HOUSTON – Astros general manager Dana Brown hasn't been shy about his willingness to promote Minor League players and challenge them at the next level. Already this season, third-round 2023 Draft pick Jake Bloss, Pedro León (the Astros' No. 24 prospect) and Zach Dezenzo (No. 4) have made their big league debuts, while Jacob Melton (No. 1) has moved up to Triple-A. Shortstop Brice Matthews (No. 3) – Brown's first pick in the MLB Draft as a general manager -- has made a solid impression after getting bumped to Double-A Corpus Christi from High-A Asheville on June 18. This is Matthews' first full season in the Minors. The 22-year-old right-hander slashed .321/.423/.580 at Asheville before his mid-season promotion to the Texas League. He's held his own for the Hooks, slashing .234/.351/.451 with six homers, six doubles, 10 steals and 13 RBIs in 30 games entering Saturday. He's played nearly 300 innings at shortstop and 108 innings at third base. "Brice is a great kid," Corpus Christi manager Joe Thon said. "Obviously, he's been pushed to this level quite quickly. He's younger in the group, but he's pretty diligent with his work. He's always out there working. Great teammate who works hard. At least in the things he can control, he's really good with it. Obviously, there's a lot of things he's working on. Being pushed at a higher level, he's exposed to a little better pitching and more specific approaches. It's good to see him learn at a higher level." Matthews, the No. 28 overall pick in the 2023 Draft out of Nebraska, has been working closely with Corpus Christi hitting coach Bobby Bell and Minor League hitting coordinator Dan Hennigan on refining his in-zone approach. |
"He'll be [swinging] in-zone more times than not," Thon said. "He spits on good pitches and is good to go there. The discipline is there. Now it's being able hit the ball clean in-zone and we've seen it. When he hits the ball clean, it goes quite a [ways]. He's very twitchy, very strong, very athletic. It's [a] good combo." Defensively, Matthews moves very well and gets quick, clean jumps. The focus now at Corpus Christi is taking the defense to the next level, which means cheating jumps while recognizing which pitches are being thrown. It's the kind of next-level baseball intelligence that could help Matthews get the big leagues quicker. "There's a lot more baseball IQ to instill in him," Thon said. "His physical abilities are quite apparent and now it's getting to be able to translate that to an everyday shortstop or [an] everyday infielder in a big league way. There's a lot of people who are talented now and it's being able to play the game correctly and be observant." Matthews slashed .208/.365/.352 (.717 OPS) with four homers, 11 RBIs and 18 stolen bases in 35 games in his professional debut in '23, 33 games of which were spent at Low-A Fayetteville. |
MLB MORNING LINEUP PODCAST |
|
|
MELTON ADJUSTING TO TRIPLE-A |
Melton, ranked as the Astros' top prospect and No. 66 overall by MLB Pipeline, made his Triple-A debut July 25, and he went 2-for-5 with two runs scored and a walk. It's been a bit of a struggle with Sugar Land, with the outfielder slashing .204/.316/.347 with a homer and three steals. "I think you have to lean on your approach a little more, be a lot more specific here, not chase guys around the zone, really stick to what you're good at," Melton told MLB Pipeline's Kenny Van Doren. "So that's been an adjustment so far. I feel like we're making some good strides there. Obviously, not doing exactly what I'd like to do to start the Triple-A stint, but I talked to a lot of guys. The adjustment period is different for everybody, and we're going through that right now." Melton, drafted by the Astros in the second round of the 2022 Draft, began at Corpus Christi and was slashing .248/.307/.443 with 10 home runs, 34 RBIs, 18 walks and 32 runs scored (he missed three weeks with a wrist injury). Melton arrived at Triple-A one day after Dezenzo, a 12th-round pick in 2022 out of Ohio State. Dezenzo played in only 11 games for Sugar Land – he was 18-for-46 (.391) with four doubles, four homers, 13 RBIs and 14 runs scored -- before the Astros called him up earlier this week. He went 2-for-3 with two runs scored while starting at first base in Wednesday's 6-4 win over the Rangers. "Dezenzo is a guy that I was probably the closest with out of the Draft class. So coming up here around the same time with him was super cool to begin with, and then seeing him get the call was really cool, especially even for me," Melton said. "I spent a lot of time with him and know a lot of his story and what he's been through this year." |
When Dezenzo got the call to the big leagues earlier this week, some wondered if infielder Shay Whitcomb is next. The team's No. 28 prospect was MLB.com's pick for the organization's Minor League Most Valuable Player for the first half of the season, and he was also selected as the upper-level Minor League Player of the Month for June. Whitcomb, a fifth-round pick in the 2020 MLB Draft out of the University of California-San Diego, has spent the entire season at Triple-A, and he was slashing .301/.387/.540 with 24 homers and 89 RBIs in 104 games as of Saturday. Whitcomb tied for the Minor League lead last year with 35 homers and led the Astros system in homers, RBIs (102) and total bases (253) between Double-A and Triple-A. "We discussed Whitcomb multiple times throughout this year," Brown said. "I think Whitcomb is right here with [pitcher Ryan] Gusto, right here a phone call away. He's playing well. I think he's got a bright future. I could see, next potentially, him getting more time, whether it's a utility guy or playing a little bit of outfield. I like the way he's swinging the bat, so we're just trying to find somewhere he could play." Whitcomb started at first base three times this week for Sugar Land after not playing the position in either college or pro ball. He's played mostly shortstop, third base and second base, but has seen time in the corner outfield spots. |
|
|
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. |
|
|
© 2024 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. MLB trademarks and copyrights are used with permission of Major League Baseball. Visit MLB.com. Any other marks used herein are trademarks of their respective owners.
Please review our Privacy Policy.
You (gahleexholly.hdhask@blogger.com) received this message because you registered to receive commercial email messages or purchased a ticket from MLB.
Please add info@marketing.mlbemail.com to your address book to ensure our messages reach your inbox. If you no longer wish to receive commercial email messages from MLB.com, please unsubscribe or log in and manage your email subscriptions.
Postal Address: MLB.com, c/o MLB Advanced Media, L.P., 1271 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.
|
|
|
|
No comments:
Post a Comment