Futures Game
Prospect among trio of Astros arms failing to live up to the hype
Astros prospect J.B. Bukauskas admits he’s not ready for majors.
CLEVELAND — Minor leaguers strive for selection to the annual Futures Game, a pre-All Star Game gathering of baseball’s top prospects. Some call it a lifetime achievement.
Upon receipt of his invitation a few weeks ago, J.B. Bukauskas wondered why he was even considered.
The righthander’s numbers are not good and, by his own frank admission, unacceptable for the standards of this showcase. Still, the Astros’ 2017 first-round pick said accepting the offer was both humbling and an honor.
It did little to mitigate the feeling of his miserable first half, one that has frustrated Bukauskas more than anything else he’s encountered in his career.
“It’s never been anywhere close to this,” Bukauskas said. “But it’s just part of it. You have to deal with it, and it’s not always going to be easy.”
Bukauskas, who did not pitch in the Futures Game, has a 6.33 ERA across 64 innings with Class AA Corpus Christi. Opponents are hitting .274 against him, although they often need not swing to reach. Bukauskas is walking 5.9 hitters per nine innings. Fortytwo free passes have inflated his WHIP to 1.71.
His hardships are the latest experienced by the Astros’ trio of talented pitching prospects. Success from Bukauskas, Forrest Whitley or Corbin Martin could have been an immediate answer or counter to the Astros’ staggering loss of starting pitching depth.
Instead, Whitley remains in West Palm Beach, Fla., on a season reset with a 12.21 Class AAA ERA. Martin will not pitch until 2021 after undergoing Tommy John surgery this past week.
“I think we all had a little bit too high a standard for ourselves coming out (of spring training), if that makes sense,” Bukauskas said.
“Because then, as soon as there’s any sort of failure, it’s like, ‘Oh, my gosh. What’s going on?’ Definitely set some expectations really high, and it made it really hard for us to maintain. As much as we’d like to get back there, I think we need to take it all as a learning process and learn to adjust and develop and keep getting better.”
Even before his recent struggles, Bukauskas’ journey was winding. A car accident before last season sidelined him for two months. He threw just 59 innings. The 64 innings he’s worked this season are his most since his final collegiate season at North Carolina. Physically, Bukauskas said, he feels fine.
“My stuff has never been better than it is right now. That’s what frustrates me,” Bukauskas said. “I have to command it a little better. The (velocity), the pitch shapes, all that stuff has been good. I just have to command it a little bit better.” After walking 12 in his first three Corpus Christi outings, Bukauskas’ ERA neared 20. Trimming that to something respectable is a time-consuming exercise, but by June 18, Bukauskas had pared it to 5.30. Three starts since inflated it back to 6.33. Bukauskas did not make it out of the second inning in two of those three.
Problems are plentiful. The timing in his delivery was askew during his first three or four outings.
His fastball command is imprecise, and because of it, Bukauskas cannot utilize his changeup or signature slider in advantage counts.
The righthander worked diligently during spring training to elevate his four-seam fastball. Now, he notices the problem of mislocating those.
“If I elevate and I don’t elevate, it’s just kind of in the middle of the zone,” Bukauskas said. “There’s part of the problem, too. It’s all understandable. I’m learning how to do different things. You could be learning how to do them at the big league level and get hit really hard.”
Playing the same Texas League teams constantly gives opposing lineups tons of looks. Of Bukauskas’ 16 outings this season, 10 have been against either Amarillo or Frisco. Such familiarity requires some variance. Bukauskas’ command issues leave him shorthanded, since so many opposing lineups are aware the slider is his go-to breaking pitch.
In the wake of Martin’s surgery, Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow mentioned Bukauskas among the men he hoped could rise to the occasion and lend sorely needed starting depth. In an ideal world, if Bukauskas’ earlyseason struggles were not so severe, perhaps he’d already be in Class AAA and showing signs of big league readiness.
“With all the moves that we’ve been making up and down the organization, (there is) an opportunity. But obviously, you’re not going to move if you don’t deserve to move,” Bukauskas said.
“I’m keeping that in the back of my mind, too. Not to put too much pressure on myself (to say), ‘OK, hurry up. I have to do better.’ There is an opportunity, but I need to focus on what I need to focus on first. And that’s executing pitches and letting the rest kind of take care of itself.”