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Astros Spring Training Stock Watch: Week 1

By Ryan Gonzalez |
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Mar 8, 2015; Lakeland, FL, USA; Houston Astros left fielder

Robbie Grossman

(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 4th-March 9th.

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

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

Jake Marisnick

(6) hits a RBI single during the second inning against the Detroit Tigers at a spring training baseball game at Joker Marchant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Honorable Mentions

Jake Marisnick had himself a good day on Sunday, going 2-for-3 with 3 RBI’s, and then driving in the lone run in Monday’s 1-0 win for a total of 4 RBI’s on the spring. He’s batting .300, and while we can expect him to do everything he can to earn an outfield spot, but he’s going to have hope for Grossman to cool down to have a shot at being on the Opening Day roster.

Kevin Chapman had a good, quiet inning of work, but we need to see more from him. Quiet isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it would be nice to see him get out of trouble.

George Springer, Evan Gattis, Jason Castro, Dallas Keuchel, and Collin McHugh are all expected to be on the roster, and they have done absolutely nothing to show why they shouldn’t be.

Next, we take a look at some players who need to turn it around the final four weeks of the spring to try and earn themselves in Opening Day spot.

Next: Stock Down

Mar 6, 2015; Jupiter, FL, USA; Houston Astros third baseman Matt Dominguez (30) is unable to field a hit during a spring training baseball game against St. Louis Cardinals at Roger Dean Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Stock Down

Matt Dominguez: He’s batting .222 through the first week of the spring. Although it’s only in nine at-bats, he needs to turn it around with the pressure “The Beast” is putting on him.

Dan Straily: Two runs with four hits in two innings of work isn’t a big reason to panic, but it is when you have Wojo pitching very well in the fight for the fifth spot in the rotation.

Alex White: There was a little bit of talk behind White when he originally came over a couple years ago, and he’s been injury plagued in his time in AAA. Now with a couple of pitching spots open, he failed to impress in his first matchup giving up four runs in one-third of an inning. He’ll need to turn it around, and fast, to be considered for the long relief role, or even the fifth spot in the rotation.

Darin Downs: Two earned runs in one inning of work instantly puts him at the back of the race for the second left-handed spot out of the bullpen behind Joe Thatcher and Kevin Chapman.

Before my final thoughts, let’s look at some other players who didn’t have a great first week, but didn’t necessarily see their stock drop due to having a 99% chance in being on the team.

Next: Final Thoughts

Mar 9, 2015; Dunedin, FL, USA; Houston Astros starting pitcher

Collin McHugh

(31) pitches during the first inning of a spring training baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Florida Auto Exchange Park. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

Dishonorable Mentions

Marwin Gonzalez isn’t doing too well at the plate, but there isn’t really anybody else stepping up in the infield side of things to take his job away.

Alex Presley is batting in the .200’s which isn’t something to worry about through one week, but he has Grossman and Marisnick hot on his heels. While the Astros probably won’t part ways with Rasmus after a bad spring, the Astros very well could move on from Presley, even after giving him a little bit of money.

The March 8th Split Squad game against the Braves: The team was no-hit through ten innings at home. I know I’m not the only one who is happy it was just a Spring Training game.

Final Thoughts

It is way too early to really look at the statistics, but the first round of cuts are expected this week. With that being said, you don’t want to see your stock fall too far as a player if you had an uneventful first week. And if you saw your stock rise, you want to ride that momentum towards landing a roster spot.

I didn’t mention Jose Altuve or Chris Carter under the “dishonorable mentions” as it’s too way too early to worry about players like them having a quiet week. But seeing Collin McHugh in mid-season form is pretty great to see, huh? Enjoy Spring Training, and I’ll be back with the Week 2 Stock Watch next week.

Next: Astroschat: Where is the Radio Love for the Astros?

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