The Houston Astros are seemingly ready to move forward with another one of their promising young prospects. First baseman Tyler White was told Monday he'd be on the Opening Day roster, which now (for the time being) solves that issue for Houston.
Earlier in spring training general manager Jeff Luhnow said that White and fellow first base prospect A.J. Reed could both make the Opening Day roster, but it was also reported yesterday that Reed would start the season at Triple-A Fresno despite an impressive spring training.
First baseman Jon Singleton, who was the favorite to win the starting job heading into spring training, was also sent down to the minors yesterday after another poor spring training. Check out the stats of the three players side-by-side:
White: .348/.436/.543 with eight runs scored, two home runs and 10 RBI
Reed: .311/.333/.600 with nine runs scored, three home runs and nine RBI
Singleton: .151/.196/.358 with four runs scored, three home runs and seven RBI
White, 25, split last season between Double-A Corpus Christi and Triple-A Fresno, but batted an astonishing .362 with a 1.026 OPS in 57 games at Fresno. He finished the year with 70 runs scored, 14 home runs and 99 RBI. Astros manager A.J. Hinch announced in front of the team Monday that White will make the Opening Day roster.
As for Reed, the 22-year-old had a tremendous 2015 campaign as well. He hit .340 with a 1.044 OPS in 135 games between High Class A Lancaster and Double-A Corpus Christi and added 113 runs scored, 34 home runs and 127 RBI. While Reed is a promising young talent and figures to be a big part of the Astros' future, it makes sense why he was sent down because he has yet to play above Double-A and he could work on cutting back his strikeouts (122 in 523 at-bats last year and 13 in 45 at-bats during spring training).
Additionally, he's played in only 203 minor league games since being drafted in 2014. White has an extra year on Reed and gained the necessary experience last season.
The 24-year-old Singleton may be in trouble after these happenings. He has yet to take the step forward the Astros were expecting him to and it's unknown what the future holds for him. He'll be competing for time at Triple-A with Reed, who is probably the favorite to start at this point, and he's already disappointed in his first 114 MLB games (.171/.290/.331 with 48 runs scored, 14 home runs, 50 RBI and 151 strikeouts).
White will now have first dibs to prove he's the best option at first base for the Astros, but there will be some fervent competition beneath him.
