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Hey guys, it’s Ari Alexander with the Astros in the early part of spring training. The scores may not matter, but this is a good period for early evaluation of the fringe portions of the roster.
DIRDEN BANGING DOWN THE DOOR
Astros minor league outfielder Justin Dirden was once an undrafted free agent in 2020. He’s quickly risen up the system, making it to Triple-A in 2022 and is now tearing the cover off the ball in Spring Training. Dirden is a corner outfielder and is fighting with guys like Jake Meyers to make a spot on the opening day roster. Dirden was one of the best hitters in Double-A in 2022, with a 1.027 OPS, but came back to earth in 32 games in Triple-A. Whatever adjustments he’s made in the offseason have paid off in spring ball.
I do think it’ll be difficult for him to make the opening day roster, but it feels like he’s fought his way to at least being one of the top 3 call-ups on the position player side in 2023.
RONEL BLANCO WILL GET STRETCHED OUT
Astros GM Dana Brown has mentioned a couple times he sees Triple-A closer Ronel Blanco as a starter. KPRC 2 has confirmed with a league source that the Astros will stretch out Blanco and give him a chance to either start games or at least pitch in long relief as opposed to his past role of minor league closer. Blanco throws 4 pitches, but uses a fastball and slider 90% of the time (similar to say Cristian Javier and Bryan Abreu).
Blanco has fairly strong vertical break, and if you look plainly at numbers without a whole lot of context, his pitches profile similarly to Atlanta Braves rising star Spencer Strider, just with a bit less velocity (95 vs. 98) and less spin (62nd percentile vs. 76th percentile), but the higher velocity - the higher spin. If Blanco profiles as “poor man’s Strider,” that would be pretty positive for the Astros. I will say - this may be an insane comparison, but we’re going to roll with it here.
WHAT’S UP WITH YORDAN?
The Astros All-Star hasn’t had an at bat in Spring Training yet. That’s by design as he’s recovering from sore hands, per GM Dana Brown. Brown says Yordan will be ready opening day and should start taking at-bats mid-spring training.
WHAT’S NEXT?
More spring training and 14 Astros playing in the World Baseball Classic!