Astros take two RH pitchers in the Rule 5 Draft
by clack on Dec 9, 2010 9:04 AM CST
in Houston Astros Hot Stove News
Email
Print
The Astros took Aneury Rodriguez as their first pick in the Rule 5 Draft. I included his profile in my first article on Rule 5 draft ideas. Rodriguez had a decent year as a starting pitcher in AAA for the Rays. And "decent" looks even better when you consider that he was only 22 years old. I can see the Astros gambling on the possibility that he competes for a rotation spot. If he shows well but can't beat out the competition, perhaps he becomes a bullpen option. He was the prospect traded to the Rays by the Rockies last year. His velocity has declined since the trade, which may be why he was exposed to the Rule 5 Draft.
The Astros took 27 year old Yankees RH minor leaguer Lance Pendleton as a second pick. He pitched well in AA last year, but didn't pitch as well in limited innings when he was moved up to AAA. I am guessing that he is a longer shot for making the team. He is a local guy who was drafted out of Rice after pitching for Kingwood HS. He suffered a ligament injury after his first season in the minors and underwent Tommy John surgery. After a year off, he has been moving back up through the Yankees' system. He has both relief and starting experience. When he was drafted in the 5th round in 2005, he was called a "power arm." I'm not sure what his post-surgery velocity has been.
The Astros only had one player taken in the AAA draft and none in the major league draft. Jeiler Castillo, a 22 year old RHP, was taken by Oakland in the AAA draft.
28 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
Was really hoping they would draft one of the available young middle infielders. But if Rodriguez turns out to be a good 5th starter, that would be awesome.
if we could just use him as a servicable bullpen arm all season, then we could give him seasoning in our AAA system without losing him ala Wesley Wright. Good move.
by SteveBartman_MVP on Dec 9, 2010 4:03 PM CST up reply actions
I approve Lance Pendleton
If for no other reason than he’s from Kingwood and an incredibly nice guy.
The Crawfishboxes
A good friend of mine used to say, "This is a very simple game. You throw the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains." Think about that for a while.
good to know.
The Yankees-related blogs (prior to the Rule 5) had Pendleton on their list of players who might be attractive to other teams.
I wonder if the Astros familiarized themselves with him when they were scouting Melancon?
I’m a simple man. I like pretty, dark-haired women and breakfast foods.
--Ron F'ing Swanson
by David Coleman on Dec 9, 2010 7:48 PM CST up reply actions
I am thinking that this draft may indicate that Wade doesn’t expect to sign a free agent for the No. 5 rotation slot, and expects to throw a bunch of young guys (including the two Rule 5 picks) into competition with Figueroa. The Rule 5 picks don’t cost much, so I can see the idea of taking them like lottery picks to see if they can stick.
just as I type that comment, McTaggert tweets that the Astros are close to signing a free agent starting pitcher.
Rowland-Smith
The Astros big free agent starting pitcher acquisition is the Australian nicknamed “hypen.” This is unimpressive. I think he will just be another cog in the rotation competition.
If he sucks, i’m calling him hymen.
by chilam balam on Dec 10, 2010 9:04 AM CST up reply actions 1 recs
Pendleton looks like a good prospect. If he shows any potential in the Spring it would be nice to have him as a spot starter or mop-up reliever in the bullpen.
As for Rowland-Smith how many left-handers are we going to have in a rotation? This suggests that one of the lefties might be on the move. I doubt Wade has the capacity to trade a Philly and if Wandy’s contract is stalling could he be on the block?
I really like the Rodriguez pick. It’s interesting that his velocity declined with a change in organizations. It also went hand in hand with a drop in K/9. Although that is likely due to the jump in leagues as well as drop in velocity. The pitching coordinater could have been wanting him to utilize a 2-seam more instead of a 4 seam. It will be interesting what Arnie does with him though. Arnie seems to lean towards 2 seamers as well.
ARL is less important for pitchers, but its still nice to see that a guy his age is going to be given a shot. He’s projectable and could still see his velocity jump back up. I really like potential there. I can see him becoming a mainstay as a #4 or #5 pitcher in the next few years, although its more likely he’s a swing man this year.
two reasons I am optimistic about A. Rodriguez
(1) He is performing well in winter ball: 1.22 ERA in 7 DWL starts. I know we shouldn’t put too much emphasis on the winter ball stats, but for a guy as young as him, this has to be a good sign.
(2) As I’ve said the fan post, what he did in AAA is impressive, given that it was first time at that level and he would rank among the youngest Astros’ pitching prospects at AA or higher. He was only two years older than Lyles in AAA, and he performed better than Lyles in AAA. I’m not knocking Lyles…just pointing out that Rodriguez did something which is hard for a pitcher who is 22 years or younger.
The pitching coordinater could have been wanting him to utilize a 2-seam more instead of a 4 seam. It will be interesting what Arnie does with him though. Arnie seems to lean towards 2 seamers as well.
I’ve read that Rodriguez has also struggled with his changeup. Arnsberg, he loves those changeups, although we shouldn’t over-estimate Arnsberg’s ability too much.
I’m not saying Arnie is the “messiah.” But, Arnie is known for taking pitchers whom people didn’t expect much out of and turning them above average pitchers. I’m not saying this will be that case. I’m talking about how Arnie will adjust Rodriguez’s repatoire in terms of fastballs and how he pitches. Even if Rodriguez doesn’t make the team out of ST, it will be interesting to watch in ST because we need to see how Arnie handles young pitchers like him since we’ll have younger pitchers in the big leagues in the next few years including Lyles.
He did a lot with those Blue Jay pitchers
who not a lot of people expected to succeed at the major league level.
I’m a believer in what Arnsberg can achieve having seen what Oswalt, Myers and Wandy did at times in 2010, but its ultimately the pitchers that have to step up. We’ll have to wait for ST to see.
Today is a good day
Because it means that Lyles likely doesn’t make the team out of Spring Training and can continue to develop on his own time.
The Crawfishboxes
A good friend of mine used to say, "This is a very simple game. You throw the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains." Think about that for a while.
Unfortunately, I think he’ll still be in the competition. Hopefully one of the other guys will shine and he can start back at AAA. Surely out of Rodriguez, Pendleton, Rowland-Smith, Villar, Abad, Wright, and Arguello someone will have a stellar spring.
by Snake Diggity on Dec 9, 2010 1:18 PM CST up reply actions
I think your right. He’ll be included but his chances are likely smallers than Castro’s last ST. He will definitely have to be stellar in order to get a spot. Although, I see the competition being between Figueroa, Rodriguez, Rowland-Smith and Abad, with Rowland-Smith and Figgy being the favorites and Rodriguez being the dark-horse.
I wouldn’t count Villar out; one of the writers who could be considered an insider (can’t remember if it was MacTaggert or Levine) said Villar is considered our #3 overall prospect and a strong darkhorse for the rotation.
Personally I hope Rodriguez gets it, Abad ends up as the primary lefty reliever, Figgy is the spot starter, Pendleton returned or in the bullpen, Rowland released or in AAA, and Lyles, Wright, and Arguello in the AAA rotation.
by Snake Diggity on Dec 9, 2010 3:41 PM CST up reply actions
I just haven't been impressed by Villar as a starter
His peripherals cratered when they moved him into a starting role and I’m not sure he has the repertoire to succeed as more than a relief arm.
http://www.crawfishboxes.com
He really didn’t impress me as a starter either. Looking at his pitch selection, I have to agree that I’m not overly impressed with his repatoire as a starter either. I think he profiles better as a long relief or 7th inning type pitcher. He has a good fastball and his second most used pitch is a changeup that doesn’t profile that similarly to his fastball. To make it worse, his separation is only about 5-6 mph. Sure you have to have a good changeup to succeed as a starter, but I just don’t see how he can make it two or three times through a lineup.
Also, his greatest pitch total was last year with 108 innings counting his six in the majors, not a good total to be thrown into a major league rotation with for a full season.
That's a BIG workload
He’s a young guy that got a lot of innings last year im assuming, is now pitching in the winter leagues and will soon be vying for a starting spot? How long before he burns out and/or injures himself? I say put him in the pen and try to conserve him.
by Its Gonna Happen on Dec 9, 2010 6:27 PM CST via mobile reply actions
This is one of the first times
That the Astros did exactly what I would have done (took Rodriguez). Bravo, front office, bravo. They expanded the pool of potential #5’s further and provided some good bullpen insurance. I think that Hyphen, Aneury, Pendleton and Abad are the real contenders for the spot (I love Lyles, but as others have said, it’s best that he doesn’t start the year in the majors. I’d be good with nothing but a September callup, if that.) and that you’ll see one of them starting and at least 2 of the others in the big league pen.
we've had much worse options for #5 in last few years
You have to commend Wade for at least the fact that we have the most settled rotation since at least 2005.
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Related FanPosts on The Crawfish Boxes
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recommended FanPosts
Recent FanPosts
TCB Tweets!
Current Series
3 game series vs Dodgers @ Dodger Stadium
| Fri 05/25 |
WP: Lucas Harrell (4 - 3)
SV: Brett Myers LP: Clayton Kershaw (4 - 2) |
3 - 1 win |
| Sat 05/26 |
WP: Kenley Jansen (4 - 0)
LP: Wesley Wright (0 - 1) |
3 - 6 loss |
|
Houston Astros
Sunday, May 27, 2012, 3:10 PM CDT Partly cloudy. Winds blowing out to right field at 10-15 m.p.h. Game time temperature around 75. |
||
NL Central Standings
| W | L | PCT | GB | STRK | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cincinnati
|
26 | 20 | .565 | 0 | Won 1 |
|
St. Louis
|
25 | 22 | .531 | 1.5 | Lost 3 |
|
Houston
|
22 | 24 | .478 | 4 | Lost 1 |
|
Pittsburgh
|
22 | 24 | .478 | 4 | Won 2 |
|
Milwaukee
|
19 | 27 | .413 | 7 | Lost 1 |
|
Chicago
|
15 | 31 | .326 | 11 | Lost 11 |
(updated 5.27.2012 at 1:03 AM CDT)
In Association With
Big League Stew - MLB - Yahoo! Sports
- College player makes impossible over the fence catch to save tournament game (Video)
- Security!: Camden Yards guard collides with Royals’ Mike Moustakas
- The Juice: Nelson Cruz matches career high eight RBIs, Pujols stays hot in Seattle
- Benches clear at Fenway as Red Sox-Rays rivalry heats up
- Keeping good company: Albert Pujols becomes fourth-youngest player to hit 450 home runs
