4:25pm: Bukauskas will get a $3.6MM bonus, per MLB.com’s Jim Callis (via Twitter), which lands just $11,800 over the 15th pick’s allotment.
10:56am: The Astros have agreed to terms with first-round pick J.B. Bukauskas, reports Mark Berman of Houston’s FOX 26 (on Twitter). The former UNC right-hander is in Houston to complete his physical and formally sign his contract.
Bukauskas was a top draft prospect out of high school back in 2014, though he fell to the 20th round after asking teams not to select him. The D-backs took a shot on swaying him anyhow, though he rather predictably honored his commitment to North Carolina. This time around, he entered the draft rated as the No. 6 overall prospect, per Baseball America. Meanwhile, Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com ranked him seventh, while ESPN’s Keith Law rated him ninth and Fangraphs’ Eric Longenhagen ranked him 12th.
Bukauskas is a bit undersized, as he’s listed at 6’0″ and 195 pounds, though scouting reports across the board give him credit for a plus fastball and slider combination. Baseball America, in fact, calls his slider “the nation’s best breaking pitch,” noting that it consistently receives 70-grade ratings on the 20-80 scale, with some scouts placing an 80 on the pitch. He also has a changeup that has, in the past rated as an above-average offering but was rarely used this past season with the Tar Heels. Callis and Mayo, like others, note that there’s concern that he could end up pitching out of the bullpen, though they add that if he does ultimately prove to be a reliever, Bukauskas has closer upside.
Quick stops in Quad Cities 1 start , Buies Creek 1 start …. Corpus Christi 2 starts, Fresno 2 starts….. and I’m predicting a September call up for this kid.
Great arm, possibly the 1st 2017 draft pick to the bigs. Could be a nice bullpen piece at the end of the season.
the Astros already have one of the best bullpens in baseball. There’s no reason to rush him.
14th in ERA. I love my Astros, but the middle relief is only okay.
I hope this guy is a future contributor.
That number’s skewed from the blowouts and AAA guys used to mop up with little success (Tolliver, Diaz, Jankowski, etc.). No other bullpen in baseball has 4 guys as good as Gregerson, Harris, Giles, and Devinski.
not to mention Peacock, who isn’t even supposed to be in the rotation.
Oh yeah, I forgot he’ll be back to the pen as well. Hopefully he can transition back easily and is as effective as he was in the pen before moving to the rotation.
Best and most used. Look at the number of innings the pen has so far, almost 300 innings. That’s 6th most in the league.
Devo, Harris, Giles etc can’t continue that pace and be expected to pitch well in October.
The guys we’ve brought up have been horrible. And, Martes will likely be traded.
This guy has been singled out as one of the pitchers that is most ready for the bigs.
100 innings in college….. no innings in June.
If he pitches in 6 minor league games, 36-40 innings. So he’d be ok to pitch 20 innings if relief I’d bet.
But, if all the starters come back healthy, we’ll be looking at Fiers and Musgrove in the pen as well. And we will likely add a LH reliever that will probably replace Feliz.
Good pen for sure but gotta keep them fresh.
astros DL would make up a good starting rotation. once they come back, hopefully that is alleviated.
no reason a team as good and deep as the astros should ever rely on rushing a draft pick.
How sure can we be that he’ll out perform Feliz and Hoyt? Hoyt was the most dominant AAA reliever in recent memory, and Feliz is a former top 100 prospect. Both guys have similar tier present stuff to JB, with a track record of professional success.
It’s not a given at all that Martes will be traded…
If the Astros need a fireballing pitcher capable of giving them fresh innings, they can call up Dean Deetz who will need to be added to the 40 man anyways, and that way they won’t be starting the clock and messing with the development of one of their top 3 pitching prospects for a marginal bullpen upgrade.
Also they’re going to win the division, so even if they lose a few games due to a gassed pen, it’s not a huge deal, because the extra rest in the playoffs will keep the pen fresh enough to use the top relievers effectively.
Nobody’s coming up to the majors this year from this draft class, I doubt. It’s happened a handful of times, and besides the obvious successes (Sale, Ryan Zimmermann, Andrew Miller eventually). Most of the pitchers who made the majors the same season were pure relievers – Paco Rodriguez, Joey Devine, Ryan wagner, Chad Cordero). I’m sure the Astros didn’t spend that much money on a guy unless they were going to try to develop him as a starter. Bukauskas has already thrown 93 innings this year.
I highly doubt he’ll be a September call up… He’s already pitched around 100 innings this year for NC.
Sky’s the limit for him next year as far as level advancement goes, but he’s been worked a good bit already this year. Let him build some confidence through SS and A ball then explode starting at A+ next season. That’s still a very rapid promotion for a talented, mid-1st round college pitcher.
Mid first rounder that graded as top 6.
Read the scouting reports on him, he’s going to move quick.
If the Astros only want to ever use him as a reliever – which is possible, since he has a reliever’s build – then maybe he gets a look early next year, but I think they want to see if he can make it as a starter first. Most relievers are failed starters anyway, but if you start a player out on that relief path, it tends to be hard to convert him, at the major-league level, to starting.
Interesting comments, but why in that world would they rush him up this year. All of these comments also assume Astros won’t trade for a reliever. I think they will trade for 1 maybe 2. A good lefty like Doolittle or Britton, that have been injured and maybe had for a less. Tons of relievers will be traded by teams this year. Wilson from Detroit would be a possibility too I’m sure.
Not implying he’ll be a 25 man call up, rather called up when rosters expand.
Man, that last name. 75% of people probably think of a different word when they first see that last name.
I’m pretty sure the Astros will rely on the AA and AAA guys for pitching depth.