Houston Astros Minor League All-Star Team
With the minor league all-star games wrapped up, let’s take a look at who would be on the Astros minor league All-Star team. As expected, there were some hard decision but most know the Astros system is still loaded.
Here is my All-Star roster!
CATCHER
Jake Rogers – Rogers was the Astros 3rd round pick in 2016, a catcher who was known to be one of the best defensively but struggled with the bat. Well he has turned around those opinions this year excelling at the plate posting a 137 wRC+ at Quad Cities and improving to 147 wRC+ in Buies Creek. He has also showed nice power with 14 HR and .236 ISO.
2017 Stats: 68 G, .279 BA/.365 OBP/.523 SLG, 17 2B, 14 HR, 47 RBI, 6 SB, 143 wRC+
Honorable Mention: Max Stassi
FIRST BASE
Yordan Alvarez – Alvarez was a bit of an unknown coming into the season. The Astros acquired him for Josh Fields last year after he signed for a big bonus with LA. He has done nothing but hit this season hitting .360 with a 205 wRC+ in Quad Cities. He was promoted to Buies Creek where he has a 116 wRC+ in 12 games.
2017 Stats: 45 G, .342 BA/.441 OBP/.600 SLG, 10 2B, 10 HR, 44 RBI, 31 BB/45 SO, 181 wRC+
Honorable Mention: Jon Singleton
SECOND BASE
Tony Kemp – Kemp has spent parts of the last 3 seasons in AAA but he has improved every year. He is striking out just 7.4% of the time this year while hitting .331 and posting his highest ISO (.123) since 2014. Nice to see Kemp get some extra base hits to go with his high BA and OBP.
2017 Stats: 70 G, .331 BA/.378 OBP/.455 SLG, 16 2B, 5 3B, 4 HR, 39 RBI, 14 SB, 23 BB/25 SO, 118 wRC+
Honorable Mention: Ryne Birk
THIRD BASE
Colin Moran – Moran has had a phenomenal season so far making huge improvements in AAA compared to 2016. He already has a new career high in HR (18 compared to 10 in ’16) and has a 133 wRC+ for Fresno. He has also cut his strikeout rate down substantially while increasing his power output.
2017 Stats: 74 G, .310 BA/.368 OBP/.556 SLG, 14 2B, 18 HR, 62 RBI, 26 BB/52 SO, 133 wRC+
Honorable Mention: J.D. Davis
SHORTSTOP
Antonio Nunez – The shortstop position is pretty slim with solid performers this year but Nunez continues to quietly post solid seasons. This year he is hitting .280 with an 11.6 BB% (.371 OBP) in 69 games for Corpus.
2017 Stats: 70 G, .284 BA/.373 OBP/.330 SLG, 2 2B, 2 HR, 20 RBI, 5 SB, 29 BB/55 SO
Honorable Mention: Reid Brignac
OUTFIELD
Kyle Tucker – Tucker ended 2016 strong and has continued that this season. He started the season with Buies Creek and posted a .932 OPS and 155 wRC+ before being promoted to Corpus. With Corpus he has a .902 OPS and 145 wRC+ in 32 games. He has shown power, speed, and ability to hit for average.
2017 Stats: 80 G, .288 BA/.366 OBP/.553 SLG, 21 2B, 5 3B, 17 HR, 63 RBI, 19 SB, 151 wRC+
Derek Fisher – Fisher has had a great season, one that saw him get called up the majors for 5 games. He has dominated AAA this season with a 139 wRC+ in 74 games. He was able to keep his strikeout rate under 20% while showing elite power with the .269 ISO and 19 HR.
2017 Stats: 74 G, .306 BA/.370 OBP/.575 SLG, 22 2B, 19 HR, 56 RBI, 14 SB, 139 wRC+
Myles Straw – Straw broke onto the scene in 2016 hitting .358 across two levels. His rise has continued in 2017 hitting .321 in Buies Creek with a 143 wRC+ in 79 games. He has also posted 15.7% BB rate with more walks than strikeouts and improved his stolen base percentage only being caught 8 times in 33 chances.
2017 Stats: 79 G, .320 BA/.429 OBP/.413 SLG, 13 2B, 6 3B, 1 HR, 28 RBI, 25 SB, 58 BB/53 SO, 143 wRC+
Honorable Mention: Jason Martin, Jon Kemmer, Drew Ferguson
STARTING PITCHER
Rogelio Armenteros – Armenteros had a great 2016 season and has performed even better in 2016. He had a 1.93 ERA with 74 K in 65.1 innings before being promoted to AAA. He has made 2 starts for Fresno allowing just 1 run in 12 innings. If this continues, he will find himself in Houston this season.
2017 Stats: 4-3, 1.75 ERA, 2.74 FIP, 77.1 IP, 54 H, 15 ER, 24 BB, 85 K, 9.9 K/9
Forrest Whitley – Whitley was the Astros first round pick in 2016 and made his full season debut this year. He has not disappointed picking up 81 strikeouts in just 56.1 innings between Quad Cities and Buies Creek. While just 19 years old, he has established himself as one of the best pitching prospects in the Astros system.
2017 Stats: 3-2, 2.56 ERA, 2.38 FIP, 56.1 IP, 47 H, 16 ER, 22 BB, 81 K, 12.9 K/9
Yoanys Quiala – Quiala was signed out of Cuba and really had a rough 2016 season. He has completely turned it around in 2017 posting a 2.31 ERA with 59 K in 58.1 innings with Buies Creek before being promoted to Corpus. In 4 games with Corpus he has a 2.60 ERA and 2 BB/15 K.
2017 Stats: 6-2, 2.38 ERA, 3.08 FIP, 75.2 IP, 58 H, 20 ER, 15 BB, 74 K, 4.93 K/BB
Framber Valdez – Valdez made some noise in spring training this season striking out 7 over 7 relief innings. He has built on that and has a solid season posting a 2.79 ERA between Buies Creek and Corpus Christi. He also has 89 K in just 77.1 innings, though walks have been a little issue with 38 in those innings.
2017 Stats: 4-4, 2.79 ERA, 3.47 FIP, 77.1 IP, 48 H, 24 ER, 38 BB/89 K, 10.4 K/9
Honorable Mention: Hector Perez, Carson LaRue, Brett Adcock, Jorge Alcala, Alex Winkelman
RELIEF PITCHER
Nick Hernandez – Hernandez was drafted by the Astros in 2016 and put together a dominant 2017 campaign. Overall he has a 1.50 ERA and had a stretch which saw him go almost 2.5 months without allowing a run. He also has an impressive 13 BB/49 K in 36.0 innings.
2017 Stats: 0-1, 1.50 ERA, 2.33 FIP, 9 SV, 36.0 IP, 18 H, 6 ER, 13 BB, 49 K, 12.2 K/9
Kevin Comer – Another relatively unknown name that has turned into a stud out of the bullpen. Comer was acquired in the 10 player deal that sent Happ to Toronto. He has bounced around the minors but looks like he finally found his groove as a late innings reliever posting a 2.16 ERA in 50 innings this season.
2017 Stats: 3-3, 2.16 ERA, 2.93 FIP, 6 SV, 50.0 IP, 48 H, 12 ER, 16 BB, 57 K, 9.9 K/9
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**Photo Credit: Tammy Tucker**
