RHP Andrew Robinson is this year's Astros County Adopt-a-Player, so he should be familiar to those who have been following us here for a while. The Astros drafted Robinson in the 12th round in 2010, and Astros County had a quick report on him then.
So, how has he done so far? The Astros appear to be working on stretching him out to start after he spent his college career at Georgia Tech as a reliever. Early results were promising in 2010 at Tri-City, where he posted a 2.83 ERA in 54 IP that included 7 starts in 20 appearances. He showed a 4.6K/BB ratio to go with a 2.2GB/FB rate and a minuscule .33 HR/9. While these results led some to hope Andrew would have a breakout season this year, that hasn't been the case.
Andrew has had a rough season and has seen his stats slide as a result. Including a week long stint at Corpus where he got in 3.1 IP, Andrew's ERA jumped to 6.21 this year, while his K/BB rate slid to 2.4 and his GB/FB ratio has fallen to 1.7. While those numbers might not have hurt as much as a reliever, when you combine them with an opponents BA of .319 and a HR rate of 1.4/9 this year you get a recipe for many rough outings, especially as a starter. His FIP at Lancaster this season is 4.96, which indicates some of this may be bad luck, but at 23 years old, Andrew needs to get back on track next season to get himself back on the radar.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
