Oops! All Astros: Jayson Schroeder & Jose Fleury

Today’s chapter of the player-by-player season review is the 40th of the series.

Jayson Schroeder

Jayson Schroeder is a six-foot-two, 196 lb. right-handed reliever from Kirkland, WA. Born on November 14, 1999, he was Houston’s second round pick in 2018 out of high school with the 66th overall pick. That spot in the draft has produced 23 major league players, led by Chase Headley (25.9 WAR). Schroeder signed for a $1.2 million bonus.

Schroeder ranked number 19 on the MLB Pipeline Houston prospect list in 2019:

Schroeder’s fastball and curveball both have the potential to become plus pitches. He works at 91-95 mph and reaches 97 mph with heavy sink on his heater, and he shows advanced feel for spinning his mid-70s curve. He also flashes a sharp low-80s slider on occasion and has begun refining a changeup he rarely used as an amateur.

Schroeder struggled after his time with the rookie outfit in 2018. In his three seasons since then, he has walked over a batter per inning at every level he’s played at. He was assigned to the Low-A Fayetteville Woodpeckers for the 2022 season.

In 29 games for the Peckers, covering 27 ¹⁄₃ innings, Schroeder had an opposing slash line of .267/.549/.406. You read that middle figure right. He walked 61 for a BB/9 of over 20, while striking out 23. He pitched to an 8.23 ERA with a 3.220 WHIP.

Through four seasons of play, Schroeder has yet to reign in his command even slightly, in fact losing his already shaky grasp of it. I’d be surprised if the Astros continue to keep him in the system for much longer.

Jose Fleury

Jose Fleury is a six-foot, 185 lb. right-handed pitcher from La Vega, DR. Born on March 8, 2002, Fleury was signed by the Astros through free agency on December 6, 2021. Houston assigned him to the DSL Astros Orange squad of the 2022 season.

Fleury pitched in 10 games for the Orange, starting four times and coming out of the pen six ties. On June 24, he struck out 10 batters over five perfect innings of relief in an eventual 8-4 win over the Astros Blue squad. In his final appearance of the season, on August 12, he whiffed 10 in just four shutout innings, allowing two hits and no walks in a 3-0 win against the Blue once again.

Fleury has impeccable control, and boasts an incredible 15.0 K/BB ratio. He whiffed 60 and walked four in 38 innings in total, giving up eight runs (six earned) on 27 hits. He finished with a 0.816 WHIP and an opposing slash line of .193/.219/.279 over 146 plate appearances.

I haven’t heard a whisper about Fleury until researching for this series, and now I’m stoked to see what he can do. He’ll be 21-years-old at the start of the 2023 season, and is ready for the Low-A level with the Fayetteville Woodpeckers.