Astros Call Up Castro, Bourgeois, Johnson
by David Coleman on Jun 20, 2010 5:32 PM CDT
in Houston Astros News
Email
PrintWell, it's about time. The Astros lost a tough extra-inning game against the Rangers when the didn't score after the second inning. After the game, Jason Castro, Chris Johnson and Jason Bourgeois were all called up from Round Rock.
To make room on the roster, Houston designated Cory Sullivan, Casey Daigle and Kevin Cash for assignment. General manager Ed Wade said Quintero's head injury Sunday did not play into Castro's promotion. But, it's a worthy supposition that Castro will be the starter from here on out. I'd like to think Johnson will also take over for Feliz, but am less sure about that.
The Astros also appear to be moving back to a 12-man pitching staff after carrying 13 for a couple weeks. With Brian Moehler lengthening out his starts, there is less immediate pressure on the bullpen. Expect Bourgeois to fill Sullivans role as the first bat off the bench.
Now, the question you are probably asking yourself: will these moves make a difference or is this just moving around deck chairs on the Titanic? My take is that these are significant. Both Castro and Johnson should provide big upgrades offensively at their respective positions. Johnson could even add some power to a pretty light-hitting lineup.
What do you think? Will these moves help the Astros immediately? Will they follow up by placing Wandy on the disabled list? Are there any other moves they can make?
54 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
My thoughts...
Wade might be making a Feliz move in the future…
CJ and Castro should be starting from here on out…
Let’s get Navarro or some others up too!
by EveryHoustonTeamRox! on Jun 20, 2010 5:37 PM CDT reply actions
Kind of a tough way for Q to get the news
but so is the life of people making hundreds or millions to play a game.
I'm not sure that Castro
will represent a big upgrade offensively this season but it’s still exciting to see change and us making clear moves toward the future.
I think it does make a difference in the win-loss column. But does’t improve the standings much.
It does send a pretty blunt message to Feliz. The offense is what is killing us. Your turning the catcher position into a plus OBP position and CJ will provide some serious power in the 2nd half of the line-up. We will now have a 3B who can put the ball in the crawford boxes again.
Like it, for the most part
I like the Jason B, and Chris J. moves alot. I think the Castro move may be a bit rushed. He isn’t exactly killing it in AAA and he may feel pressure to be a “savior”.
But with the way our team is playing, Castro should start a VAST majority of the rest of the season regardless of his offense.
Like most others have mentioned, this is the year to try out some guys who normally wouldn’t get a shot. Let’s try and find a diamond in the rough.
.360 OBP is a plus and 3 HR this month is really good. That is pretty close to killin it for a plus defensive catcher.
He’s batting: .254/.290/.441 in June. Not great for AAA.
Using Posey & Carlos Santana (Other rookie catchers) as comparisons.
Castro: .265/.365/.355
Posey: .349/.442/.552
Santana: .316/.447/.597
Neither of which are anywhere near as good as Castro defensively. Especially santana.
by Subber10 on Jun 20, 2010 8:48 PM CDT via mobile up reply actions
I thought we were excited about the prospect of a young catcher who could hit, not a defense only C. We already have one of those.
He’s not a defense-only catcher. He’s a catcher with plus defense and plus hit tool (including plus patience). He doesn’t have Posey’s or Santana’s power, but unlike those two prospects, there are no questions about whether Castro can remain behind the plate.
Posey and Santana could eventually be first basemen. (Posey is already playing a lot of first base for the Giants). Castro will stick at a premium position. Period.
yes, finally!
let’s see what these young players got! Hopefully they perform okay, and it won’t be hard to top the guys that were sent out!
In Morey We Trust
I don’t know if it will make a big difference, but it’s worth a try. Mills said Castro will get most of the playing time at catcher. I fear that Castro may struggle on offense. Even though he is hitting better now than the beginning of the season, his June OPS is still only .730 (overall OPS .723). That’s not exactly a Posey type hitting performance. I wouldn’t mind seeing Bourgois gets some starts in CF against LHP. Bourn has been struggling very much against lefties this year. Mills indicated that Chris Johnson will get quite a bit of the playing time at 3d base, even though I doubt that means “most” of the playing time. Johnson has improved on a lot of areas in the small sample size at Round Rock this year. We can hope that he will continue to do that at the big league level. I have a feeling he will.
Let's say that Castro starts
70-75% of the remaining 92 games and gets 250+ PA, what would you say would be meeting expectations in terms of AVG/OBP/SLG?
What would be the realistic worst-case and best-case scenarios using the same criteria?
hmmm
worst case is an absolute disaster. he’s probably going to draw a fair amount of walks no matter what, but he could hit below .200 with no power at all possibly. i doubt it happens, but it wouldn’t blow my mind or anything. best case, he hits .300, gets on base around .380, and hits 8 or 9 HR in 250 plate appearances. It would take quite a bit of luck, but again, it wouldn’t blow my mind. My expectation is that he’ll bat around .270, with a. 340 obp, and hit maybe 5 HR.
by auclairkeithbc on Jun 20, 2010 6:04 PM CDT up reply actions
my expectation
.295 Avg with 9 HR, and 37 RBI…
by EveryHoustonTeamRox! on Jun 20, 2010 6:09 PM CDT up reply actions
Jason Castro’s MLE—major league equivalent—(based on his season so far in RR) is .214, .293, .279, .572. That’s clearly not very good, and I’m sure most fans would consider it a disappointment. But it’s not out of the question. I would think that “worst case” is putting up J.R. Towles type numbers. My guess is something on the order of .250, .310, .340, .650.
Exactly what I'm getting at..
I would consdider something in the mid .600s in terms of OPS to be meeting or even exceeding expectations given his numbers and that he’s only in his second full season as a pro. Didn’t he drop like 20 lbs by the end of last season? I assume that happens a lot though, particularly with taller, lankier catchers.
Q has a .650 OPS and Cash has a .640 OPS but I’d argue that both are probably slightly or even significantly overachieving given their track records.
The point is that I’m not sure that I would expect Castro to provide any significant offensive upgrade, forget a big upgrade, given what Q and Cash have done and what the numbers say Castro is likely to do. If he does, great… I just wouldn’t expect it this season.
Anything over 700 OPS is a pleasant surprise. Anything below 600 OPS is a disappointment. My guess is he’ll end up in the 600s ( .240/.300/.320/.620).
by Snake Diggity on Jun 20, 2010 11:08 PM CDT up reply actions
HALLELUJAH!
At least they have finally done something. Just something. The clubhouse must be a pretty dismal place. It might be livened up by three keen fresh-faced kids. Something has to give, as we’re making the mascot-sacking, contract extending Pirates look half-decent.
-2.2 WAR for Feliz. Get the guy the hell off our ballclub.
You wonder whether Q will need to go on the DL, or he’ll be fine after his incident today.
Perhaps Norris might take Wandy’s slot in the rotation for a week? He could really do with skipping a start?
q
must not be going on DL bcz they just let cash go…so if q was hurt, they just woulda DL’d q and called up castro
by EveryHoustonTeamRox! on Jun 20, 2010 6:15 PM CDT up reply actions
I’m sure the clubhouse will be even more dismal now that Jenny Finch is gone.
by Timothy De Block on Jun 20, 2010 8:14 PM CDT up reply actions
Chris Johnson’s MLE based on his Round Rock offense this season: .272, .297, .442, .739.
Not bad (certainly better than Feliz), but not earth shattering.
Wade made a special point to say that CJ and Castro shouldn’t be viewed as “saviors.” I think that has been the Astros’ concern about promoting Castro this season—they are concerned that fans might put pressure on them to be the big difference makers on the season.
MLE...
blah. It is more about accomplishments than actual projection.
by auclairkeithbc on Jun 20, 2010 6:20 PM CDT up reply actions
can it be assumed
that the whole Super 2 issue is out of the picture now?
by EveryHoustonTeamRox! on Jun 20, 2010 6:18 PM CDT reply actions
2 interesting things we get to see on Tuesday
Will Castro catch Oswalt or will Mills have him catch someone else on his debut
Will Castro make his big league debut against Lincecum
by EveryHoustonTeamRox! on Jun 20, 2010 6:49 PM CDT reply actions
Great series
Good luck and see you in Arlington. I hope by brining up all the young guys yall will get back on track.
"The 2010 Rangers...winning despite Ron Washington"
In the interest of quicker games Ron should just tell the ump he's pulling the Feliz card and the ump should rule the inning over.--Sherman McCoy on Sept. 4, 2009
In his defense, you are a retarded cuntbag by LiamP on Mar 4, 2010
One thing not yet explored
Does this have a ripple effect on the rest of the organization? Will somebody (or multiple somebodies) get called up from AA to AAA?
My hope is that they move Clemens and Shuck up to fill the holes on the roster left by Bourgeois and Johnson, and send J.D. Martinez up to Corpus Christi.
i would love to seee all that happen
maybe somehow lyles can sneak up there too!
just a thought, its possible they can;t be sent up bcz they are in the AA All Star Game…not sure if that’s true, but it wouldn’t surprise me
by EveryHoustonTeamRox! on Jun 20, 2010 8:54 PM CDT up reply actions
nevermind, I should check stuff out like that before commenting. He was the one called up. I guess its because he won’t develop anymore and the other ones in CC can. I’m thinking now one of the guys in Lancaster who aren’t prospects (Cruz, Barnes, Parejo) could be called up to CC leaving a starting position for JD or Goebbert in Lancaster.
i wouldn't call it rebuilding
until either lee berkman or oswalt are traded…otherwise its just roster moves to try and help the team…who knows, maybe starting tuesday they go on a 10 game win streak, and mclane and wade are convinced we are a contender and they so NO trade to Berkman or Oswalt…
by EveryHoustonTeamRox! on Jun 20, 2010 9:06 PM CDT up reply actions
OMG OMG
YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! YESS YES YES YES YES!
Now theres a reason to watch the stros this season guys!!!
Buying my tickets to the World Series
Nah. But seriously, it’s good to see some youth on the roster. Castro can get his feet wet in a non-competitive situation for a half-season, Bourgeois, can… uh… be the 4th outfielder (Wade got me on that one), and Johnson can finally take over at 3B. I kinda feel bad for Feliz, but he only makes sense for teams like the Phillies and Red Sox.
When in doubt, play the Astros.
As for the Bourgeois call-up, the idea is that his Round Rock production of .345/.405/.477 translates to better bench production than Cory Sullivan’s .190/.261/.238 line.
I don’t have a whole lot of confidence that Johnson is going to be able to handle 3B any better than, say, Geoff Blum. The last time CJ saw major league pitching , he struck out a lot. A lot. Over a third of the time. When he went down to AAA this year, though, he did manage to lower his K rate from the 22-23% he had in earlier years with Round Rock all the way down to 14%. Hopefully this is an indication that something about his approach has changed in a way that will benefit him at the major league level.
Bourgeois
He gives you a bit of speed as well, 18 steals in 24 starts. Always nice to have some speed available off the bench.
im so excited to go to tuesdays game...
get to see a lineup of
Bourn
Kepp
Berk
Lee
Pence
CJ (Or Castro)
Castro (Or CJ)
Manzella
Oswalt…
this lineup v.s Lince…should be a good day at the ballpark
by EveryHoustonTeamRox! on Jun 20, 2010 10:01 PM CDT reply actions
Holy crap
I might actually have a reason to watch a game. Then the NBA draft on Thursday… this week is going to end up being pretty busy sports wise in Houston.
by goingforthecorner on Jun 20, 2010 10:03 PM CDT reply actions
so cook goes to RR and homers tonight
well he is 28 now going on 29…he was once a good prospect…his first year in 05 he hit 24 HR and 65 RBI
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?pos=&sid=t102&t=p_pbp&pid=449803
by EveryHoustonTeamRox! on Jun 20, 2010 10:19 PM CDT reply actions
lyles tonight
7 IP 4 Hits 1 ER 8 K…
pretty good
by EveryHoustonTeamRox! on Jun 20, 2010 10:26 PM CDT reply actions
Something new are there going to be more
Well I am really happy to see that Jason Castro & Chris Johnson is coming up. So what does this all mean the Astros are going to do some more changes How about Roy Oswalt & Lance Berkman are they gone as well. I couldn’t Sunday’s game the Astros had the lead & couldn’t hold them. And on top of that Lance Berkman struck out in the bottom of tenth inning. I read that they Astros might be getting Justin Smoak from the Rangers. SO is Roy Oswalt & Lance Berkman going to the Rangers for one guy. I would take Neftail Felix along with Justin Smoak. Now if the Astros trade Pedro Felix who to the Phillies or released him. The Astros really need help somewhere I don’t think it is the Manager or coaches I think Brad Mills is the man for the job, or do u think Phil Garner could do better. I don’t think so If I was Wade I would keep Mills & find better players that want to win ball games & Mills is the man nobody else is.
help?
not sure if these moves will help but i think pitching is more of a concern then hitting is
Not so much.
They’re both problem areas, but while the Astros are just a little below average in pitching, they’re by far the worst team in the majors offensively.
These moves will likely improve the team. Maybe not by a whole lot, but they should indeed help; not that it matters much, since the Astros won’t contend this season.
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recent FanPosts
TCB Tweets!
Current Series
3 game series vs Rockies @ Minute Maid Park
|
Colorado Rockies
Friday, Apr 6, 2012, 6:05 PM CDT |
||
| Sat 04/07 | 6:05 PM CDT | |
| Sun 04/08 | 1:05 PM CDT | |
NL Central Standings
| W | L | PCT | GB | STRK | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chicago
|
0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | Lost 0 |
|
Cincinnati
|
0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | Lost 0 |
|
Houston
|
0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | Lost 0 |
|
Milwaukee
|
0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | Lost 0 |
|
Pittsburgh
|
0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | Lost 0 |
|
St. Louis
|
0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | Lost 0 |
(updated 2.15.2012 at 6:05 PM CST)
Certain photos copyright © 2012 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
