The Astros have promoted their top pitching prospect, right-hander Francis Martes, reports Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle (on Twitter). Martes will initially work out of the Astros’ bullpen, Kaplan adds. With Houston already at the 40-man limit, it’ll need to drop someone in order to make room for Martes.
The Astros are the second major league organization for the Dominican-born Martes, who originally signed with the Marlins as an international free agent in 2012. Martes joined the Astros in 2014 as part of a trade involving Jarred Cosart and Jake Marisnick, among others, and has since blossomed into a high-end prospect. In its most recent prospect rankings, MLB.com places Martes 15th. Meanwhile, Baseball America (17th), FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen (18th), Baseball Prospectus (28th) and ESPN’s Keith Law (37th) also have high hopes for the 21-year-old.
Unlike last season, when he handled Double-A with a 3.30 ERA 9.41 K/9 and a 43.9 percent ground-ball rate across 125 1/3 innings, Martes has struggled to produce positive results this year. In his first taste of Triple-A action, Martes has pitched to a 5.29 ERA over eight starts and 32 1/3 frames. Along the way, Martes has struck out an impressive 10.58 batters per nine, but his walk rate has shot from 3.38 last year to 7.79 this season and his grounder mark has dropped to 39.4 percent.
Despite his subpar output this year, Martes’ stuff could pave the way for him to immediately hold his own out of the Astros’ already loaded bullpen. Martes has two above-average pitches – a 93 to 96 mph fastball that can reach the high 90s and a quality curveball – per MLB.com, which notes that he also possesses an improving changeup and a developing slider.
It’s unclear if Martes will get an opportunity to start in the majors this year, but he could figure into the mix at some point if the Astros don’t get more from their complementary rotation pieces. While Dallas Keuchel and Lance McCullers Jr. have thrived in 2017, the rest of the Astros’ starters have battled injuries and/or ineffectiveness. Nevertheless, the team is a major league-best 42-18 and has already established a 12-game lead in the American League West. Now, a Houston club with no shortage of young talent will get a look at yet another potential long-term cog.
With regards to service time, Martes should fall short of Super Two eligibility if he spends the rest of the season with the Astros. As a result, he wouldn’t make a trip through arbitration until after the 2020 season or qualify for free agency until the conclusion of the 2023 campaign. But Martes’ promotion could be a short one to aid a bullpen that Kaplan notes is currently “taxed.”
Let off the gas a little, will you Houston? Been stepping on our necks all season(and probably for a few more)…
Aren’t you supposed to play like that every game…?
There stepping off the gas by bringing him up. I think he can be really good someday, but he’s not ready yet.
That’s what happens when a good team suddenly happens to be in a division where the other four teams are under .500, and playing nearly half their games against those four teams. Mix that with a weak AL Central. And then being good enough to fight off the East. The Astros’ schedule suddenly became very easy. Almost too easy.
Half of their losses have come from two teams in the AL central.
The Astros are for real
Their entire division has the same exact schedule so I would say it’s the same level of difficulty for all of them
Pitching in the PCL is certainly tough, but a 7.8 walk rate is unsightly.
I’ll show ya unsightly…
The current Fresno grizzlies have seven players that would be on major-league roster’s with another organization
Yep. The Astros certainly can at least get a #4 starter or a #3 rental for some guys who are completely blocked. IE J.D Davis, Moran, Hernandez. AJ Reed and Fisher are pieces to fit with say a Martes in a deal for Garrett Cole.
I think every Astro prospect is available outside of Tucker and Franklin Perez. Perez is an under the radar name. But he’s a 4 pitch kid whose up to 96 mph now with command. Suspect he will be a top tier rhp prospect at years end on lists.
Yordan Alvarez. We stole him from LAD. he’s been unreal.
He is probably up for awhile if he performs in the pen. It will limit his innings and they then can send him down to stretch him out if they think he can be an asset in the rotation late in the year.
But if he is succeeding in the pen, he may end up never starting again.
I’d look for upper 90s out of the pen. However he has hung his breaking ball often. It’s plus when he doesn’t, but it will get hit if he Does. He tends to fly open and leave his fastball up at times.
Still he could be an immediate threat out of the pen. Too athletic to keep him there though.
Possible showcase piece for a non-waiver deadline trade.?
Francis Martes wasn’t adding to his value as a starter in the hitter-friendly PCL but might increase it some as a reliever on an MLB roster. He was reportedly sought by the White Sox as part of a package for Jose Quintana this past offseason. Perhaps those talks will be revisited as the deadline approaches. In addition, the White Sox would surely have interest in many of those Astro positional prospects that are being blocked at the MLB level.
Every rookie prospect is getting showcased. The Astros can use there lead to explore internal options.
Sure, but will they trust any of those internal options to fill a rotation spot behind Dallas Keuchel and Lance McCullers Jr. during the postseason? The Astros might even have more of an immediate urgency with Keuchel on the D.L. and pending the prognosis of his neck injury.
Not sure what Martes has done so far this season to warrant a call up?
A .299 batting average against and a 2.10 WHIP is awful in AAA.
That’s PCL so it’s a extremely hitter friendly league. Martes did struggle in Triple A but those stats aren’t 100% accurate. He’s coming out of the bullpen too.
You’re right, those stats aren’t 100% accurate – he has a .296 batting average against.
Also, he has 7.79 BB/9. Being in an “extremely hitter friendly league” may be part of his issues this year, but it has been far from the only issue.