Oops! All Astros: José Guedez & Yamal Encarnacion

Yup, this is still happening. Right on through the World Series and up until just before Spring Training.

We’re reviewing every player to appear in Houston’s system in 2022.

José Guedez

José Guedez is a six-foot, 169 lb. right-handed relief pitcher from Valencia, VZ. Born on September 27, 2001, he signed with the Astros through free agency on April 22, 2022. He was assigned to the DSL Astros Orange squad on July 1.

On July 12, Guedez earned his first professional win in a 3-0 victory against the DSL Royals Glass, striking out a pair over 2 ¹⁄₃ scoreless innings. On July 26, in a 9-4 loss to the DSL Yankees (lol), he whiffed five over three hitless frames.

Guedez only appeared with the team five times through the season, and put up very respectful numbers over a small sample size. He was 1-0 with a 0.66 ERA, a 1.098 WHIP, 20 K’s in 13 ²⁄₃ innings, and a .170/.291/.234 slash line. He's a lock to play next year either at the FCL rookie level or with the Low-A Fayetteville Woodpeckers.

Yamal Encarnacion

Yanal Encarnacion is a five-foot-six, 135 lb. infielder from Santo Domingo, DR. Born on June 18, 2004, he signed his first professional deal with Houston on January 15, 2021.

Encarnacion played his first season with the rookie level DSL Astros, appearing in a team-leading 56 contests. He slashed .250/.352/.349 with 17 RBI, stealing 12 bases in 16 attempts.

The Astros gave Encarnacion a lateral promotion to the stateside rookie level in the FCL to begin 2022 with the Astros Blue squad. After starting the season going 1-for-27 through his first seven games, he picked it up a bit with seven hits over his next four games. On June 20, he registered his first three-hit game in a 9-2 win against the FCL Cardinals.

Over the course of the season, Encarnacion led the Blue squad in most offensive categories, slashing .273/.363/.352 in 52 games, with 13 RBI and 52 total bases. He put up 13 multiple hit games, including three three-hit affairs.

Defensively, Encarnacion was a jack of all trades. He played 130 innings at shortstop (63 chances, .921 fielding percentage), 91 innings at second base (40, .925), 85 ¹⁄₃ innings in left field (10, .900), 40 ¹⁄₃ innings at third base (eight chances, no errors), 26 innings in center field (seven chances, no errors), and seven innings in right field (two errorless chances).

Encarnacion is progressing nicely, and should begin the 2023 campaign with the Low-A Fayetteville Woodpeckers.