Jonathan Arauz 2022

[interloper]

It's gonna be interesting when Urias comes back. You have to think either Martin or Nevin will go back down. 

You have to like Arauz's size and defensive ability. It's too small of a sample to conclude much of anything, but the fact that he's 23 is pretty big. Could he be like a Gutierrez that plays more positions?

Agree with others though that it's nearly time for Westburg. Maybe sometime around the break? 

[Tony-OH]

4 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Well, his career MiL OPS of .674 says he probably won’t hit much.   However, he’s a guy who was pushed pretty aggressively through the Astros’ farm system — spent significant time in hi A in his age 19 season, time in AA at age 20.   So, he could grow into hitting a bit more.   

Yeah, definitely had a weird develop growth starting at being 16-years old in the Gulf Coast League with the Phillies. Getting Rule 5 drafted also made him lose a bit of a year so there's room to improve and develop. He's only 23 years old and just six months older than Jordan Westburg.

[Tony-OH]

5 minutes ago, interloper said:

It's gonna be interesting when Urias comes back. You have to think either Martin or Nevin will go back down. 

You have to like Arauz's size and defensive ability. It's too small of a sample to conclude much of anything, but the fact that he's 23 is pretty big. Could he be like a Gutierrez that plays more positions?

Agree with others though that it's nearly time for Westburg. Maybe sometime around the break? 

Nevin needs to be gone anyways. He has no role on this team or really in the big leagues. He's not going to hit enough and while he plays 3B and 1B and has played LF, he not plus in any of them. He's a AAA depth guy who really should be behind a healthy Kelvin Gutierrez.  

[interloper]

1 minute ago, Tony-OH said:

Nevin needs to be gone anyways. He has no role on this team or really in the big leagues. He's not going to hit enough and while he plays 3B and 1B and has played LF, he not plus in any of them. He's a AAA depth guy who really should be behind a healthy Kelvin Gutierrez.  

Nevin makes contact a lot, but doesn't seem to barrel anything up. When he does it goes a long way, but it's so rare. I have to agree, I'd rather watch Guti at 3B. 

By the way, when Arauz was claimed, I just assumed he was like 27 without even bothering to look. But 23 totally changes how I feel about that move. 

[vab]

His swing really looks good. Hit the home run the other day, a hard shot back through the box last night. Doesn't look like what his numbers would indicate. 

[Jammer7]

38 minutes ago, vab said:

His swing really looks good. Hit the home run the other day, a hard shot back through the box last night. Doesn't look like what his numbers would indicate. 

Pretty much everything he has hit was hard. He had a few line outs to the OF as well that were drilled.  He doesn’t have a history of performance, so I get the skepticism here. But my eyes tell me that something has changed for the good. We’ll see. Probably a better option than Nevin and Richie. A part of me wants to see Richie get one last chance to just go out and play. After all the injuries and such, he has worked hard and it shows. Nevin needs to add muscle. 

[interloper]

2 hours ago, vab said:

His swing really looks good. Hit the home run the other day, a hard shot back through the box last night. Doesn't look like what his numbers would indicate. 

I agree, but I'm also keenly aware that Mateo goes through stretches where his offense/swing looks great. So I think that's kind of what we're seeing here. Ability, but probably not consistency. 

[rudyrooster]

I'm liking what I've seen so far (very SSS).  Just 23 years old.  Smart waiver claim for a still rebuilding ballclub.

[MurphDogg]

Will be interesting to see whether he holds his roster spot if he is unavailable for even a day or two.

Seems like not much is lost by putting him on the IL and bringing up Vavra or Westburg (or Henderson).

[RZNJ]

55 minutes ago, MurphDogg said:

Will be interesting to see whether he holds his roster spot if he is unavailable for even a day or two.

Seems like not much is lost by putting him on the IL and bringing up Vavra or Westburg (or Henderson).

Westburg has the most versatility.  He'd actually make the most sense of the three. A RH bat compliment to Odor.  Henderson has no experience at 2B and Vavra isn't a viable option on the left side.

[sportsfan8703]

Villar is out there again. Crazier things have happened. 

[ChuckS]

9 hours ago, RZNJ said:

Westburg has the most versatility.  He'd actually make the most sense of the three. A RH bat compliment to Odor.  Henderson has no experience at 2B and Vavra isn't a viable option on the left side.

We still have Nevin and Urias on the roster for the left side of the infield (Urias can move over to short if Mateo needs a day off).  

It's time for Vavra.  

[RZNJ]

12 minutes ago, ChuckS said:

We still have Nevin and Urias on the roster for the left side of the infield (Urias can move over to short if Mateo needs a day off).  

It's time for Vavra.  

Vavra makes little sense as a reserve who hits LH and main two positions are manned by LH hitters.

[sportsfan8703]

The bench is definitely something that can be tinkered with down the stretch. With Urias back it would be nice to upgrade Arauz and Nevin. We need some pop off the bench. Nottingham?  The internal options are either not better than what we have or guys you don’t want sitting on a bench. 

[ChuckS]

8 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

Vavra makes little sense as a reserve who hits LH and main two positions are manned by LH hitters.

He wouldn't be a reserve for me.  He would be the primary second baseman.  

Unless the plan is to trade him, this is the best time to give him a shot.  It's time to see what he can do.  He's outperformed both Westburg and Henderson offensively at Norfolk.