Astros Spring Training Stock Watch: Week 1

Mar 8, 2015; Lakeland, FL, USA; Houston Astros left fielder

(19) singled during the first inning against the Detroit Tigers at a spring training baseball game at Joker Marchant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

With Spring Training under way, we all know there are plenty of guys fighting for spots on the Astros roster. Every week until Opening Day, I’ll be posting an Astros Stock Watch to take a look at some players who helped their case to be on the Opening Day roster, and players who hurt their chances. I won’t be talking about players who are just in Spring Training for depth, so with that being said, let’s look at players who improved their stock March 4^th-March 9^th.

Stock Up
Robbie Grossman: Grossman is the hottest player on the roster, batting .600 with three RBI. He has walked twice, with one strikeout. Grossman is playing with a purpose after finishing pretty well in 2014, and will do everything he can to make the Opening Day roster.

Jon Singleton: He’s batting .500 with four doubles and is showing why he was the number one first base prospect in all of baseball at this time last year.

Luis Valbuena: Luis “THE BEAST” Valbuena is off to a hot start at the plate, batting.444 with three RBI and one home run. He’s trying to be the starter at third base and not in a platoon situation with Matt Dominguez. If he can keep this up, the job is his.

Josh Fields: He only had one outing, but he sure did make the most of it pitching one inning and striking out the side in order as he tries to win the closer’s role.

Joe Thatcher: Thatcher allowed two runners in scoring position in his one inning of work, and got out of the jam unscathed. He is battling to be the second left-hander out of the bullpen with Kevin Chapman and Darin Downs.

Asher Wojciechowski: Wojo is one of the top candidates for the final rotation spot, and he helped his cause in his first two outings this spring. He’s pitched five innings allowing no runs, and holding batters to a .176 batting average. He’s the front-runner through the first week of the spring for the final rotation spot.

Before moving onto the players who saw their stock drop, there are other players who deserve some notice, but didn’t necessarily see their stock rise this first week.

Next: Honorable Mentions