HOUSTON – Hey guys, it’s Ari Alexander with the Astros. The team got a day off Wednesday before a difficult road trip to Atlanta and Tampa -- two of the hottest teams in baseball. Let’s check in on what’s happening with the team.
THE FIRSTS
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The Astros entered opening day with a bit of a surprising bench, adding Corey Julks and Cesar Salazar to the roster over players like Korey Lee and J.J. Matijevic, who had (albeit limited) major league experience. So far, early in the season, both Julks and Salazar have been able to do their jobs, and provide some big personal moments in the process.
Julks already has two home runs on the season, hitting his first on the road in Pittsburgh, before hitting his first Minute Maid Park homer versus Toronto. Julks is from Friendswood/Clear Brook High School/Houston (He’s triple local!).
Julks is an interesting story for multiple reasons -- he got a lot of hype from the fanbase because he’s local and his numbers looked great at Triple-A Sugar Land (31 home runs in 2022), but the Astros didn’t value him enough to keep him on the 40-man roster, exposing Julks to the Rule 5 draft. No teams chose Julks in that draft, allowing the Astros to keep him -- and keep in mind, as reigning World Series Champs, the Astros probably have more talent and depth than almost any other organization. Then, Julks played well enough in spring training to earn a spot on the team, meaning Houston had to clear a 40-man roster spot. They had to expose Bligh Madris (who they traded for) and Matijevic (who had some MLB experience) to waivers, to put Julks and Salazar on the team. Julks has so far rewarded the Astros with a .277 average and five extra-base hits. Although he hits the ball hard, his lack of walks and high strikeout rate could come into play later. So far, though, it’s nice to celebrate a local kid for playing well at the major league level.
The other first is Cesar Salazar, who got his first and second major league hits as another surprise roster addition. I’ve been a fan of Salazar since he helped lead the 2016 Arizona Wildcats to the College World Series Final. Salazar likely doesn’t profile as a starter at the major league level, but he’s almost a perfect backup catcher. He doesn’t have much power, but has the ability to hit for contact. He plays solid defense, and is just really sound on that end of the ball. I project a long career for him as a backup catcher in the league.
SPEED FILES
As of right now, the fastest player on the team is outfielder Jake Meyers, with a sprint speed number of 29.4 feet/second. Meyers is just ahead of Jeremy Peña, at 29.3. Spring speed is an interesting way to determine who could potentially steal a lot of bases with the new larger bags and disengagement rules. Peña is up there, and has already stolen five bases this season. Peña had 11 in all of 2022. Funny enough, Kyle Tucker, who led the Astros with 25 stolen bases in 2022 (and already has 4 in 2023) only has 26.3 sprint speed, which is in the bottom half of baseball. Tucker’s reaction time on jumps has to be incredible, but unfortunately that’s not being measured yet.
WHAT’S NEXT
The Astros head to Atlanta, where the Braves are tied for the best record in the National League (14-5). Then Houston goes to Tampa to face the Rays, who have the early best record in baseball (16-3). This is the toughest road trip of the season until maybe late June.
