Astros: Corpus Christi Player Spotlight – Alejandro Garcia

The Astros’ Corpus Christi Hooks are an absolutely incredible team.

The Hooks’ get contributions everywhere, from the top of the lineup to the bottom. They continue to find ways to win even when top prospects get called away from the team. Players will get called up to the Hooks from a lower level and immediately be able to produce. An example of this kind of player is Alejandro Garcia, and he will be spotlighted this week.

Garcia, like several other prospects of the Houston Astros, got called up in the middle of May, the 19th to be exact. He is a very intriguing outfield prospect and was just signed to a minor league contract last year. He showed in 2015 that he was far too talented for the Rookie League, as he hit .483 with three triples and only five strikeouts in 14 games.

Due to excelling in that league, he was given the chance in Advanced-A Lancaster this season. Though the average dipped in the Lancaster, he was still able to prove to the Astros that he is a good player, so he got the call to Corpus Christi.

Like many other outfielders in the Astros’ minor league ranks, Garcia is just not a great power hitter. He only has two home runs in the last two seasons. That is definitely something he’ll need to work on if he makes it to the ever-powerful Astros. His biggest strengths are his contact and his speed. His ability to get on base and steal the next one is very valuable to whatever team on which he has been. If he learns to steal bases more often, he could definitely turn into a decent lead-off man in the league someday.

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This season in Corpus Christi has been a good one for the 25-year-old outfielder. Primarily hitting in the number 9 spot in the lineup, Garcia has hit .289 with the club along with five doubles. It’d be good to see him lead-off some, as that spot in the lineup has been shaky since Teoscar Hernandez got promoted. This is where Garcia likely will be the rest of the season and it will be interesting to see how it goes for him.

There are a plethora of outfielders that have great skill in the Astros’ minor league ranks. That makes some of them, maybe such as Alejandro Garcia, expendable. Though I would love to see Garcia stay and develop into an everyday outfielder for the ‘Stros, a trade would not surprise me. But if he sticks with the Astros, then he could be a very valuable lead-off or end of the lineup hitter.

***Stats from Baseball-Reference***