Majority of draftees from first 10 rounds inked
OAKLAND, Calif. — Seth Beer wasn’t alone.
Five other Astros selections from the first 10 rounds of the MLB draft signed with the club Wednesday, the same day it inked and introduced Beer, the No. 28 overall pick.
Third-round shortstop Jeremy Pena and 10th-round outfielder Chandler Taylor joined two righthanded pitchers — fifth-round pick Cody Deason and eighth-round pick Austin Hansen — in Wednesday’s bunch of signings.
Deason’s Arizona batterymate, seventh-round catcher Cesar Salazar, also signed.
Deason will report to the Astros’ Gulf Coast League affiliate in West Palm Beach, Fla., to work with coaches — common for college pitchers who undertook a large workload during their seasons — while the other four signees will all report to the short season TriCity ValleyCats.
As a freshman, Deason pitched out of the bullpen during Arizona’s College World Series run in Omaha. He ascended to the club’s Friday night starter this season, pitching to a 2.87 ERA in 91 innings. Opponents hit .216 against him.
Deason has a curveball and four-seam fastball Astros assistant general manager Mike Elias called “legitimate major league weapons.” He’s working on a changeup, too. If it continues to develop, Elias said “we’ll have a very attractive starting pitcher prospect on our hands in short order.”
For all three years, Deason threw to Salazar, a bilingual catcher with whom he built a quick bond. It’s Salazar’s most defining quality, his college coach said, along with a refined offensive approach. Salazar hit .339 as a junior at Arizona.
“His receiving skills are the best I’ve ever seen in terms of creating strikes for pitchers,” Arizona coach Jay Johnson said. “His catch-and-throw releases are way above average. But the difference maker is the rapport he builds with the pitching staff.”
Like Deason, Hansen spent most of his college career in the bullpen. Hansen made 61 appearances in three seasons at Oklahoma, striking out 105 hitters in 98 innings. He had eight saves this season and lowered his walk numbers significantly — issuing just 15 free passes in 372⁄3 innings to pair with 51 strikeouts.
“We really admired the way that he has been the linchpin for that Oklahoma bullpen,” Elias said. “Any time they need outs, that’s the guy they go to. He’s got very solid weapons. The performance is there; the track record is there.”
The son of former major leaguer Geronimo Pena, Jeremy Pena started every game in his three-year career at the University of Maine, turning into “the best defensive shortstop in the draft” who made strides with his bat. Pena had 19 extra-base hits and an .865 OPS as a junior.
“(Pena) ended up going to Maine as sort of a glove-first shortstop with a projection bat,” Elias said last week. “He’s really put together the strength that scouts wanted to see coming out of high school. And in our eyes, the best defensive shortstop in this draft. And the fact that he hit over .300 for his career showed some power. It showed some big improvements this year, and (we) had to take him in the third round.”
It was at a pre-draft workout in Atlanta that Taylor — a lefthanded-hitting outfielder with a strong arm and decent speed — impressed Elias and a bevy of Astros scouts. In three seasons at Alabama, Taylor hit 38 home runs.
At that workout, Taylor showed a strong throwing arm from all three outfield positions, though Elias acknowledged he’s likely more comfortable at both corner spots. Taylor also played first base with the Crimson Tide.
The club also signed 12thround University of Tampa righty Mark Moclair, 22ndround Maryland outfielder Marty Costes, 22nd-round San Diego State shortstop David Hensley, 27th-round Western Oklahoma State College catcher Juan Paulino, and 30th-round Azusa Pacific University righthander Layne Henderson. It may not be the end either. “I think we’ll have a busy week or so,” Elias said Wednesday. “I’ve still got some work to do getting deals made, but we have several players who are in the process right now of flying to a place getting their physicals. I think we’ll have more signings to announce before this week wraps up.” Seven Hooks among league All-Stars
Seven members of the Astros’ Class AA Corpus Christi Hooks will participate in the Texas League All-Star Game on June 26, it was announced Wednesday afternoon.
First baseman Taylor Jones, third baseman Randy Cesar and outfielder Myles Straw will start the game. Outfielder Josh Rojas and pitchers Cionel Perez, Corbin Martin and Ryan Hartman were also selected by Texas League front offices, field staffs and beat reporters.
The No. 85 prospect in baseball according to Baseball America, Martin makes the team after just more than a month in Class AA.
Promoted on May 1, the former Texas A&M standout has a 2.97 ERA in his first 331⁄3 innings with the Hooks. Since yielding six earned runs in a third of an inning during his AA debut, Martin has permitted just five in his next 33.
Entering play Wednesday night, Cesar was riding a Hooks-record 34-game hitting streak. Straw leads all of the minor leagues with 35 stolen bases in 41 attempts.