple of veteran outfielders later, Tucker is an afterthought – nobody seriously discussed him making the big-league roster this spring; he only made one appearance due to his late recovery from shoulder surgery.

So Tucker is left as depth, fighting with guys like Hernandez and Kemp at AAA for the next call should an outfield injury occur.

What Are My Strengths?

Tucker makes decent contact and hits for plus power. While with the Astros in 2015, he showed a consistent line drive stroke and an ability to hit big-league fastballs.

What Are My Weaknesses?

Tucker is a limited defender, even in Minute Maid’s small left field. And while the power is nice, by late 2015 those big league pitchers were figuring out just how vulnerable to breaking balls he was.

Loves to hit: As indicated, Tucker could handle anything without much break – he hit four-seamers, two-seamers, and sinkers at a .326 clip in 2015, including 13 doubles and 7 homers.

Hates to hit: Anything off speed. In that same span, Tucker hit only .174 against sliders, curves, and changeups. This trend continued in 2016, as he only managed 8 for 56 (.143) against these pitches.

What is my future with the Astros?

Preston Tucker has nothing left to prove in the minors – he’s slugged over .500 in the minors at every level over his 5-year career. All that’s left is for him to get another shot if an injury occurs, and to show that he can make the leap to handling major league pitching on a consistent basis. As his options are running out, this looks like his last chance to show that in Houston, or else we’ll be saying “Hey, remember Kyle Tucker’s brother?” in a couple of years.

What is my projected 2017 performance?

Who else would I remind you of?

There’s very little similarity in their swings or personality, but the profile of the minor-league slugger who came up during a playoff run and couldn’t ever quite figure out major league pitchers does remind me of Mitch Meluskey.

Who Am I?

George Springer

Outfield

Age: 27

Height: 6′ 3″

Weight: 215

Bats right, throws right

How Did I Get Here?

Houston made Springer the 11th overall pick of the 2011 draft, and he was called up to the majors on April 15, 2014. (This had absolutely nothing to do with delaying his free agency by a year; no, he clearly needed those last two weeks in the minors.)

Contract status:

Springer agreed to a one year, $3.9M contract this offseason in his first arbitration-eligible year. He will be eligible for free agency after the 2020 season.

Why Am I Here?

Springer will make the move from right field to center this season as the Astros choose to sacrifice some defense for more consistent hitting. He will start the season leading off, and will likely remain there for the foreseeable future.

What Are My Strengths?

Springer is a patient hitter, working deep into counts and drawing a lot of walks – he was 4th in the AL in this category last year. He has power to all fields – of his 29 homers last year, 8 were to center and 10 to right. He has plus speed and was an above-average right fielder; this will hopefully translate to at least average center field play.

What Are My Weaknesses?

Working deep into those counts also results in a TON of strikeouts. 178 K’s is pretty rough to watch from a leadoff hitter.

The other issue was his baserunning. “Caught stealing” is not the category you want to lead the league in, but Springer did exactly that – he was caught 10 times while succeeding only 9.

Here’s a gift for Gary Pettis.

The other elephant in the room is health; last year was the first time Springer made it through a healthy season.

Loves to hit: Leading off the inning. Last year Springer hit .302/.397/.535 when he was the first batter of the inning – that’s a heck of a spark plug throughout a game.

Hates to hit: Springer handled curveballs better than most anyone on the team, but sliders befuddled him. With 124 at bats for sliders and only a .177 BA/.266 SLG, Springer seems to have the “can’t hit ’em, can’t lay off ’em” issue with sliders.

What is my future with the Astros?

Along with Altuve and Correa, Springer represents the core of the Astros for the next several years. I would expect an All-Star appearance or two along the way.

What is my projected 2017 performance?

Who else would I remind you of?

If you added about 20 points of batting average, I think Springer would be a dead ringer for Bobby Abreu.