Houston Astros: Star pitching prospect to start Spring Training opener

Baseball is officially back on for the Houston Astros, who look to defend their 2017 World Series title.  A top prospect of the team will get the nod to take their place on the bump tomorrow, who will be it be?  Take a look.

Houston Astros fans — games officially start tomorrow with a match up against the team that shares the same facility with them in the Washington Nationals. Below is the television schedule provided by AT&T SportsNet Southwest:

Spring Training is the perfect opportunity for prospects to show their stuff without the added pressure of a game situation that could decide a win or a loss.  Astros beat writer Brian McTaggart is reporting that the Astros have decided to take the opportunity to showcase one of their star prospects Rogelio Armenteros, who will start for the Houston Astros Friday morning.

The 23-year-old Armentreos had an excellent 2017 season in the minors, sporting a 10-4 record with a 2.04 ERA, 146 strikeouts, a 1.043 WHIP, 10.6 K/9 through 123.2 innings pitched for both Triple-A Fresno and Double-A Corpus Christi last season.  While in Corpus Christi, the right-hander was named a mid-season Texas League All-Star. That was good enough to be named the 19th best prospect in the Houston Astros organization by MLB Pipeline.

Houston Astros manager A.J. Hinch had some great things to say about Armentreos via Brian McTaggart:

"“I wanted to reward him for a great season,” Hinch said. “I think he led our Minor Leagues in strikeouts. He’s one of the more unheralded prospects that we have and we want to get a first look at him and reward him with a start.”"

Jeff Luhnow built this franchise from the ground up with prospects and we all saw what happened last year when those once prospects helped us win the World Series title. It’s nice to see a prospect of Armentreos’ caliber get his shot against Major League talent .  Only time will tell how good Armentreos will be but he is off to a great start in his baseball career.

Next: What the Astros plan to do with Yuli Gurriel

It’s baseball season once again Houston, let’s enjoy the ride!