Houston Astros: Why can’t they platoon Tyler White and A.J. Reed

Should the Houston Astros Have Both Tyler White and A.J. Reed on the Roster Opening Day?

The Houston Astros have selected Tyler White as their first baseman in 2016 over Jon Singleton and A.J. Reed, at least, to start the season. While there are rumors swirling that the Astros are looking to trade Singleton, Reed remains a top prospect and certainly the best first baseman prospect for Houston.

White was born in 1990 in Mooresboro, North Carolina. He went to Chase High School in nearby Forest City, where his dad was his coach. White has said that he credits his father for teaching him to work hard to where he is at today. He went to Western Carolina, where he started games all four years. He batted .325 and had 287 hits, and that was good enough for 4th all-time at the school when he left. The Astros drafted White in the 33rd round of the 2013 MLB draft.

A.J. Reed was born in 1993 in Terre Haute, Indiana. He went to high school at South Vigo there. He hit .425 and had a 1.88 ERA as a pitcher. Reed was drafted by the Mets in 2011, but didn’t sign and instead went to Kentucky, where he became the 1st consensus freshman All-American in Kentucky history. The following season, he started the whole season, including 14 as a pitcher. His junior year, he won man awards, including the Golden Spikes Award, John Olerud Award, the SEC Player of the Year, and the SEC Male Athlete of the Year.

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He was then signed by the Astros after the season after being drafted in the 2nd round. He hit 34 home runs between Class-A Lancaster and Double-A Corpus Christi and won the Bauman Home Run Award, the award given to the minor leaguer for the most home runs during the season.  Reed is expected to start the season at AAA Fresno after being passed up for the starting first baseman for White. In an article by Brian McTaggart, he suggested that Reed would be called up soon, see Tweet above.

Editor’s Note: Reed’s time will come, he needs to work on hitting left-handed pitching, and the Astros will wait for a minimum of 14 days or a maximum of June to call up Reed. The Astros will wait for the Super Two deadline, unless they really need him.

The latest Taking Stros focusing on White and Reed

Reed bats left, while White bats right. Reed will almost certainly be called up to the majors later this season.  With that in mind, I don’t see why the Astros don’t go ahead and make the jump to promote both of them on the opening day roster, instead of carrying Matt Duffy or an extra reliever.

Next: Houston Astros: Three Astros Fantasy Baseball Sleepers

The fact of the matter is only one of them will be our permanent first baseman for the foreseeable future, so might as well play both of them to see who is the better player, while at the same time “show off” the other guy to get some trade value for him.

**Minors Stats from Baseball-Reference**

**College stats from College Stats Pages**