In The Lab: Five Good Astros Questions with Astros Future’s Jimmy Price

The lab is first and foremost a place where we get to learn more about baseball. As much as I would love to pass myself off as an expert in all things, that would be the height of hubris and would deprive all of us the opportunity to avail ourselves of genuine expertise. As most of you know, Jimmy Price has been contributing here at the Crawfish Boxes for some time.

He also has his individual venture called Astros Future . I wanted to learn more about the process of evaluating younger players and how statistics are used to predict which minor leaguers will make it and which ones won’t. Jimmy seemed like the perfect resource to tap into.

The Crawfish Boxes: Most dedicated fans know about the five tools. Has there ever been consideration of adding plate discipline as a sixth tool or should it be folded into the hit tool? Jimmy Price: Great question.

I think it is built into the hit tool right now. If a guy has big power but poor pitch selection, his hit tool will falter. But if someone has great plate discipline and selection, their hit tool could still fall if they don’t make enough contact.