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Houston Astros Spring Training Battles: First Base
JON SINGLETON
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An important reminder: Jon Singleton is still only 24 years old and has only played in 114 games at the Major League level. Many Astros fans have given up on Singleton due to A.J. Reed all but becoming the first baseman of the future, but Singleton himself was a top 1B prospect less than three years ago.
On the Baseball America Top 100 lists, Singleton ranked 39th for 2011, 34th for 2012, 27th for 2013, and 82nd for 2014. His 2014 debut season saw an alarming 134 strikeouts to go with his 13 home runs. wOBA is a bit more forgiving to Singleton, who finished both 2014 and 2015 with an average under .200.
Astros fans should proceed with caution when criticizing Singleton, as 114 total games is not exactly a fair sample size to give up on a player. But it is hard to see him holding down 1B throughout 2016 if he continues to trend downward and Reed continues to skyrocket.