Prospecting - Jeron Williams and Austin Deming
Astros 9th and 10th round picks of 2023
I had planned on this being the last installment of this series for the time being and it probably is in this format, but I plan on providing information on prospects more often moving forward, likely at the end of the daily updates in season.
We’ll see how that develops and in what form.
Today we take a look at 2023 ninth-round pick Jeron Williams and tenth-rounder Austin Deming and then do some housekeeping at the end.
Jeron Williams - Round 9, 284th Overall
The Astros signed the 6’1, 180-pound Williams out of the University of Toledo last July.
Williams plays mainly on the left side of the infield and is listed as a shortstop and third baseman.
His two seasons at the college level brought a slash of .367/.428/.557 with 17 HR, 78 RBI and a crazy 72 stolen bases in 77 attempts.
Williams played a couple of games last summer with the FCL Astros before moving up and seeing action in 18 games with Single-A Asheville, where his power disappeared, slashing .211/.375/.211, with all 13 of his hits being singles.
The good news is his stolen base numbers were still on point, perfect as a matter of fact - 9 attempts, 9 successes.
Williams started games at second (6), third (8) and short (3) for Asheville.
Austin Deming - Round 10, 314th Overall
The Astros selected the Murray, Utah native out of Brigham Young University after a stellar 2023 collegiate season that saw Deming slash .418/.484/.915 with 19 homers and 68 RBI in just 165 at-bats.
Deming was out of college eligibility and signed for just $7,500 despite the slot value being $164,400.
He, too played a couple of games for the FCL Astros before moving on to A+ Asheville, where the 24-year-old Deming struggled mightily in 88 at-bats.
The 6’0, 200-pounder managed just a .159/.282/.216 slash line and struck out 34 times.
In Other News
I’ll be finalizing the preseason projections in the next couple of days as the roster becomes firmer (hopefully) and have decided this season to just release them all at once.
Watched a fair amount of the Seoul Series and caution against making sweeping judgments based on two games, especially in this unique setting, but a couple of things stood out to me.
For someone who was talked about as a “top 5 pitcher in the league right now” even before his MLB debut, Yamamoto sure didn’t look the part. I know there’s an adjustment period, different baseballs, etc., but no one bothered to mention that when writing about Cy Young and Rookie of the Year Awards.
Not sure how good the Padres are going to be, but they could well finish better than last year’s 82-80 record despite their turnover in personnel for no other reason than improving on the 9-23 mark in one-run games.
As for the Dodgers, they’ll likely mash their way to the NL West title, but they need to get healthy on the mound considering what they had out there in game 2 of the season. Yikes.
Parker will have another article on Astros history coming before the season starts.
We have bought tickets for two games with the Brewers at Minute Maid Park in mid-May.
For one of them, we’ll be sitting in the Crawford Boxes and we’re excited about that, but before then we’ll see Sugar Land in Round Rock on March 30.
Thanks for reading!