David Kohl – USA TODAY Sports
It’s no secret that the Houston Astros are rebuilding, that there is tremendous talent waiting and that they’re building for the future. It all sounds well and good, but people want concrete evidence as to why their team is doing so badly currently.
Here it is: the triple-A Oklahoma City RedHawks, double-A Corpus Christi Hooks, Advanced-A Lancaster JetHawks, Class-A Quad City River Bandits, short-season Tri-City ValleyCats and Rookie league Greeneville Astros are all in first place in their respective divisions. The Hooks and the JetHawks have already clinched playoff berths by finishing in first in the first half of the season.
Combined, the Astros system is 376-271 for a .581 winning percentage. If I may be so bold as to project that to the major league level, that is higher than any winning percentage in the AL West. In an ideal world (however unrealistic) scenario, that means that when that minor league system spits out some major league ball players, the Astros will be winning the division.
It’s been said before, but it’s worth stating again: the Astros have cause to be excited.
All Astros fans should be checking in on their minor league teams on a daily basis just as often as they check in on the Astros themselves. It’s worth it. George Springer and Mike Foltynewicz are the guys that will be headlining Astros news within the next couple of years.
It’s time to start paying attention to the Houston ‘Lastros’ because they won’t be in last for very much longer. Every single minor league team has numerous players to pay attention to. GM Jeff Luhnow has done everything right in building this system from the ground up, and the ceiling keeps rising for the rookie GM.
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