Spring training 2014: Astros weekly stock report

Let's keep this simple. Five players rising and falling this week. Who's been making the most of spring training and who's falling off the 25-man roster radar.

1) Lucas Harrell, rising? - What to do with Lucas Harrell? Superficially, the run prevention side has been good. In nine innings, Harrell has only allowed six hits and three runs. And yet, Harrell has also walked five batters in that stretch while striking out just three. We're going to talk more about spring stats later today, but the big takeaway shouldn't be how successful a guy's been, it's whether they fixed the problems from last year. So far, we haven't seen that from Harrell, despite the praise from Porter after Monday's game. It seems like Harrell is rounding back into 2012 form, but don't hold your breath.

2) George Springer, flat - Should we be concerned that The Great Outfield Hope has 350 percent more strikeouts than hits this spring? Or that he has infinity more strikeouts than extra-base hits? Nope. Again, we'll get into this more in the afternoon, but worrying about Springer this early is premature. He's still getting on base a a .333 clip, even with the lack of contact. I'll go out on a limb and say he won't be struggling this badly in two weeks. Either he turns it around before the or gets sent to minor league camp and won't have a chance to struggle.

3) Carlos Corporan, rising - This is less about his performance and more about the vote of confidence the team gave him by sending Max Stassi to minor league camp. By doing that, Houston sends a message that Corporan won't be suddenly traded this spring, cut or otherwise forced off the roster. While Houston obviously likes Stassi's future potential, they don't have a replaceable part in Corporan. Instead, they have a guy who's very good at pitch framing, has proven he can be productive in limited playing time and who has a rapport with the pitching staff.

4) Anthony Bass, sneaky rising - Who leads the Astros in strikeouts this spring? I'm sure you can guess it's Bass, with six in four innings. The former Padres reliever has a high ERA, but has been missing bats and not walking anyone. That's a nice combination and may mean he's closer to locking up a spot in this bullpen. Bass gives Houston plenty of diversity in the bullpen, being able to pitch as a long-man and possibly pick up a start or two if someone gets scratched.

5) Gregorio Petit, falling - Houston has a trio of no-bat, good-glove backup infielders in the mix for this roster. When you're the worst-hitting of the three, things are not looking up for you. That's where Petit finds himself right now, though it's still early in camp. I'd guess he, Marwin Gonzalez and Cesar Izuris will be in it until the end of the spring before a roster decision is made on them. So, Petit does still have time to make up for lagging behind. However, he's going to have to hit a little bit if he wants to beat those two out.