Drew Gilbert turning heads in Minors

Plus: Astros rotation taking shape

May 10, 2023 There have been some notable cases in Astros history of players jumping from Double-A to the Major Leagues, bypassing Triple-A.   Perhaps the most notable were future stars Jose Altuve and J.D. Martinez, who did that within 10 days of each other in 2011. That was when the Astros were beginning their rebuild and dealing away any veteran players with value. Altuve took the place of Jeff Keppinger after he was traded, and Martinez replaced Hunter Pence after he was traded.   So, when it was announced Monday that Astros' No. 1 prospect Drew Gilbert was being promoted to Double-A Corpus Christi, it begged the question: how close is he to the big leagues? Gilbert, last year's first-round pick out of the University of Tennessee, hit .360 with six homers, 18 RBIs and a 1.107 OPS in 21 games in High-A Asheville and will make his Double-A debut in a Wednesday doubleheader.   Astros general manager Dana Brown is bullish on Gilbert, but the Astros have a glut of outfielders. Michael Brantley appears close to returning from the injured list, and Chas McCormick, Jake Meyers, Kyle Tucker, Yordan Alvarez and Corey Julks are the other outfielders on the active roster.   "When you take a college player from the SEC, that's where most of the Major League players come from in the college ranks," Brown said. "If he's on top of his game, he's got a chance to be in the big leagues quick. He's off to a good start. I'm not ready to say he's Major League ready right now, but we'll continue to watch him progress, but we love what we see. He's a really good hitter. [He] is going to get to some power, good defender, can really throw, exciting energy. There's a lot to like."   Michael Harris II, last year's National League Rookie of the Year, was drafted by Brown when he was Atlanta's vice president of scouting in 2019. Harris started last year at Double-A, and was promoted to the big leagues after 43 games (196 plate appearances), skipping Triple-A. That was a special scenario, Brown said.   "We needed to get better defensively, and we knew whatever he gave us with the bat would be great," he said. "So that's why we made the move. We have good defense in center right now, but at the end of the day if [Gilbert] continues to progress, we'll keep an eye on him. If he goes to Double-A and plays well, we may see him at Triple-A [this year]. We'll take one step at a time." IN SEARCH OF… PITCHING The starting pitching depth the Astros flaunted last year is no more. With Lance McCullers Jr. coming down with a forearm injury in the spring and Jose Urquidy (shoulder) and Luis Garcia (elbow) suffering significant injuries earlier this month, the Astros' starting pitching has thinned and will have them in search of pitching at the Trade Deadline.   Brandon Bielak and J.P. France were added to the rotation in the wake of the Urquidy and Garcia injuries, and former top prospect Hunter Brown slid into the Opening Day rotation following the McCullers' injury. Framber Valdez and Cristian Javier remain elite starters.   "We need guys like France and Bielak to pitch up to their abilities," Dana Brown said. "It's really nice to see France throw well. Bielak [is] competing and giving us a chance. Right now, we're working through our Triple-A depth. One of the reasons we sent [Ronel] Blanco back [to Triple-A] is we had him stretched out in camp and we'll try to stretch him out again just to see what he looks like. We have to check out internal options first."   Brown said the Astros will have to be patient in their pursuit of starting pitching, waiting until July when more teams have a better idea if they're in contention or not.   "I think clubs would feel more comfortable knowing at the deadline if they would have a shot at making [the playoffs]," he said. "If you start moving guys now, it's probably going to be a higher price because there's not as many teams that are going to be moving players at this time." DUSTY'S QUOTE OF THE WEEK "It's very similar. Fernando could hit, too. He couldn't hit like [Shohei] Ohtani. The thing he really couldn't do like Ohtani, he couldn't run. Fernando could field his position; we used him as a pinch-hitter. We left him in games when ordinarily you would pinch-hit for somebody because he could hit. Ohtani, he's one of a kind." – Baker comparing the hype surrounding Dodgers pitcher Fernando Valenzuela in the early 1980s, when he was his teammate, to Japanese sensation Ohtani with the Angels. REMEMBERING DEACON JONES              The death of Deacon Jones touched the Astros organization deeply. A former hitting coach for the Astros (1976-82) and Padres (1984-87), he was a special assistant at Triple-A Sugar Land who was instrumental in getting baseball brought to the Houston suburb. Jones died Monday at 89 years old. "It's been a tough couple of days," Astros manager Dusty Baker said Monday. "The day before it was Vida Blue [who died]. I just saw Deacon when we played in Sugar Land in an exhibition game [in March]. I was just thinking about the Tupac song, 'Death Around The Corner," because it is. Sometimes you feel it closing in on you and it's taking your partners from you. It's a sad couple of days for me." Jones, a left-handed-hitting infielder, appeared in 40 games for the White Sox between 1962-66, before becoming a roving hitting instructor. Following his stints as a coach in Houston and San Diego, he became an advanced scout for the White Sox From 1988-08. Jones helped lead the way in getting a professional baseball franchise in Sugar Land, working with mayor Jimmy Thompson to debut the Sugar Land Skeeters of the independent Atlantic League in 2012. In November 2020, Sugar Land reached an agreement with the Astros to become their Triple-A affiliate and was rebranded as the Space Cowboys after the '21 season. The franchise retired the No. 4 in Jones' honor in 2019. "Deacon was an invaluable part of our organization and a close friend to every member of the Sugar Land front office and community," Space Cowboys general manager Tyler Stamm said in a statement. "We've lost a pillar of our organization and a dear friend who is wholly responsible for all of us being here. Without Deacon Jones, there would be no Sugar Land franchise." FORWARDED FROM A FRIEND? SUBSCRIBE NOW To subscribe to Astros Beat, visit this page and mark "Astros Beat" from our newsletter list. Make sure you're following the Astros or that they're checked as your favorite team. View Online    © 2023 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. MLB trademarks and copyrights are used with permission of Major League Baseball. Visit MLB.com. 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