Tucker opening season with Triple-A Fresno

The Astros took a good, long look at Kyle Tucker this spring and have decided to keep him close. In fact, they'll keep him just one step away.
MLB.com's No. 16 overall prospect will begin the 2018 season with Triple-A Fresno, according to Minor League roster announcements made by the parent club Friday. Having just turned 21 on Jan. 17, Tucker is likely to be one of the youngest players at the Minors' highest level on Opening Day next Thursday. In 2017, Alex Verdugo was the Pacific Coast League's only player younger than 21 to make an Opening Day roster.

The left-handed-hitting outfielder is coming off a dominant Grapefruit League campaign as a non-roster invitee to Astros camp. Tucker hit .409/.438/.818 with five homers, a triple and a double in 20 games. He led all spring hitters with 21 RBIs and his 1.256 OPS would have ranked second had he accrued enough at-bats to qualify.
Still, the assignment to Triple-A wasn't a given. Tucker split his 2017 season between Class A Advanced Buies Creek and Double-A Corpus Christi and could have been sent back to the Texas League, given his age. The Florida native hit .265/.325/.512 with 16 homers, a triple, 21 doubles and eight stolen bases in 72 games -- half a season -- with the Hooks. Despite the low OBP, that still translated to a 129 wRC+, eighth-highest among the 62 Texas Leaguers with at least 300 plate appearances. Combined with his Buies Creek numbers, Tucker finished with 25 homers and 21 steals, making him one of nine Minor Leaguers to post a 20-20 season in 2017.

The Astros are excited for the 21-year-old's next stage.
"No. 1, he's real explosive," Astros director of player development Pete Putila told MiLB.com earlier his month. "He's a taller, lankier guy, but he runs well. It shows up in his swing. Even if they're able to bust him inside, he can pull his hands in quick. He's got a natural ability to make contact. You couple that with the power he has, and it's a real good package there. Last year at Corpus, he made some adjustments at the plate in terms of his approach, trying to be more selective, trying to be calm instead of taking hacks every time. I think he's one of those guys that can cover a lot of the zone and outside of the zone, which can be a blessing or a curse depending on how you see it. As he moves up the levels, that'll dictate how well he can do. We know he can hit everything. But to hit it for power, we have to make sure he's staying in the zone."
Tucker might not be long for Fresno. Fresh off capturing a World Series title, the Astros don't have many holes in their lineup, but one may exist in left field. Houston is using a platoon of Jake Marisnick and Derek Fisher to cover the third outfield spot next to George Springer and Josh Reddick, and Marwin Gonzalez could join them when Yuli Gurriel returns from his injury and suspension. That may seem like a crowd, but Tucker's ceiling is such that an impressive performance in the PCL could convince the big club he's ready to take the job as early as this summer.
Considering the offensive environment in the Pacific Coast League, the Astros won't be surprised if Tucker posts eye-popping numbers for Fresno.
"Given the way the ball flies in that league, I'm sure he'll do really well there," Putila said.
In other Astros assignment news, No. 3 prospect and 2017 first-rounder J.B. Bukauskas will begin his first full season with Class A Quad Cities -- a conservative assignment for the 21-year-old right-hander and University of North Carolina product. No. 4 prospect Yordan Alvarez is moving up to Double-A Corpus Christi after hitting .304/.379/.481 with 12 homers at Class A and Class A Advanced last season. Top prospect Forrest Whitley has not been assigned a club yet after being suspended for the first 50 games of the season following an undisclosed drug violation.