Who Am I?

Tyler White

First baseman

Age: 26

Height: 5′ 11″

Weight: 225

Bats right, throws right

How Did I Get Here?

White was drafted in the 33rd round by the Astros in 2013. He debuted on the Opening Day 2016 roster.

Contract Status: 

White has two option years remaining and could be eligible for arbitration in 2020.

Why Am I Here?

Well, the plan was originally to let White win the first base job last season. I mean, that wasn’t the original plan – you don’t plan for a 33rd round pick to do anything with your organization except to soak up at bats. But White started hitting in the minors, and kept hitting, and hit his way right into the Opening Day lineup. And for 9 glorious games, it looked like Tyler White would be the greatest out-of-nowhere story of the season, as he started off .483/.529/.897 tear that included 3 doubles, 3 homers, and a Player of the Week award. Unfortunately, the league caught up with him, as he hit only .183/.252/.308 the rest of the season.

Given that you don’t exactly look for that kind of hitting from a first baseman – and the fact that Gurriel and Reed are ahead of him at first base – White is looking to become a utility player. Look for him to get reps at third and second in addition to first at Fresno, and if Marwin Gonzalez is injured at any point, White could take over that utility role.

What Are My Strengths?

White has a good eye and showed good patience for a rookie. He wasn’t guessing early in the count – he was working his way to pitches he knew he could turn on.

What Are My Weaknesses?

Once pitchers saw the book on him, they would throw a get-over strike one without fear that he’d jump on it, and then control the at-bat from there.  And while he has some power, it’s not the kind of power that’s going to carry him at first base. He’ll need to show that he can field respectably across the infield to hold down a job.

Loves to hit: As indicated above on his pitch selection, White was going hunting for fastballs – even with his disappointing numbers, he did hit .273 with a .442 SLG against the heater.

Hates to hit: Curveballs. White saw 92 curveballs, and went just 1 for 23. (He wasn’t much better against sliders, at just 2 for 13.)

What is my future with the Astros?

If he can show enough glove around the infield? He’s the heir apparent to Martin Gonzalez. If not? well, he’ll always have that wondrous early April 2016. It’s a whole lot more than most 33rd round picks do.

What is my projected 2017 performance?

Who else would I remind you of?

If only he could catch. Who knows, maybe he’ll do that too, if that’s what it takes to get back to the bigs.

Yeah, I was in the show. I was in the show for 21 days once – the 21 greatest days of my life. You know, you never handle your luggage in the show, somebody else carries your bags. It was great. You hit white balls for batting practice, the ballparks are like cathedrals, the hotels all have room service, and the women all have long legs and brains.

Don’t think, meat. It can only hurt the ball club.

Who Am I?

A.J. Reed

First baseman

Age: 23

Height: 6′ 4″

Weight: 275

Bats left, throws left

How Did I Get Here?

A.J. was drafted in the second round by Houston in 2014 out of Kentucky. He was added to the 40 man roster when he made his MLB debut in June 2016.

Contract Status:

Reed has two option years remaining and could be eligible for arbitration in 2020.

Why Am I Here?

Reed is still the first baseman/DH of the future, but that future got a little further off with the signing of Carlos Beltran and the move of Gurriel to first base.

What Are My Strengths?

There’s been a move in MLB toward leaner, more athletic first basemen in the Joey Votto or Paul Goldschmidt mold.

A.J. Reed is not one of those first basemen. He is a big, burly man who will hit the ball very, very hard. He has punished the ball at all levels of the minors – never slugging below .522.

He has also worked hard to improve his defense to “acceptable.”

Oh… and he can serve as your late-extra-inning relief, I would assume; he was the #1 starting pitcher for Kentucky.

What Are My Weaknesses?

A.J. has a looooong swing – and major league pitchers exploited every bit of it during his debut. It’s one thing to accept that increased strikeouts are a product of swinging for the fences, but nobody is going to survive striking out 34% of the time.

Loves to hit: Early in the count. When Reed went after the first pitch or a 1-0 pitch, he went 12 for 29 with 2 doubles and 2 homers.

Hates to hit: Well, he didn’t get many chances, but only 1 for 15 against lefties didn’t exactly say that he should keep getting more chances.

What is my future with the Astros?

I would expect Reed to stick around – no doubt injuries will give him some more time in the majors this year, and who knows if Beltran will be able to go beyond this season; if not, that DH slot opens right back up for Reed.

What is my projected 2017 performance?

Who else would I remind you of?

Visually – the body type, the swing – I see a lot of Matt Stairs.

Statistically? If I’m looking at a first baseman who tore up the minors and then struggled mightily with strikeouts when he debuted, you have to look no further back than Chris Carter.

Who Am I?

Colin Moran

(Ed. note: Colin Moran looks so much like my brother that I’m calling my parents and just double-checking that there’s nothing they haven’t told us.)

Third baseman

Age: 24

Height: 6′ 4″

Weight: 204

Bats left, throws right

How Did I Get Here?

The Marlins made Moran the 6th overall selection of the draft in 2013. He was then the centerpiece of the package the Astros got for Jared Coast, Austin Hates, and Enrique Hernandez at the 2014 trade deadline; in retrospect, he seems like the LEAST of a package that was also Jake Marisnick, Francis Martes, and a pick that turned into Daz Cameron. There’s already a 90% chance that Astros fans will look back on this as “the Martes deal”.

Contract Status:

Moran has two option years remaining.

Why Am I Here?

At the time of the trade, Moran was viewed as the third baseman of the future. Now he is buried on the depth chart while the Astros hope for his long-forecast power to arrive.

What Are My Strengths?

Moran plays a respectable third base – the whispers that he would need to move across the diamond have mostly vanished. He is also reputed to be a very good contact hitter, but hitting .259 at AAA doesn’t exactly scream “Tony Gwynn.”

What Are My Weaknesses?

That long-forecast power? It still hasn’t arrived. Moran’s peak in the minors was a .459 SLG at AA that included only 9 HR. Last year, he posted a .259/.329/.368 line at AAA. That type of hitting at third base not only doesn’t scream “hot prospect” – it screams “if you do it again this year, JD Davis is taking your job.”

Loves to hit: Nothing evident yet.

Hates to hit: SMALL SAMPLE SIZE ALERT: Moran saw 36 fastballs in the majors, resulting in zero hits.

What is my future with the Astros?

Unless he posts a massive spike in hitting, Moran is trade bait. At best. The chances of him displacing both Bregman and Gurriel are virtually nil. Alas, my dream of his fan club called “Bunch of Morans” will never become a reality.

Best. Fans. In. Baseball.

What is my projected 2017 performance?

Let’s go back to the fact that PECOTA attempts to forecast playing time. If Colin Moran gets 250 plate appearances in 2017, then either:

• something has happened to Alex Bregman, Yuli Gurriel, AND Tyler White – all of whom are ahead of him on the depth chart; OR
• Moran has had an unforeseen breakout of a season – in which case the forecast is wildly inaccurate.

Who else would I remind you of?

The last ex-Marlin-third-baseman-of-the-future, Matt Dominguez.

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.