Very cool, there were a lot of guys like this --- basically all of them are dead now. A lot of former Negro League players or early MLB/NFL guys that lost their careers to WWII/injury/economics of the Negro League.... Monte Irvin and Larry Doby were two of the genuinely nicest people I was ever able to be around or observe. Both were objectively great baseball players, both played with and against stars... both are in the Hall of Fame.... but both lived most their lives in relative obscurity and without the money they should have gotten. It had to be weird to be Larry Doby, guy was like a 10 time all star and the second black player in baseball, a Hall of Famer and career .900 OPS.... but outside of Cleveland, almost knew who he was...... in the case of Monte Irvin, when I was him last, he was 90 years old and he said that it was only the last part of his life that people really started to know who he was.... and it was hard for him seeing someone like me show him such deference and adulation, like he was a movie star.
Another signing popped up on the transactions page, and once again, it's a pitcher. RHP Conor Steinbaugh went undrafted in 2022 out of Akron. He did not play in 2023, probably due to an injury, and then he signed with the Red Sox in 2024. A solid season in Class A earned him an Arizona Fall League invite, but he got released during Spring Training in 2025. Steinbaugh was in the Cardinals system last season and went 0-2 with a save and a 5.40 ERA in 11 appearances (13.1 IP total) for Class A Palm Beach. Additionally, two UDFA pitchers from last year are headed to Fayetteville: RHPs Brandon Cassedy and Coleman MacRae.
TTO guy. Has 10 HR and an ops over .1000 but hitting .240. I don’t know much about his defense, which will probabiy be the determining factor of his outcome.
FCL Opening Day is today and Jase Mitchell hit an RBI single in first plate appearance as a pro. Never mind, the scorer changed that to an error that allowed him to reach
Jeron Williams is on rehab there and got the start in CF. I wonder if they’re transitioning him to the OF.
Juan Rojas went 4-4 with two doubles, one of which drove in a run, and scored a run in his US debut. Rojas hit .286/.457/.374 with 2 homers and 28 RBI in 50 games with the DSL Orange team last season.
Gonna start getting some serious helium if he keeps this up. 70 grade power clearly there. Alvarez also hit a HR.
Joey Dixon made his first appearance in nearly 3 years in the second game of Fayetteville’s doubleheader, and he struck out seven over three perfect innings.
He was a ~$450K signing last January. The one clip I saw of him last year he looked bigger than most other DSL players. He's the youngest player on the FCL roster. The 2025 international class performed really well in the DSL in pretty much every way imaginable. Kevin Alvarez started a spring training game before an official game in the States. Juan Fraide got promoted stateside after 15 innings. All 6 hitters the Astros signed for >100k had a 105 wRC+ or better. Their largest investment in a pitcher held his own as a 16 year old. They had a couple of players who got passed over the previous period impressed in their pro debut in Areinamo, de Leon, and de la Cruz. It was always going to be interesting to see who got promoted stateside from last year's group. That Rojas and Amador were the only notable bonus players other than Alvarez to get promoted probably bodes well for them.
Since 2006, only 2 19 year olds have posted a wRC+ >150 in A ball with a k rate >35% (min 80 pa): 2026 Astros 3B Xavier Neyens 2013 Rangers 3B Joey Gallo
I know he just returned from missing 2 years with injuries, but danf Forcucci's numbers look really bad 4.2 innings, 4 hits, 5 HBP, 11 walks, 10 runs, 5 Ks in 4 starts
Terrible. He was bumped down to Fayetteville, has gotten sporadic playing time, and has a 29% k rate with no power. He is looking like a guy who is out of favor and his stock is in the toilet.
Updated org top 10 from espn: 1. Xavier Neyens, 3B 3 2. Walker Janek, C 2 3. Ethan Frey, RF 4 4. Ethan Pecko, RHP 8 5. Kevin Alvarez, CF 5 6. Ryan Forcucci, RHP NR 7. Zach Cole, CF 10 8. Anthony Huezo, CF 6 9. Bruce Mayer, RHP NR 10. Albert Fermin, SS NR
