Astros Place Five Prospects on Baseball America’s Top 100 List
The season of “prospecting” continues as Baseball America released their top 100 prospects. Here are the Astros on the list.
#15 Francis Martes
Martes continues his climb. Martes was ranked #20 heading in 2016. He improved his ranking this season dominating in Double-A. Martes pitched the entire season with Corpus Christi and went 9-6 with a 3.30 ERA and 131 K in 125.1 innings at just 20 years old. He should make his MLB debut at some point this season.
#19 Kyle Tucker
Tucker continues his rise as well. After a solid showing in rookie ball in 2015, Baseball America had him ranked #62 in all of baseball. In 2016 Tucker hit .285/.360/.438 with 25 2B, 9 HR, 69 RBI, 32 SB in 117 games. Scouts believe he should add more power as he matures. 2017 could be a breakout season for him.
#51 David Paulino
Paulino has had a long journey to this point recovering from TJS but pitched well in 2015 posting a 2.81 ERA. He was ranked #91 heading in 2016 but has improved. In 2016, Paulino went 5-4 with a 2.00 ERA and 19 BB/106 K in 90 IP in 2016 and made his major league debut tossing 7 innings for the Astros.
#54 Franklin Perez
Perez was a pick of mine to be a breakout prospect and he did just that. Perez pitched the whole 2016 season at just 18 years old and made his full season debut. He had a 2.84 ERA with 19 BB/75 SO in 66.2 innings pitched. Perez has a low to mid 90s fastball and solid off-speed pitched while having very good pitchability for such a young pitcher.
#72 A.J. Reed
AJ Reed no longer has rookie eligibility but is still ranked by Baseball America. BA had him ranked #11 prior to 2016 but a rough rookie stint in the MLB hurt his rating. He actually hit well in AAA in 2016 slashing .291/.368/.556 with 22 2B and 15 HR in 70 games but hit just .164 in 45 games.
Here is a link to Baseball America’s top 100 list.
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**Photo Credit: Tammy Tucker**
