#Braves signed C/1B Willians Astudillo to minors deal. Won FSL batting title (.314) in #Phillies system in 2015. (Hat tip: @Galindosky07)
— Matt Eddy (@MattEddyBA) November 16, 2015
There are so many players in baseball that there are bound to be statistical anomalies. Willians Astudillo was one of those players. If you were grading raw tools his look something like this.
Hit – 80
Power – 20
Speed – 20
Arm – 50
Glove – 30
He could hit any baseball, he never struck out (10 times in 2015), he never walked (8 unintentional walks in 2015), he had 121 successful hits in 2015, only 21 were for extra base hits (that is a .070 ISO).
But he cannot catch (well he could before a knee injury in 2013 ended his mobility), he can’t play the outfield, and his 5’9″ RH frame is not an ideal first baseman. At 24 years old there wasn’t a lot of hope his body was changing at all. Even as a catcher he sat behind Knapp, Alfaro, Lino, Rivero, Grullon, Bossart, and others in the Phillies’ system.
He did however, give us one of the greatest moments of the 2015 minor league season (photo by Baseball Betsy)
I assume Astudillo is the shorter guy. Who is the other guy in the photo? What is the story behind the photo?
It is Carlos Tocci. Just two players standing next to each other at spring training looking like Bert and Ernie
Not sure if there’s a story behind the picture, but the taller guy i think is Carlos Tocci.
Well, if he sees any time in High-A next year, I’ll likely see him around town.
I said this on Fangraphs awhile ago, but ISTM Astudillo would have had a shot as a major-leaguer in the 1970s or earlier — teams didn’t value walks, and smaller benches meant teams could carry an emergency-only 3rd catcher who could pinch-hit and execute the hit-and-run.