Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Best of Luck, Gregorio

With Jed Lowrie joining the fray, Gregorio Petit was DFA'd, meaning that the Astros now have 10 days to trade him, or else he becomes a free agent.  This was a predictable move, and probably means that no catcher-related or Fowler-related trade is on the horizon, else the Lowrie signing merely would have been delayed.

Petit enjoyed somewhat of a career resurgence with the Astros in 2014, appearing in the Majors for the first time since 2009.  He posted a pleasant .278/.300/.423 line in 100 plate appearances, with two home runs and 8 doubles.  He walked once against 25 strikeouts.  He was versatile defensively, appearing at second, third and short.  He also possesses a reputation as a great clubhouse guy.

At this stage of the Astros rebuild/upswing, there probably isn't room for both him and Marwin Gonzalez on the roster.  Gonzalez also had a great 2014, posting a similar .277/.327/.400 triple slash in 310 plate appearances.  Gonzalez also logged time at first base and the corner outfield positions - read into that what you want.  Regardless, Gonzalez's career .248/.291/.354 line in 750-odd PA's isn't that much different from Petit's .278/.301/.391 career line in 156 PA's on the surface (with the standard small sample-size caveat).

So, with Petit's future with the Astros uncertain, it makes sense to re-live a couple of Gregorio Petit special moments for 2014.  I recall two - this awesome bit of base-running against the Bo Sox that left Christian Vazquez and Burke Badenhop flummoxed (and Cockroach unable to even describe it), and this three-run jack (on a great pitch) to snap the Angels' 10-game win streak and support a Dallas Keuchal gem.  Feel free to discuss - or add other moments - in the comments.

And here is Petit's MLB highlight archive.  Some fun viewing there!

So whatever happens, best of luck Gregorio, and I hope your ML career continues somewhere.  One-fifty career plate appearances doesn't seem enough to me.