Astros: Top 10 non-prospects that surprised with big impacts

Over the course of the last two decades, the Houston Astros have seen their fair share of Rookie Busts, however, there have been more than enough surprises.

In a week that is quickly becoming “Rookie Week”, the Houston Astros have made the call to their minors and asked big things of some pretty unknown prospects. Both Jack Mayfield and Garrett Stubbs have stepped up and answered the call in a major way.

Mayfield, on his first at-bat, blasted an RBI double off veteran Cole Hamels, helping the Astros stay ahead and take the first game of the series from Chicago. The next day, Stubb

s doubles in his first at-bat, and (literally) reaches down and bloops a game-tying single past a diving Addison Russel.

Many Astros fans probably knew of Garrett Stubbs, many maybe didn’t. Very few, if any, had the eloquently nick-named Super-Jack on their radar. If you did, then I give you 100 internet points for the day. Use them wisely.

This got me thinking though, how many non-top-prospect players have been called up, made the most of their time in the majors, and carved out an impactful tenure with the Astros? I did some research and comprised a list of Astros players that never made the Top 100 (as far as MLB prospects) and did just that.

Rules for this list:

1. Players were never in the MLB Top 100 Prospects List.
2. Spent a majority of their tenure with the Astros (50%+ of their MLB career).
3. Were drafted or signed by the Astros.
4. Were prospects when acquired by the Astros and were called up by Astros first.
5. Info is taken from BaseballCube, so take it up with them if you feel this is a little off based.

But first, before we get started, a serious heartfelt congratulations to Super-Jack. Nine years grinding in the minors and never giving up, you seriously have a fan in me. Congratulations also to Stubbs, from celebrating your 26th birthday by getting the best call of your life. If you don’t think baseball is a beautiful game, please refer to the following interviews.

I see ya’ll have some onions near you, or maybe your just allergic to my cats. I get it, here’s a tissue. Now that you are cleaned up, let’s proceed with the list.

9. Willy Taveras

When you mention the name Willy Taveras, it’s hard not to laugh at the unfair speed he had. Debuting as a defensive replacement in 2004, Taveras had his first cup of coffee with an Astros team that was overflowing with outfield talent. This was also the year that the majority of Astros fans hate Carlos Beltran for.

After being signed out of the Dominican Republic, Taveras was merely known for just his speed and not much else. Never once cracking the MLB Top 100 prospects.

Once Beltran bounced out of Houston for the bigger city of New York, this opened the door for the speedy Taveras to capture the center field role. And capture it he did. Posting a .291 average, Taveras would cause pitchers and catchers headaches as he would constantly bunt to get on base.

It truly was unfair to watch him toy with fielders. Upon bunting the ball, if the ball hit the ground, he was already on first base. Helping the Astros reach their first ever World Series appearance, Taveras finished the postseason with a .357 average.

His 2005 season showed the potential he had as a lead-off hitter and table-setter, amassing 85 runs and 34 stolen bases.

2006 was more of the same, collecting 147 hits, 83 runs, and 34 stolen bases, equating to a .278 average, and a .672 OPS. He was starting to show consistency, which the Astros needed at the time for a leadoff hitter. Not to mention the 30 game…30 GAME….hit streak he had that year. That put him in the same conversation as players like Albert Pujols, Sandy Alomar Jr, and NOMA Garciaparra (said in a sexy Boston accent).

However, players caught on to his bunting ways. Making him more predictable to defend against.

The Astros had plans to remedy this, as they had their prized prospect, Hunter Pence, waiting in the wings and acquiring Carlos Lee in the 2007 offseason. This lead to Taveras to becoming expendable.

He would go on to Colorado and finish out his career over the next three seasons.

However, fans will never forget the impact he made for the Astros during the hay day of playoff baseball in the mid-2000s. During his tenure, the Flash had a .284 average, 68 stolen bases, 319 hits, and 167 runs.

8. JD Martinez

Drafted in the 20th round of the 2009 draft, Martinez never once even topped the Top 20 prospect list for the Houston Astros, let alone the Top 100 MLB prospect list.

Now I know what you’re going to say, and I do realize most of his work has been done outside of his tenure with the Astros. Martinez is the exception to all the rules. Mainly, because during his tenure the Astros were in a complete rebuilding phase and were trying everything and anything to get the right pieces in place. It’s even widely admitted by Jeff Luhnow that he regrets letting Martinez slip through his fingers.

However, I remember back when JD debuted. Hunter Pence was traded just the day before in a blockbuster with the Philadelphia Phillies. My heart was broken. I had no player to root for anymore. I tuned into the Brewers/Astros game the next day and saw him. This power-stance right-handed hitter. He just looked like how a baseball player should look. He would get his first hit in his first plate appearance in the Majors. I was hooked from then on. And so was he.

Martinez would finish the 2011 season as the starting right fielder and a respectable .275 average, along with six home runs, and 35 RBIs. Another franchise setting player would do some amazing things that year, but we will get to him later in this list.

Through his three years with the Astros (2011-2013), Martinez would total 24 home runs, 126 RBIs, and a .251 average.

Unfortunately, in the 2013 season, he would rebuild himself with the Detroit Tigers.  Setting career highs in home runs (38), RBIs (102), and average (.315), and further explore new heights with the Boston Red Sox in 2018.

What could have been indeed with JD Martinez and the Houston Astros? He took a similar route to dominance as another player on this list did, heading to Detroit and then Arizona to find how to hit for power. More on that outfielder later.

7. Chris Devenski

Christopher Michael Devenski. Where do we start with this one? Drafted in the 25th round of the 2011 MLB draft out of Cal Fullerton by the Chicago White Sox. Devo was involved in a forgettable trade in 2012. The Astros were rebuilding, and Brett Myers was the hottest commodity they had at the time.

After shipping Myers to the White Sox for left-handed prospect Blair Walters and Matt Heidenreich. In steps Trade Master Luhnow working his Jedi Mind Tricks, convincing the White Sox to add Devenski as a Player to Be Named Later. Almost set to be a forgettable piece. Who would’ve known that the two main pieces in that trade would be the forgettable ones? As evident of Heidenreich being released a mere three years later and Walters never making the Majors.

Devenski honed his craft for four years in the Minors and finally received an invite to the Big League Camp in the Spring of 2016. Wowing both scouts and coaches alike, as they wasted little time calling him to the Majors for good.

On April 8th, a mere four games into the season, Devo found himself relieving Scott Feldman in a rough game to watch. He wasted little time blowing away the competition, going a solid three innings pitched and striking out four batters.

Through the 2016 season, Astros witnessed what would be the beginning of the best 7th inning reliever they’ve seen since the “Octavio Dotel–Brad Lidge–Billy Wagner” days. Posting an eye-popping 108.1 innings as a reliever and posting 104 strikeouts.

In 2017, his role was even more predominant throughout the season, as he was credited with a hold in 25 games and saved four. In the World Series, he was featured heavily, as the left-handed hitter heavy Dodgers were susceptible to his changeup.  Going five innings of two-run ball and five strikeouts.

Lately, he hasn’t been the same, but that’s due to a mix of injury and a lack of appearances. However, helping the Astros win their first World Series gives him a major push on this list.

6. Wandy Rodriguez

Wandy Rodriguez will be looked at in future conversations almost the same as Shane Reynolds. A consistent innings eater who could get you out in a number of ways. Be it by strikeout or by ground out.

Signed out of the Dominican Republic in 1999, the then 20-year-old Rodriguez’s road to the Show was a long and tedious one. Spending six years toiling in the Minors before getting his shot at the bigs, and in 2005, he got just that shot.

Another player who never cracked the Top 20 prospects for the Astros, the 26-year-old lefty made his Major League debut against the Chicago Cubs on May 23rd, churning out 5.2 innings of work and striking out six in a losing effort. Small beans considering the career that followed.

His rookie campaign managed to get him 128 innings of work, 80 strikeouts, and 10 wins on 10 losses, netting him a 5.12 FIP that year too.

Like a fine wine, he only got better with age. As his 2008-2012 seasons were his most memorable years. Again, with a rebuilding team, the Astros could at least rely on Wandy to get them through games.

In those seasons, Rodriguez was slated as the number two starter behind the likes of Roy Oswalt and Brett Myers. He would always finish a season with double-digit wins and 190+ innings pitched. Consistency.

In 2009, being his best year, he finished the season winning 14 games, topping out at 204 innings pitched, and 193 strikeouts.

Spending eight years with the organization (14 if you count the minors), he would collect 1306 innings, a career 4.04 ERA, 1093 strikeouts, and a respectable 7.4 K/9IP. Which for a name that no one knew about, is more than respectable and worthy of the number six spot on this list.

5. Morgan Ensberg

Mr. Ensberg is an enigma that I wish could’ve worked out. In a desperate time in Astros history, Ensberg could’ve (and was for a short time) been the long term answer for the Astros at third base.

Drafted in the 9th round of the 1998 MLB Draft, Ensberg would make his debut for the club two short years later in 2000. A year that Ensberg has attested is the reason his head games would last him a lifetime.

Early in Spring Training that year, two gunmen would barge into Ensbergs’ hotel room (along with five other players at the time) and would be thwarted in their attempt to rob the players. He would later debut that year as a September call-up and would only see action in the final four games of the 2000 season.

He wouldn’t get called upon again for another two years. During 2002, Ensberg would platoon the hot corner with Geoff Blum, until he ran away with the position in 2003 where he broke out and slugged a surprising 25 home runs and a .291 average.

In 2004, he was the clear cut favorite for the third base job but took a step back. Posting only a .275 average along with only 10 home runs in 411 plate appearances.

Then came the 2005 season. These were what the Astros fans were waiting for, slugging a monstrous 35 home runs, collecting his first all-star bid, and leading the Astros to their first World Series appearance. He would post a .265 average and 10 RBIs in the postseason. Things looked to be on the up-and-up for Morgan.

In 2006 Morgan was only second to the great Barry Bonds, as a player who amassed more walks than he did hits. He had 101 walks to his 91 hits. After that though, Ensberg completely fell off the board, spending one season with the New York Yankees before being demoted.

As far as his Astros tenure though, in a lineup that boasted Jeff Bagwell, Lance Berkman, Richard Hidalgo, and Jeff Kent, Ensberg’s plate discipline and power stroke made for an imposing lineup for opposing pitchers to face.

He would finish his Houston career with 110 home runs, 347 RBIs, and a .263 average.

4. Brad Lidge

Shockingly enough, Brad Lidge was drafted in the 1st round of the 1998 MLB Draft, but was never in the MLB Top 100 Prospects list and only ONCE made it in the top 5 of Astros prospects. That came in 2003 when he was the #3 prospect in the Astros pipeline behind John Buck and Jason Lane.

Quick fun fact here, Jon Buck was actually drafted in the 7th round of that same draft and made the Astros top prospect list four separate times and the MLB Top 100 on two separate occasions as well. Baseball is a funny game.

So, while I know that Brad Lidge was a known commodity (in some circles) and probably puts this list in flux, there is a lot to be said about his career and how people didn’t know much about this starting pitcher-turned closer.

Lidge would bounce around in the Minors for five years before finally finding a spot in the bullpen. This was largely due to the fact that he only had two solid pitches and a changeup that never really came to be a reliable pitch. His fastball-slider combo was too tantalizing for managers to pass up. So, they took their time and groomed the young pitcher to become a weapon.

Finally, debuting in 2002, Lidge found himself on an Astros team that was trying to build up a young budding roster. His first taste of Big League action found him giving up two runs in one inning of work. Something of an omen maybe.

He would finish out his rookie season in the bullpen piling up a hefty 6.23 ERA over 8.2 innings of work.

2003-2004 were different stories as he was part of the (debatably) best 7-8-9 pitching combos in recent MLB history. Lidge would start the 7th, Dotel the 8th, and Wagner would clean up the scraps. He would post a 2.71 ERA in that span with 44 holds and 30 saves. He would also receive Cy Young votes in the 2004 season, as his slider fooled everyone to the tune of 157 strikeouts in only 98 innings of work. That is a 14.9SO/9IP strikeout rate.

Then 2005 happened. It was all going so well. Lidge was posting literally lights-out numbers, 70 innings of work, 103 strikeouts, 42 saves, 2.13 FIP, a sparkling 2.29 ERA, and giving up only five home runs all year. He went to the All-Star Game and garnered MVP votes from the writers. It was the Year of Lidge.

Enter Albert Pujols.

In what can be only be described as the “Shot Heard Round the World”, Brad Lidge watched his confidence (as well as the ball) launched into orbit on October 17th, 2005.

He would finish the postseason giving up two home runs and a total six runs. 2006-2007 was miserable for Lidge as he would give up a total of 20 home runs and post a 4.37 ERA and watching his FIP inflate from 1.23 to 3.83.

He would find redemption in the form of a clean World Series win with the Phillies in 2008 however, and that would be that for Lidge. He would go on to fall back down to earth in 2009.

The six years with the Astros were great. Going from a forgotten 1st round draft pick, too untouchable closer, to fallen star, then back to a redemptive gladiator. Lidge belongs on this list, and if not for the next two players, he would be number one.

3. Luis Gonzalez

The second highest draftee we have on this list, Luis Gonzalez was drafted in the 4th round of the 1988 MLB Draft out of Southern Alabama University.

Gonzo, as he affectionately became know, was more known for his skills on the base paths early in his career, as opposed to his later life in baseball.

Debuting in 1990, he merely came up for a cup of coffee with the Astros late in September. It was only in 1991 when he really found his footing in the outfield. Flanking his teammate for life, Steve Finley, Gonzalez would form an outfield tandem that would set the precedent for outfielders who don an Astros uniform.

1993 was his best year as an Astro, hitting 15 home runs, stealing 20 bases, and hitting for .300. Not too shabby for a “speed first” outfielder.

On June 28th, however, the Astros made a head-scratching trade to the Chicago Cubs that would net them only Catcher Rick Wilkins, who would only stay with the club for one year.

Luis Gonzalez would go on to have a productive stint with the Cubs, but when he became a free agent in 1996, he would join back up with the club that drafted him on a one-year deal.

He would then travel the same path that JD Martinez would follow, as he headed to Detroit to find his power stroke. After spending just one year in the Motor City, Gonzalez found career highs in home runs (23), doubles (35), and runs (84).

He would then head for sunny Arizona, where a young Arizona team was just starting up its own story. The Diamondbacks were only one year into their MLB Franchise tenure and they already picked up the likes of Randy Johnson, Jay Bell, Matt Williams, and Steve Finley.  The perfect start to a franchise.

Gonzo would go on and have himself a career while in Arizona, gathering four All-Star appearances, one Silver Slugger Award,  one World Series title, and career highs in all hitting categories. Namely, in the Diamondbacks World Series year, he topped 57 home runs, 142 RBIs, .325 average, 128 runs, and 100 walks.

While yes, his more productive years were found in another state, on another younger team. However, in his seven years with the Astros, Gonzo set the tone for multiple position players that followed him. He set an example for young kids watching him on how to run effectively. He was the best left fielder the Astros had known until the mid-2000s.

2. Dallas Keuchel

Coming in at number two, the University of Arkansas product, Dallas Keuchel was drafted to Houston in round seven of the 2009 MLB Draft.

Not much was thought of Keuchel when he was drafted. Many scouts only touted that he had a good work ethic. Noting that his minimal fastball speed was worrisome.

To a point, they were right. While in the Minors, he didn’t really blow bats away and didn’t really even strike anyone as a prospect. He wasn’t even listed as a Top 30 Astros prospect from 2009-2011.

Debuting in 2012, the Astros were in full rebuild mode and really didn’t understand the diamond they were about to unearth when they called for Keuchel to be the #5 starting pitcher. Let’s put it in perspective. Lucas Harrell was the Astros Ace that year.

Keuchel’s rookie campaign was one to forget and no one would have blamed you if, as a fan, you didn’t think much of Keuchel. Going 3-8 with a 5.27 ERA, 5.74 FIP, 4SO/9IP that was shown by 39 strikeouts in 85 innings pitched.

Much of the same in 2013. Almost mirrored stats really. 5.15 ERA, 123 strikeouts on 188 innings pitched, a 4.25 FIP. It wasn’t looking good.

Then, seemingly overnight, it seemed as though something clicked for Keuchel. The magical 2014 season that saw him pitch in a career-high five complete games (two of which were shutouts), an eye-popping 2.93 ERA, and 149 strikeouts in 200 innings pitched. He was becoming the ace that nobody knew he’d be. He even collected his first gold glove that year, the first of many.

Keuchel would become a key fixture for the Astros, winning his first Cy Young award in 2015, in tow came a career-high 20 wins, 232 innings pitched, and an 8.4 SO/9IP rate. A second gold glove would follow as well.

Injuries, however, have hindered his last three seasons, but he was a key fixture in helping the Astros capture their first franchise World Series title in 2017.

Over the course of his seven years in Space City, he has collected a total of four Gold Gloves, two All-Star appearances, one (previously mentioned) World Series Title, and one Cy Young Award. I’ll throw in his own cheering section too, as his beard became synonymous with Keuchel and winning as well.

While there are politics at play right now, as he is still a free agent, you will still hear a select few people say Keuchel needs to return home. And honestly, he will find a home soon, so for all his accolades and contributions to this team, he is a solid choice at number 2.

1. Jose Altuve

I should just put this picture here and say nothing more. I mean, what can you say that you don’t already know about the clear-cut number-one choice for this list?

1. Told he would never make it – Check
2. Refused a position at tryouts – Check
3. Signed a measly contract just to make it – Check
4. Never made a top prospect list of any sort – Check
5. Made it to MLB – Check
6. Became a household name – Check

Jose Carlos Altuve. Mighty Mouse. MVP. Tuve. Whatever you want to call him, he is the one who was an afterthought and made himself a career. One would even argue, a Hall of Fame career.

Signing a contract in 2007, Jose Altuve got his shot to make the Majors and he never looked back. He would hit, and hit, and hit. He would hit his way through the Minors, never batting below .300.

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I honestly remember a time when I was in college, I believe it was 2010. I was trying to cut it as a sports journalist, so I was scouring through the Astros Minor’s system, and I saw him. I read the stats and said, “ehh, he probably won’t get a shot but maybe we could throw him in a trade to get someone”.

One year later, that under-sized second baseman from Puerto Cabello took the field. July 20th (a full ten days before JD Martinez), Jose Altuve made his mark with the Astros, and from then on, its been nothing but classics.

Ending 2011 with 221 plate appearances, Altuve found himself with a respectable .276 average. Not too bad for someone who scouts thought was too small.

In 2012, Altuve saw himself voted to his first All-Star Game, ended with a .290 average, 157 hits, and 33 stolen bases.

He would go on to post 160+ hits in the next six seasons. To date, Altuve has surpassed the 200 hit mark four years straight, collected 241 stolen bases, 95 home runs, 452 RBIs, and a career average of .318. He has six All-Star bids, one AL MVP, one World Series ring, five Silver Sluggers, and one Gold Glove.

If you can name a better player more fit to be #1, please be my guest. He, however, is it for me.

And the best has yet to come, only hitting his age, 29, this year, he still has plenty left in the tank to continue to hit. Hall of Famer? Odds are yes.