By The Athletic MLB Staff
May 23, 2024
The Houston Astros finished 7-3 across a critical 10-game homestand and are now poised to welcome back a few familiar faces during a seven-game, West Coast road trip. Let’s explore it all in this week’s Covering the Bases.
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Power rankings: Houston Astros are No. 14
In this week’s power rankings, we picked each team’s most impactful prospect who could debut this season. While we generally avoided prospects who’ve already reached the majors, a few standouts were included. (Record as of Tuesday)
Record: 21-27
Last Power Ranking: 19
Prospect to watch: OF Pedro León
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Joey Loperfido had to go and get himself promoted before we came up with the idea for this exercise, and José Abreu is just beyond a reasonable definition of “prospect.” So that leaves us with our cautious optimism for what León has done in his third go-round in Triple A. A huge international signing back in 2021, León stagnated in Sugar Land the past two seasons with an OPS below .800 and a strikeout rate approaching 30 percent. So far this season, though, he’s cut five percentage points off his strikeout rate, is chasing less, and is capitalizing on more advantage counts for extra bases. While Houston has found its stride over the past two weeks, its offense has remained inconsistent. In an ideal world, of course, León isn’t required to spark the lineup. Little has gone ideally for the Astros yet this season. — Tim Britton
The latest hits
ICYMI, our national writers weighed in with what they are hearing and seeing
1. Jim Bowden answers deadline questions
Our resident ex-GM fielded a query about the Astros.
All the talk for the Astros is centered around selling, but what would buying look like for them? I think owner Jim Crane is more likely to double down than fold. — Donald C.
I think the Astros will make the playoffs as a division winner or wild-card club and never doubted them despite their poor start to the season. Adding bullpen depth should be the top priority as well as starting pitching depth, due to the down year from Hunter Brown and the ineffectiveness of Spencer Arrighetti and J.P. France, which played a big role in their slow start. In particular, they could use another left-handed reliever for the fifth, sixth or seventh innings.
How will Astros owner Jim Crane approach the trade deadline? (Elsa / Getty Images)
2. Where Malcolm Moore ranks in Keith Law’s Top 100
The first edition of Keith Law’s MLB Mock Draft 2024 published recently. In it, he projected that the Astros would select Malcom Moore with the 14th overall pick. This week, Law released his Top 100 draft prospects and ranked Moore No. 26. Here’s his latest scouting report on the Stanford catcher.
Moore is going to end up with a team that values batted-ball data over performance — he’s had terrible luck at the plate this spring but he’s not punching out and his contact quality points to a higher average than he’s had on balls in play. He’s a below-average defender right now and scouts are mixed on whether he can stay at catcher; the arm is the worst tool here and his other deficiencies could improve with different coaching.
Viral moment of the week
KYLE TUCKER SWITCHES TO ORANGE CLEATS AND HITS A HR ⚾️🧡@astros I #Relentless pic.twitter.com/QlOXNo57Sn
— Space City Home Network (@SpaceCityHN) May 19, 2024
Baseball beat
Our beat writer Chandler Rome picked out what you need to know
A return engagement
José Abreu’s return is imminent, perhaps as early as this weekend in Oakland.
A consequence of that return
Abreu’s return could take playing time away from feel-good story Jon Singleton, who boasts “the best pimp job in the league.”
Jon Singleton homers earlier this month. (Troy Taormina / USA Today)
A delicate balance
Yainer Diaz navigated his first dilemma as an everyday catcher when Framber Valdez abandoned the battery’s game plan during Monday’s loss.
Decisions, decisions
Chas McCormick’s activation on Tuesday, coupled with Abreu’s impending return, will create a roster crunch.
Did you catch this?
Jon Singleton doesn’t intend to show anyone up with his bat flips, which began in high school and have garnered a cult following during his career renaissance.
“I’m calling it a dismount,” hitting coach Troy Snitker said. “He doesn’t try to do it. It’s just a reaction to him flushing a ball — reaction to an A-swing that caught the right spot, all barrel.”
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Showing pitchers up is never the purpose. Singleton is the farthest thing from a showboat — a soft-spoken slugger who sports a wide smile. He first noticed in high school that his follow-through lent itself to a natural bat flip. Singleton hasn’t stopped since.
“If you can, pimp the finish,” Singleton said. “Like a pitcher, if you throw a ball there’s a finish. It’s kind of the same thing if you can get to a certain point, you can do it after a really good swing.”
Field notes
And now a quick word from the comment section.
Jon Singleton stands to lose playing time when he doesn’t deserve it. Abreu’s dignity during a difficult situation make it mandatory for the Astros to give him another chance at the major-league level, but it shouldn’t diminish the journey Singleton has traveled from top prospect, to out of baseball and now in the middle of a contending lineup.
(Top photo of Jon Singleton: Sarah Stier / Getty Images)
