Manager Bo Porter meets the Houston Astros’ future - MLB News
Houston Astros’ newly appointed Manager Bo Porter has plenty to do. He has a young team that has lost over a 100 games each in the last two seasons. Also, he has a new coaching staff and has expectations of better returns in near future to live up to. The
situation though has not deterred his resolve to bring the team back on track and he has already been active in doing just that.
He recently visited the Arizona Fall League to have a look at the future prospects of the Houston Astros. Several Astros are playing for the Mesa Solar Sox, one of the AFL teams. The manager, who attended three games, was pleased to see the performance of
the youngsters. He also took them to Outback Steakhouse for dinner.
Porter was quite impressed by the talent on show and was glad to have an up-close and personal look. "Obviously, you hear all the great things that are being said about them, but it's another thing when you see it for your own eyes," he said.
Those on show included top pitching prospect Jarred Cosart. “He is young for his age as far as pitching goes, but he's a mature young player," he said.
The 22-year-old showed good command on his change-up as well as other secondary pitches to go with is his fastball which is in the high 90’s. The right-handed pitcher was also pleased with the manager visiting the Astros’ players participating in the AFL.
In the hitters, first base-man Jonathan Singleton got accolades from the manager, who considered him to be as good as he has been described to him. He was fairly impressed by the hitter who was acquired from the Philadelphia Phillies last year.
Out-fielder George Springer, who was a first round pick by the Astros in 2011 was also impressive. Currently playing centre-field, he was praised for his strength and range as the manager compared him with a young Torii Hunter.
Porter also took a liking to Bobby Borchering. The 22-year-old who had moved around the field in various positions will now remain at third base, a move that the manager believes will help him gain confidence and help in improving his performance.
"He's making strides at third base," Porter said. "One of the things that's slowed him developing is he's moved around the diamond so much."
Other players from the Astros who are a part of the Mesa Solar Sox include reliever Chia-Jen Lo, in-fielder Jiovanni Mier, starting pitchers Nick Tropeano and Alex Sogard.
The manager believed that these players will be part of the future as well as the present of the Houston Astros. The show of confidence and belief in the youngster by Bo Porter will certainly help the players in a big way and will give them a lot of self-belief
as well. We can certainly expect these guys to continue the good work for the Mesa Solar Sox in the AFL and play their part for the Astros in the near future.
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