Q&A with Houston Astros’ Pete Putila on Kyle Tucker, Daz Cameron, Forrest Whitley, Buies Creek
By Sam Dykstra/MiLB.com
WEST PALM BEACH, Florida — The Astros have a system that’s about as spread out as anyone could hope for heading into the 2017 season. Whether it’s top pitching prospects Francis Martes and David Paulino headed to Triple-A Fresno or 2016 first-rounder Forrest Whitley likely going to Class A Quad Cities, there should be a prospect (or several) with each of the organization’s four full-season affiliates on Opening Day.
On Tuesday, MiLB.com spoke to Pete Putila, about to enter his first season as Astros director of player development, about some of the biggest names and storylines entering the season.
MiLB.com: Forrest Whitley threw today on the back fields and is about to enter his first full season. What have you guys seen from him that makes you think he can hit the ground running?
Putila: He’s one of the one of those pitchers who’s really into mastering his craft. He’s another super makeup type of guy who studies pitching and has a lot of programs pregame. Our pitching coordinator, Doug White, really does a great job. Some organizations, they want to shut down what a guy is doing. Something like Trevor Bauer comes in. As long as it’s within the realm of being healthy for him, we encourage it and support it. For him, he has some big stuff. He has some really good off-speed pitches and a fastball he can pitch. So it’s really about getting consistent with his delivery and staying in the zone because stuff-wise, he’s pretty dominant. He just has to be in the zone.
MiLB.com: One of the non-prospect storylines entering the season is that you guys will be moving your Class A Advanced affiliate from Lancaster, which was very friendly toward hitters, to Buies Creek. What effect do you think the move will have on how you evaluate players?
Putila: I think it’s going to be good for everybody. Pitchers go [to Lancaster] and everybody starts throwing sinkers and gets away from who they are, just trying to keep the ball out of the air. Hitters, I think they get away with a little bit more. The idea of promoting a guy to get him more of a challenge gets a little bit muddied by that because you can get away with more there. The pitching is more flat because of the wind and the altitude. So it’ll be good for both sides to stick to their game plans and continue playing a normal game instead of playing to the conditions.
MiLB.com: Kyle Tucker enjoyed a strong first full season last year, hitting .285/.360/.438 with nine homers between Quad Cities and Lancaster. What do you guys hope he will do to build on that success?
Putila: The biggest thing with him is he can make contact with everything, almost to a fault. He can make contact out of the zone, and it takes a little bit away from his power production, instead of hitting a gapper when he waits on a pitch he can drive. I think that’s the biggest thing for him we’d like him to work on is stay middle of the plate and really drive the ball because some hitters need to smooth things out to make more contact. With him, he struck out six times in 69 plate appearances in the Cal League. It’s not an issue. But with his positional profile, he’s gained five or 10 pounds of muscle. Driving the ball, adding power, that’s what we want to see out of him.
MiLB.com: One of the stories entering 2016 was how Tucker and fellow 2015 first-rounder Daz Cameron would play off each other, but Cameron hit .143 at Quad Cities before being sent down to Class A Short Season Tri-City and having his season end in July due to a broken thumb? Besides hoping he doesn’t get hurt again, what needs to happen for him to avoid a repeat of what was essentially a lost season?
Putila: Jeff Albert, our hitting coordinator, is working with him, making some adjustments. He actually did a lot of work — unfortunately, it didn’t get to show because he got hurt — in the middle part of the season on his posture and things like that, and we saw some productivity toward the end of the year. He’s got a lot of good pieces in place. He’s really athletic. Nothing jumps out negatively about the stroke. It’s about getting in good position and going from there.
MiLB.com: Francis Martes and David Paulino should be knocking on the door to the Majors in 2017. What kind of polish do they need in the upper levels to finish off their development?
Putila: I think Paulino’s a little further along in terms of honing in his delivery. He’s gotten to pitch at a higher level [with three Major League appearances]. He’s gotten the feedback from hitters that guys aren’t going to chase as much. They’re going to foul pitches off. They’re going to battle. He’s cleaned some things up in his delivery. He has some counter rotation. He’s trying to be a little simpler to the plate. And he has really good stuff across the board. So he’s a little more advanced there, whereas Martes is just starting to getting a taste of the big leagues in Spring Training. He had a rough outing his last time out [allowing one earned run on one hit and two walks in 1/3 of an inning], but as long as he takes it as some feedback for something to work on, he’ll be OK. He needs to be more consistent with his delivery and be in the zone because he’s 94–98 [mph]. He has a power breaker. The stuff is there. Just stay focused, stay in the zone, be consistent with his delivery, whether it’s out of the windup or the stretch. That’s a big thing for him. It’s a good experience for him to be up there and get that, so he can be focused on what he needs to do to get to that next level, rather than being down here and feeling he needs to get up there. I think it’s very clear to him.
