Quote:
Originally Posted by BigRedChief
because the Astros picked in top 11 for 7/9 years. Multiple top 5 picks including 2 #1’s that everyone agreed was far and away a better player than the rest doesn’t mean Ludhow is a lucky GM. But..... we kept the wrong one. we haven’t had a lineup to rival or even get close to the current Astros lineup since those
Walker/Beltran/Berkman/Pujols/Rolen/Edmonds etc. lineups.
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The Astros have an amazing developmental system. They take D+ guys and turn them into B+ guys.
If it was just about tanking then the Reds or Marlins would have done it, too.
https://www.theringer.com/mlb/2019/6...great-scouting
"As a result, the Astros are dominating the minors even more than the majors. In 2018, four years removed from the franchise’s last no. 1 pick, Astros pitchers led their league in strikeout rate at six successive levels, from MLB down to short-season A-ball. (At the seventh level, Rookie ball, their rank sank all the way to second.) Weighted by playing time, the average age of those minor-league pitchers above Rookie ball, 22.9, was the lowest of any AL organization. Astros hitters above Rookie ball, meanwhile, were second in walk-to-strikeout ratio and—despite not playing in any notably offense-friendly parks—fourth in home-run rate. And as for wins—well, Astros minor-league teams led all organizations in combined winning percentage above Rookie ball (.585), short-season A-ball (.587), full-season A-ball (.589), and High-A (.592).
The way they did that is telling, too. According to TrackMan data, Astros hitters led the minors in pull percentage and the percentage of balls hit in the air. Despite that power-centric approach, they chased balls at the third-lowest rate and maintained an above-average contact rate. On the pitching side, Astros minor leaguers led all teams in fastball velocity, breaking-ball spin rate, off-speed-pitch percentage, percentage of four-seam fastballs thrown in the upper third of the zone, and whiffs per swing. Name a data-driven developmental trend in today’s game, and the Astros aren’t just at or near the forefront of it at the big-league level, but they’re also grooming the current roster’s replacements from Triple-A down to the Dominican Summer League."
Read that article. It's an absolute indictment of the Cadinals' approach since he left, and it demonstrates who the real mover was in the organization when Luhnow was here.