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Astros hoping for top prospect magic again, this time with Alex Bregman
Monday’s Say Hey, Baseball includes the Astros calling up their top prospect, the baseball Hall of Fame induction, and the Cubs making it harder to root for them.
Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images
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The Astros were in first place in the AL West on June 7 of 2015. The next day, top prospect Carlos Correa made his major-league debut. The then-20-year-old Correa, who had been drafted first-overall just three years prior, is essentially the reason Houston managed to make the postseason, as they were basically a .500 team the rest of the way even with him hitting .279/.345/.512 with 22 homers over 99 games. Correa was brought up to strengthen the team, and that’s just what he did. The Astros will try their luck with this approach once again, this time with Alex Bregman.
Bregman, who was drafted second overall just last summer, destroyed Double-A before a brief stop in Triple-A where he kept on hitting for power while avoiding strikeouts. While he was primarily a shortstop in the minors, he recently moved to left so he’d have a home in Houston. He might end up being the same kind of difference maker Correa was, but don’t take that to mean he’s going to be a fantastic hitter out of the gate. It’s just that the Astros find themselves 2.5 back of the Rangers and half a game out of a wild card spot, and upgrading to Bregman might be what tips the scales in their favor for at least one of those postseason opportunities.
With the Rangers clearly looking for rotation upgrades — and with the prospects to acquire them — Bregman might be the Astros’ best chance at keeping pace in the AL West. That’s a lot of pressure on an unproven prospect, but he’s been special to this point, and Correa did just bring the Astros to the postseason after his call-up. It’s no surprise Houston would want to give that plan another go.
- There is a lot to unpack in this story about Ryan Vogelsong’s continued resentment toward Jordan Lyles, who hit him in the eye with a fastball two months ago.
- Ken Griffey Jr. was inducted into baseball’s Hall of Fame on Sunday. Junior was Seattle, saving baseball in that city and raising a generation of fans with his play.
- Griffey, of course, put his hat on backwards during his induction. That wasn’t his only notable wardrobe decision of the afternoon, though.
- MLB players wore custom cleats to honor Griffey on Sunday, too.
- The White Sox suspended Chris Sale five games for cutting up all of the throwback jerseys with a knife before his start. Baseball’s continuing ability to surprise is what makes it great.
- Grant Brisbee’s headline for Monday’s feature: "The unwritten rules of Chris Sale cutting up a throwback jersey because he’s mad at look I don’t even know what’s going on"
- The Cubs are attempting to trade for Aroldis Chapman, maybe because they don’t like having the sympathy of much of the league.
- The Mets are "in the mix" for Brewers’ catcher Jonathan Lucroy — that’s the kind of move that could change the NL playoff picture.
- What happened to Jeff Samardzija?
- Looking for a little more information on just what kind of prospect Alex Bregman is? Christopher Crawford has you covered over at Baseball Prospectus.
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