The Book on J.R. Towles

Prospect Info

HOUJ.R. Towles
Born 2/11/1984
C, HOU

When the Astros moved J.R. Towles up to AAA last August, the signs were clear that they intended the youngster for their major league lineup very soon. And after his impressive cup-of-coffee debut in Houston, he might be up to stay already.

Towles earned the AAA promotion after destroying AA ball, hitting .324 with 11 homers and 49 RBIs in only 60 games, and when he finally got a shot in Houston in September, he did not disappoint. In 14 Major League games, the super-prospect catcher raked to a .375 clip and a 1.007 OPS, with one homer, three walks, and (most impressively) only a single strikeout. Though he's had only 40 major league at-bats entering 2008, he already holds the Astros franchise record for RBIs in a single game, thanks to an 8 RBI performance vs St Louis.

Towles is one of the hottest power-hitting catching prospects in baseball. And at age 24, he's just now ready for the big-leagues. A premium catching prospect.

Ranking in Scouting Book: Unranked

Ranking in Baseball America 2008: #53

Ranking in Baseball Prospectus: #54

Ranking in MiLB.com Season Preview Unranked

Ranking from the Sporting News: #35

Ranking from ESPN: #61

Player Updates and Notes

According to the Houston Chronicle, J.R. Towles will be called back up to the Astros tomorrow. He's been hitting well in the minors, so his second stint this season could easily outshine his first.

7/1/2008 by KDaddy

After hitting .145 this season, Houston star prospect J.R. Towles is on the way back to Triple-A. The future star was a major disappointment in Houston after promising great things with his .301/.389/.471 line in the minors. Still, he's only 24 and will almost certainly be back in the big leagues soon, especially since the next-best catcher on the Houston depth chart is the one they just drafted, 20-year old Stanford catcher Jason Castro. Towelie will be back before the year's over.

6/7/2008 by KDaddy

 

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