When 20-year-old top prospect Jordan Lyles takes the mound for the Houston Astros on Tuesday night to make his much-anticipated major league debut against the Chicago Cubs at "The Friendly Confines" of historic Wrigley Field, it represents another victory for assistant general manager/director of scouting Bobby Heck, who accepted the task of overseeing the rebuilding process of the team's depleted farm system upon being hired by general manager Ed Wade in October 2007.
Heck continues to grow into one of the most popular figures within the organization, as well as the Astros' fan base, for putting together three consecutive solid Draft classes, which has included Jason Castro (2008), Lyles (2008), Jiovanni Mier (2009), Delino DeShields Jr. (2010), Mike Foltynewicz (2010) and Mike Kvasnika (2010) as first-round and first-round supplemental picks.
As Houston moves forward in restoring the farm system, Heck initially laid the foundation of success in the 2008 First-Year Player Draft by selecting Castro (10th overall) out of Stanford University and a talented high-school pitcher in Lyles (38th overall).
Both Castro and Lyles have ranked as the organization's top prospect while receiving national recognition from major publications, such as Baseball America, who rated Castro (No. 41 in 2010) and Lyles (No. 42 in 2011) on their annual Top 100 Prospects list.
Furthermore, they've been selected to represent the Astros at the All-Star Futures Game on separate occasions over the last two seasons.
Although Castro may miss the entire 2011 campaign after undergoing right knee surgery in early March to repair a torn ACL and a damaged meniscus, the long-term plan in Houston revolves around the 24-year-old catcher holding down the starting job and building rapport with Lyles and the entire pitching staff.
Heck's arrival in Houston nearly four years ago has generated an increasing interest in the farm system from all sides of the Astros' spectrum, with the foundation of Castro and Lyles creating a strong sense of hope that better days are on the horizon.
For Heck, it's always a rewarding experience to receive word that one of his draftees has gotten the call-up and will make their major league debut.
Castro made it a reality on June 22, 2010, and now Lyles will get his shot Tuesday night at Wrigley Field against one of Major League Baseball's most historic teams in the Chicago Cubs, thus officially marking the second of Heck's draft picks since 2008 to make it.
Heck couldn't be more proud of Castro and Lyles.
"Castro made it within a two-year window," Heck said. "We did rush him a little bit. Mentally, he was ready to handle that. The defensive side of things is really good. We think he's going to hit. When you get to the big leagues and it's the first time you struggle or have failure, that's a really tough place to learn. You have advanced scouts picking you apart. We're confident that he'll continue to evolve and develop into a productive offensive catcher.
"With Lyles being in Major League camp this spring, you knew he was going to have a great shot at making the team coming out. He wound up starting at Triple-A, but you knew he was going to be in the rotation in 2011 at some point, barring any injuries. The thing that has impressed us the most regarding Lyles is he's answered every single thing we've put in front of him."
The pipeline of minor league talent on Heck's watch began to flow with Castro and Lyles, and soon others, such as J.B. Shuck and J.D. Martinez, could be on the way to the big leagues.
At this point, Mier, DeShields, Foltynewicz, Kvasnicka, Tanner Bushue, Ariel Ovando and the majority of the young, high-priced minor league talent for Houston are currently working their way up at the lower Class A levels, particularly at Class A Lexington.
"We added a third short-season club after my first year," Heck said. "We didn't have a great talent pool at that point, which actually made it even harder to catch up. The way we have competed at the lower levels, from Class A ball and down, has been outstanding.
"We won a championship at Tri-City last season. It's the sign that the funnel is starting to happen. Our group at [Double-A] Corpus Christi this season is a younger group filled with more prospects than what it has been in the past. We're starting to see the push upward."
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