Astros Select Outfield/Pitcher in Rule 5 Draft

Major League Baseball's Rule 5 Draft took place on Thursday and the Houston Astros selected a former major league outfielder attempting to convert to become a pitcher.

Anthony Gose, who last played in the majors with the Detroit Tigers in 2016 and has played five seasons overall in the majors. He's a speedy outfielder who sports a career .240 batting average, .309 on-base %, and 271 hits to his name. Therefore, he's going to try his hand at toeing the rubber and converting to a pitcher.

Gose began his transformation from hitter to pitcher last season with the single-A Minor League team, the Lakeland Flying Tigers. In 11 games in which he pitched last season there wasn't a ton of success... He was 0-2 with a 7.59 ERA over 10.2 innings pitched. However, batters only hit .189 against him, he struck out 14 batters, and walked only 6.

As a pitcher, it's said that Gose has a wicked fastball that's been clocked at 100mph. It seems like he needs some seasoning as a pitcher but a left handed pitcher who can bring it at triple-digits, I think this was a great selection by the Houston Astros. This is a move that's low risk, high reward, I love it.

For all my sports posts and to hear my inner sports thoughts, make sure to keep up with me on Twitter and Facebook.