Given Lambert's injury history and this being early in the season, letting him throw 104 pitches is idiotic. When he gets hurt posters will blame this on bad luck.
That list was probably made before he popped that couple of homers. To that point he had hit for almost no power and is posting a very low walk rate. So he’s been an extremely high ceiling OF prospect who currently only has a contact tool (with some defensive value). If he hits for some decent power without his k rate spiking I bet he will be on most Top 100 lists by the end of the year.
All early games today. Max Holy is currently 2-2 with a double and a run scored in his first game with Corpus.
Down at the complex, Angel Peralta allowed a hit and struck out three over five shutout innings. Peralta, a 19-year-old from the Dominican Republic, went 3-2 with a save and a 3.74 ERA in 12 appearances (8 starts) for the DSL Orange team last season. In 45.2 innings, Peralta allowed 20 runs (19 earned) on 31 hits (1 HR allowed), walked 21, and struck out 44. Opponents hit .197 against him.
Well, there really wasn't anything noteworthy today. Unfortunately, Miguel Ullola gave up 5 runs in 4 innings today and is now sporting a 5.72 ERA for Sugar Land.
Juan Fraide went three innings and allowed a run on two hits, walked one, and struck out four in his first appearance of the year down in the FCL.
As for the pitching signings, he had very little money to work with and had to fill a number of holes. Imai has been disappointing, but not shocked that a lot of the others have struggled. Not all of them have struggled. Lambert and Teng have pitched very well so far. He had limited assets to trade for a pitcher and got Burrows.... and honestly was lucky to get Imai, as the Astros owner did not want a long-term contract on the books. I think the Espada criticism is fair. Dana wanted Espada over candidates outside the organization because he was sick of working with Dusty Baker and wanted someone that would curse him out when discussing the team. Espada was the wrong hire. I wouldn't say one way or the other on Brown building a pitching staff --- he did well most of last year.... and in the past has found Blanco and Kikuchi and Sousa and King and others... I don't think any GM was going to be able to really fill all the holes the Astros had pitching wise after all the injuries.
If I am the agent for Dana Brown, I point out that he took over a dry system, lost a top pick for Walker........ and that the younger players that he has drafted and signed are doing well, with high upside, which is something that Crane wanted and pointed out when he hired Brown. Alvarez and Neyens are both likely to be top 100 prospects at the end of the season, and with their low level of experience and age-- they are on pace to be top tier (top 25 guys) by the time they reach the big leagues. There are also a couple of others that are flashing some serious upside. Of course, if I were Crane, I would ask him why the coaching staff at the upper levels suck and the organization has lost all creativity and innovative thought. On a side note, I think what Brice Matthews does this season will have some impact as well. For all his flaws, he is the type of high ceiling and athlete that Crane said he wanted when he hired Brown.
If both Matthews and Smith end the year with 3+ wins it will be a pretty huge boost to Dana Brown’s case to keep his job. Imai is a wart. Burrows is a wart. The fact that neither of those guys has been worth squat is a huge indictment of the GM. But all the other things that have gone wrong were mostly out of his control. The number of injuries is just staggering even if you assume you have an incompetent training staff.
At some point the GM just has to deliver - but even with Burrows and Imai, he had very limited money and assets to fill two rotation spots and needed guys with some upside. I agree that if he gets praise for Teng and Lambert, he deserves criticism for Burrows and Imai...... but I guess what I am getting at is, for good or bad, Brown has a lot less control than most GM's because of contracts, the system he inherited, and the owner.
I don't blame Brown for Imai --- IMO that was a Crane-mandated move. With regard to Burrows, that move is a dud so far. I applaud the thought process around getting a young and controllable arm. However, you gave up two top prospects for a pitcher who hasn't been effective thus far (unless you count Spring Training games). If Neyens and Alvarez make strides this season (and so far they're looking good in A-ball), i believe that instills confidence that Brown can draft and develop young players. And with four picks in the top 100 this upcoming draft, that's more picks and draft capital that Brown will have had in his tenure as GM with which to go after the best talent available.
Its still so early that this entire subject could do a 180 in a matter of months. Imai has the raw stuff to be a bargain at $21M. I can't argue how bad he has been and appears now. But there is a world where he has a 2024 Hunter Brown type turnaround as soon as this month. Burrows doesn't have TOR stuff, but Dana didn't pay that type of price for him either. He has been among the unluckiest pitchers in MLB and can easily be a solid #3 the rest of the season. It can be argued that Click paid more for a rental Christian Vazquez. Melton has a 99 wRC+ and 40% K rate in AAA for TB as a 25 yr old. Brito's numbers look good but he has fewer than 19 IP over 5 starts in high A ball. Neyens and Alvarez look quite good so far, Matthews is showing promise, and several draft picks are impressing. With the draft slots and $$ available to sign picks this draft should be the best this organization has had in a decade. 6 months from now it is possible we are praising Dana Brown.
D.J. Newman hit his first homer as a pro for Fayetteville tonight. Newman, a former two-way player, was the Astros’ 15th-round pick last summer. Javier Perez continues his strong start to 2026: 6 IP, 4 H (solo HR allowed), 2 ER, BB, 6 K
