Crooked Pitch

Second base prospect Drew Sutton spent the entire 2008 season in Double-A Corpus Christi for the Astros hitting fairly well. His slash stats were .317/.408/.523 and he hit 39 doubles, 20 home runs, and knocked in 69 in 520 at-bats. But, it’s his sick 41 at-bats in the Arizona Fall League that are causing folks to think about Sutton as an addition to the Astros big club in 2009.

In 41 at-bats at the AFL, Sutton is batting .463/.579/.927 (read:1.506 OPS), has five doubles, four home runs and 14 RBI. He’s impressing Astros brass with his plate discipline and glove work, and his AFL manager feels he’s hitting himself onto the Astros club in 2009.

Said Scottsdale manager Shane Turner, “He’s shown more power that you’d think would come out of that body. He has a pretty good idea of the strike zone.”

Turner said Sutton also has impressed on defense. Because Astros outfielder Brian Bogusevic missed time early in the season because of a tweaked hamstring, Sutton was asked to play in the outfield. He played four games in center, four at third and three at short.

“It’s a hard thing when you move around as much as he does,” Turner said. “But his bat is going to find a position for him. When you make a mistake to him, he’s not going to miss it.”

Sutton is a natural second baseman, but he did play shortstop and third base in 2008. If he continues on this torrid pace, the Astros could give him a chance to win the third base job in Spring Training. These are all big ifs, but Sutton should be on your radar from this point forward.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 30th, 2008 at 11:58 am and is filed under Fall & Winter Leagues, Fantasy Baseball. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.