WILL THESE 5 ARRIVE IN ’20?
3 pitchers, 2 position players could make debuts if roster expands
Major league debuts are highlights of any baseball season.
Giddy prospects arrive at clubhouses otherwise consumed by the routine of what is normally a six-month endurance test.
Their energy invigorates most everyone, turning a common regular-season game during the dog days into something more. Teammates toss out baseballs from first big league hits or strikeouts and initiate newly minted major leaguers in closed-door postgame celebrations.
For an established, contending team like the Astros, big league debuts are more difficult to predict or envision. Some prospects perform so well that they force the organization’s hand — Yordan Alvarez, anyone? — but others arrive out of necessity, if only for a day or two.
Eight Astros made their major league debuts in 2019. Some were totally unforeseen before the season.
Undrafted infielder Jack Mayfield and unheralded righthander Cy Sneed completed circuitous journeys to the major leagues and now are on Houston’s 40man roster. Pitcher Corbin Martin came up on Mother’s Day, and catcher Garrett Stubbs got the call on his birthday. Their families watched from the stands in awe.
If there is a 2020 season, the coronavirus pandemic might keep fans away, separating families as dreams come true. Nonetheless, a crop of Astros prospects on the edge of major league readiness could find themselves part of a proposed 82-game campaign.
Though there’s uncertainty on a spe
cific number or configuration, rosters will expand for at least the beginning of any 2020 season. One scenario reported by USA Today described a 30-man active roster and 20-man “taxi squad” of minor league players available for promotion at any time.
Many more pressing hurdles remain before baseball can begin again. Assurance of player safety and a battle over player salaries loom in negotiations between MLB and its players association. If all is resolved and baseball returns, the Astros must decide how to expand their roster and cover all contingencies.
Common sense seems to suggest stocking up on pitchers, especially if starters are not completely ready to begin the season. And it matters little that the team has such an established core of position players. Last year, midseason injuries to Carlos Correa, George Springer and Jose Altuve led to a call for reinforcements.
In all, the Astros used 45 players — 21 position players and 24 pitchers — to finish a 162-game slate in 2019. Now, with the prospect of a schedule half that long, who might inch his way onto the taxi squad and toward a big league introduction?
Prospects with major league experience — such as Stubbs, Sneed, Bryan Abreu or Abraham Toro — likely will receive most of the work. But with the minor league season in peril, it stands to reason that Houston also could rely on other prospects who’ve impressed in spring training or posted impressive numbers in the upper minor leagues the past few years.
Top prospect Forrest Whitley has done neither, perhaps leaving him on the outside looking in. But here are five prospects who could make their major league debut on an expanded roster in a shortened season.
Cristian Javier
Even before the pandemic, Javier seemed on a trajectory to start a major league game in 2020. The reigning Astros Minor League Pitcher
of the Year posted a 1.74 ERA in 1132⁄3 minor league innings last season, mostly with Class AA Corpus Christi.
Opponents hit only .130 against Javier last season, the lowest opposing batting average among minor league pitchers who threw at least 100 innings. His WHIP was a minuscule 0.968. Before spring training shut down, manager Dusty Baker said Javier was “in the mix for things” at the major league level.
Pitching coach Brent Strom estimates his group needs a minimum of three weeks to build up for a shortened season. Even if they get it, starters probably won’t be ready to go deep into a game for the first few weeks. Pitchers who can cover multiple innings are necessary.
Blake Taylor
During spring training, Baker reiterated his desire to carry a lefthanded reliever in his opening day bullpen. The Astros offered him few options.
Their dearth of lefthanded pitching at all levels is startling. Last year, Houston was the first World Series team since 1903 to carry an all-righthanded bullpen.
Acquiring Taylor from the New York Mets this past winter gave Houston another option at the upper minor leagues. The 24-year-old former starting pitcher impressed in a few Grapefruit League outings with the Astros and caught Baker’s eye just before the sport shut down. He’s on the 40-man roster, too, after coming over in the Jake Marisnick deal.
Taylor made only one appearance above Class AA but did strike out 11 in nine innings of two-run ball in the Arizona Fall League. He throws a four-seam fastball with some backspin, a changeup and a slider.
Taylor Jones
Perhaps more than any other position player prospect, Jones opened eyes in his three-week stay in major league spring training. A former 19th-round pick from Gonzaga, Jones was once a college pitcher and now projects as Houston’s first baseman of the future.
Both at Class AAA Round Rock and in Grapefruit League games, Jones got exposure to third base and left field, strengthening his résumé for a role on any expanded roster. The 6-foot-7 former basketball player slugged .501 and had 50 extra-base hits for Round Rock last year.
Toro and utility man Aledmys Diaz stand in Jones’ way for major league time, but neither is as adept defensively at first base.
Brandon Bielak
Much like Javier, Bielak appeared on track to make his big league debut in 2020 — especially given the uncertainty at the back of Houston’s rotation.
Though his arsenal is not as heralded as those of the organization’s top pitching prospects, Bielak’s consistency and strike-throwing has thrust him to the top of the list in terms of major league readiness. He’s a quick learner and quite coachable, too, impressing Strom.
Whether Bielak or Javier makes his major league debut largely depends on the health of the Astros’ rotation.
Justin Verlander seems to be progressing well from March groin surgery. Any innings limits for Lance McCullers Jr. ostensibly would be thrown out in a shortened season. Ineffectiveness from Jose Urquidy or the fifth starter — be it Austin Pruitt, Josh James or Framber Valdez — could crack the door for a debut.
Chas McCormick
Without any calamities, the 2020 Astros have an outfield surplus.
Carrying more than their six outfielders on the active roster doesn’t seem necessary. George Springer, Michael Brantley, Josh Reddick, Myles Straw, Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez comprise a more than capable group to get through 80 games.
But given his constant knee pain and value to the lineup as a designated hitter, Alvarez figures to see sparse, if any, time in the outfield. And neither Straw nor Tucker has demonstrated sustained major league offensive success. An injury or two to a starter could leave the position vulnerable.
Planning for all these contingencies is prudent, especially with the urgency and stakes surrounding each game in a shortened season. Players might not be allowed to work themselves through a slump. Time may be too valuable.
McCormick represents the best of Houston’s slim outfield depth in the upper minor leagues. A former 21st-round pick from littleknown Millersville University, McCormick had a breakout 2019 season between Class AA Corpus Christi and Class AAA Round Rock.
McCormick’s strike zone discipline is advanced — 67 walks compared with 62 strikeouts in 448 minor league plate appearances last season — and he stole 16 bases in 20 attempts.