That’s the part I agree with. I’m not sure about the rest of Alyson Footer’s MLBlog entry, in which she looks at the battle between J.R. Towles and top prospect Jason Castro for the catching job in Houston. Footer thinks Towles will be the starter, Humberto Quintero the backup and that Castro will get some Triple-A seasoning after finishing last year in Double-A. And that’s the way it’s likely to shake out. But Footer’s arguments are pretty weak.
Yeah, let’s look at batting averages over the course of 27 at-bats and 23 at-bats in making a judgment. For the record, that’s 50 at-bats between them. In that time, they’ve combined for no homers, four RBI and three walks.
Have you looked at the Astros’ 40-man roster? Outfielder Yordany Ramirez might be the single least promising player on a major league roster today, and it’s incredible that he’s lasted two years now. There’s also a 28-year-old utilityman in Edwin Maysonet, who hasn’t been included in the team’s plans for this year, and a handful of expendable pitchers, with Yorman Bazardo likely topping the list. Excluding the top 25, the Astros probably have the weakest 40-man roster in the game. The idea that you’d hold Castro back based on the one-percent chance that someone might claim Ramirez on waivers is simply absurd. Footer, though, also does go into the real reason for the choice; Castro is a 22-year-old who has never set foot in Triple-A, while Towles is 26-year-old with nothing left to prove in the minors. Towles deserves one more chance to show what he can do as a starter. If it doesn’t work out, Castro will still be there on June 1.
