Zach Levine's new blog post discusses the Maturation of Chia-Jen Lo:
In my brief experience watching him in Corpus Christi in the second half of last year, it seemed as if he was leaning on the fastball, going to it at the first sign of trouble. Scouts I talked to seemed to really like the potential of his stuff and absolutely love his fastball. It was the most glowingly I heard scouts talk about any aspect of an Astros prospect's game last year.
What does Ricky Bennett think?
He really started to show progress with his ability to throw his breaking ball for strikes. I think he gained confidence in doing it. We started to see it a little more often, which is good. He's not there yet, but we definitely saw progress. I know he's going to get an opportunity to compete and make the club in Round Rock. If he comes in and shows us that he's ready to do it, I don't see why he couldn't handle that level."
So he could be in an Astros uniform next year?
"I think that's realistic. That's something that Ed (Wade) and I have talked about. The one thing I like about him is that he's not afraid. He's a pretty mature kid. He's got experience in international competition. I think all those things play a factor. I think it's realistic that we have a chance to see him in 2010."
With this development - the possibility of C-Lo with the Astros - is an interesting one. First, it backs up a promise that the Astros will be more aggressive in promoting their young'uns. Second, it means that someone will lose a job, provided of course that this promotion comes before September 1. So maybe my original thought was too hypothetical, and I'll stop.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
