It's that time again for The Crawfish Boxes' Top 30 Astros prospect list. The Astros have had an overhaul in their prospects since 2015. The team graduated Carlos Correa and Lance McCullers. Houston also turned Brett Phillips, Vincent Velasquez, Domingo Santana, Jacob Nottingham, Josh Hader, and Mark Appel into other assets.
We start with the first ten players on The Crawfish Boxes' Top 30 Astros prospect list in the first hour of the podcast, here is the list of prospects:
21. Teoscar Hernandez, OF -- C+ (4.600)
Teoscar Hernandez was an international signing in 2011. Hernandez, 23, batted .219 (103x470) with 12 doubles, two triples, 17 home runs, 48 RBIs, 33 SB, .275 OBP, and .362 SLG in 121 games with Double A Corpus Christi. Hernandez ranked No. 20 on last year's list.
22. Max Stassi, C -- C+ (4.450)
Max Stassi was piece included in the original Jed Lowrie to the Oakland Athletics with Chris Carter and Brad Peacock joining him in Houston. Stassi may be the quickest player off the list this season as he is at the moment slotted in as the Astros backup catcher. He batted .211 (62x294) with 37 R, eight doubles, two triples, 13 HR, 43 RBIs, .278 OBP, and .384 SLG. Stassi was the No. 11 prospect on last year's top 30 list.
23. Jamie Ritchie, C -- C+ (4.400)
Jamie Ritchie was a 13th round pick out Belmont University in the 2014 MLB Draft. Ritchie batted .281 (110x392) with 72 R, 21 2B, 4 3B, 5 HR, 35 RBIs, .426 OBP, and .393. SLG in 111 games between Low A Quad Cities and High A Lancaster in 2015.
24. Jonathan Arauz, SS -- C+ (4.400)
Jonathan Arauz and Ken Giles were traded to the Houston Astros for Brett Oberholtzer, Harold Arauz, Mark Appel, Thomas Eshelman, and Vincent Velasquez this offseason. The 17-year-old shortstop batted .254 (44x173) with 21 R, 10 2B, two triples, two home runs, 13 walks, two stolen bases, .309 OBP, .370 SLG in 44 games with the GCL Phillies in 2015.
25. Chase McDonald, 1B -- C+ (4.400)
Chase McDonald, 23, was selected by the Astros in the 12th round of the 2013 MLB Draft out of East Carolina. In 2015 with High A Lancaster, McDonald batted .279 (109x390) with 66 R, 30 2B, one triple, 30 HR, 45 BB, 117 SO, 80 RBIs, .358 OBP, and .592 SLG in 105 games.
26. Andrew Aplin, OF -- C+ (4.200)
Andrew Aplin, 24, was selected in the 5th round of the 2012 draft by Houston. Aplin batted .296 (100x338) with 64 R, 10 2B, six 3B, two home run, 40 RBIs, 69 walks, 54 SO, 32 SB, .413 OBP, and .379 SLG in 105 game between Double A Corpus Christi and Triple A Fresno. Aplin ranked 23rd on last year's prospect list.
27. Trent Thornton, RHP -- C+ (4.167)
Trent Thornton, 22, the Astros' fifth round pick in the 2015 Draft out of North Carolina. Thornton was 4-0 with 3.27 ERA, 48 SO, 10 BB, 1.31 WHIP in 55 IP with Single A Tri-City.
28. Nestor Muriel, OF -- C+ (4.111)
Nestor Muriel, 17, the Astros' sixth round pick in the 2015 out the Carlos Beltran Baseball Academy. Muriel batted .127 (10x79) with nine runs, two doubles, one home run, 11 BB, 38 SO, two stolen bases, .242 OBP and .190 SLG.
29. Matt Duffy, 3B -- C+ (4.100)
Matt Duffy, 26, was elected by the Astros in the 20th round of the 2011 MLB Draft out of Tennessee. Duffy was named the 2015 PCL MVP after batting .294 (144x490) with 94 R, 29 2B, two triples, 20 HR, 104 RBIs, 48 BB, .366 OBP, and .484 SLG. H was 3-for-8 in a September call-up with the Astros.
30. Kyle Smith, RHP -- C+ (4.100)
The Astros acquired Kyle Smith from the Kansas City Royals for Justin Maxwell in 2013. Smith missed all of 2015 following a Tommy John surgery.
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Ties were broken by the TCB staff.
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The Ground Control Podcast, Ep. 17, Part 1
Hosts: Ryan Dunsmore, Subber10 and CRPerry13
Topic for Today's Show
- Part of one of the TCB Top 30 Prospects
We'll attempt to answer any questions left in the comment section of this post on the podcast.
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