Houston Astros Top Three Shortstop Prospects
By Jimmy Price
Houston Astros Top Three Shortstop Prospects
For years, the Houston Astros shortstop position has been a black hole. Sure there have been some guys who have put up decent seasons pass through, but for the most part, shortstop has been one of the most unstable positions on the Astros roster. Hopefully this will come to an end with the Astros top prospect, “Captain Correa,” being one of the best prospects in baseball. Here are the Astros top three shortstop prospects:
1. Carlos Correa (DOB: 09/22/94)
Captain Correa to save the day! Correa was drafted #1 overall in the 2012 draft. He has been lauded for his elite makeup along with his baseball skills. Standing at 6’4″ and 205 pounds, he still has room to add muscle. Correa started the season in A+ at 19-years-old which put him 3.8 years younger than the average player in the league. All reports I have seen talk about how slick he is at shortstop with the glove, which is really encouraging for his chance to stick at shortstop. Unfortunately this summer, Carlos Correa injured his leg sliding into third base but should be a full go come spring training. Before the injury he was putting up incredible numbers which included 16 2B, 6 HR, 57 RBI in only 62 games. Not only is he the Houston Astros top prospect, he is one of the top prospects in all of baseball.
2014 Stats: .325 BA/.416 OBP/.510 SLG, 50 R, 16 2B, 6 3B, 6 HR, 57 RBI, 20 SB, 36 BB/45 SO, 144 wRC+
2. Nolan Fontana (DOB: 06/06/91)
If you are a person that likes walks, then Fontana is the guy for you. Fontana was drafted in the 2nd round out of Florida in 2012. Fontana was also drafted as an advanced hitter with elite plate discipline. In his junior year at Florida he drew 48 BB against only 27 SO. This season Fontana played both shortstop and second base. His ability to stay at shortstop is unknown right now but I will put him on this list for the time being. So far in his minor league career he has drawn 228 walks against 220 strikeouts in 219 games.
2014 Stats: .262 BA/.418 OBP/.376 SLG, 33 R, 21 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 26 RBI, 5 SB, 61 BB/76 SO, 138 wRC+
3. Kristian Trompiz (DOB: 12/02/95)
Trompiz is a very young and raw shortstop signed out of Venezuela. He began his professional career in 2013 playing in 60 games in the Dominican Summer League. In those games he only hit .202 but did have nice walk to strikeout rate in 25 BB/33 SO. In 2014 he started out the season with the GCL Astros hitting .317 with 8 BB/11 SO. He was then promoted to Greeneville where he hit .245 before garnering another promotion to Tri-City all at the age of 18. For a young player he does a good job of drawing walks while still being able to hit extra base hits. He is still very young but has tons of upside at this point. Trompiz also has the ability to play second base and third base.
2014 Stats: .285 BA/.360 OBP./.400 SLG, 16 2B, 1 HR, 22 RBI, 7 SB, 18 BB/29 SO
On The Radar:
Jiovanni Mier (AAA) – The former first round pick has somewhat struggled during his minor league career but still made it to AAA this season. In 2014 he hit .225 BA/.300 OBP with 16 2B, 4 HR, 35 RBI in 120 games at 23 years old.
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