I love toolsy prospects (see Villar), and typically pull for them to put it together. On the flip side, polished bats whose tools do not project well I just sit back and enjoy the ride. I wrote up Muren in my under-the-radar review; I'm definitely happy for the guy.
I have a friend who won tickets from the radio here in Lubbock to go to the 6/19 AA game vs. Midland (including bus trip), hope I can get off work.
Sunday Stories One hit gave OKC all the offense it needed. Rob Rasmussen made his... I'm not sure how much his debut was anticipated. But he made his Astros debut. The People's GM probably has a plethora of great things to say about George Springer. Nolan Fontana will probably be walking his way to Houston at this rate. Recap In their final game before the Triple-A All-Star break, OKC topped New Orleans 3-2. Carlos Corporan's 3-run homer (4) in the 2nd was good enough for the victory. Angel Sanchez went 3-3 with a double. Dallas Keuchel allowed 2 hits in 3 shutout innings. No word on why his start was cut short. Aneury Rodriguez got the win, pitching 3 scoreless of his own, walking 1 and striking out 1. Adalberto Flores didn't have any problems in the 7th, but it got a bit hairy in the 8th, as he allowed both New Orleans runs (1 solo homer). Hector Ambriz cleaned up nicely, getting the final 2 outs of the inning. Mickey Storey got the save by striking out 2 in a 1-2-3 9th. Rob Rasmussen made his debut for the Houston Astros organization as the Corpus Christi Hooks were in Tulsa to take on the Drillers in the opener of a 3-game set. He was alright. Nothing spectacular. Rasmussen went 5 innings, allowing 3 runs (2 earned) on 5 hits (back-to-back solo homers) and striking out 2. He did not factor into the decision as Arcenio Leon failed miserably in the 7th, after having a relatively painless 6th. He allowed 4 runs in the inning, 2 coming on solo homers, as the Hooks were bested 7-4. Jonathan Villar led off the game with a homer, his 10th of the season. Drew Locke went 3-5 with an RBI single, Kody Hinze added a sac fly, and Drew Muren tripled and hit a solo homer (1, 4 season) in the 6th that tied the game at 3. Jeff Luhnow was treated to another show in Lancaster as the Jethawks knocked off Stockton 10-8. George Springer, in his words, en fuego tonight, as he went 4-4 with 3 doubles, 2 RBI, and 2 steals (20). Enrique Hernandez joined in on the fun, as he went 3-4 with an RBI single and an RBI double. Jonathan Meyer also had 3 hits (going 3-5) and chipped in with an RBI single. Grant Hogue, Rene Garcia, and Alex Todd also drove in runs. Domingo Santana had a single in the 3rd to extend his hitting streak to 15 games. Jorge De Leon got the win despite being ineffective as usual, as he allowed 8 runs (6 earned) on 11 hits (3-run homer) in 6 innings, walking and fanning 2. Carlos Quevedo made his Lancaster debut and promptly got a 3-inning save, walking 1 (the only baserunner he had) and striking out 5. Lexington was doubled up by Hagerstown 6-3. Not only were they swept, they're now on a 6-game losing streak. All 3 runs came in the top of the 1st, on a Justin Gominsky RBI double and a 2-run single from Mike Kvasnicka. Gominsky's having a nice run as of late; he's now on a 7-game hitting streak, and this was his 4th straight game with 2 hits. Matt Duffy went 2-3 with a double and walked twice. Delino DeShields went 0-3 with 2 walks, 2 strikeouts, and a stolen base (62). Nolan Fontana had his 2nd multi-walk game, going 1-2 with 3 walks, a steal (3), and a strikeout (well, it was bound to happen eventually). Jonas Dufek did not have a very good start... in 4 innings, he allowed 6 runs on 8 hits (2 solos and a 2-run shot), walking 2 and striking out 1. Tom Shirley pitched 2 scoreless innings, allowing a hit, a walk, and striking out 5. Gabriel Garcia finished with 2 perfect innings, striking out 1. In a uncharacteristically poor pitching performance, Tri-City was roughed up 10-5 by Aberdeen. The Ironbirds teed off Brian Holmes for 3 1/3 innings. He allowed 7 runs on 6 hits, walking 4 and striking out 4. Juan Minaya allowed 2 runs (1 earned) in 1 2/3 innings, striking out 3. Jamaine Cotton was unscathed in his relief appearance, as he tossed 3 scoreless, allowing 2 hits and striking out 5. John Neely allowed an unearned run in the 9th. Joe Sclafani went 2-4 with 2 RBI and a steal (3). Andrew Aplin went 3-5. Jesse Wierzbicki added an RBI of his own. Jobduan Morales was 0-2, but he managed to draw 2 walks and score 2 runs. Greeneville's bats were silenced against Bristol, as they fell 5-2. Jean Carlos Batista had an RBI groundout in the 3rd, and Marc Wik had a pinch-hit RBI single. Frederick Tiburcio went 5 innings, allowing 4 runs on 5 hits, walking 1 and striking out 5. Christian Garcia struck out the side in order in the 7th. Game Scores Dallas Keuchel: 53 Rob Rasmussen: 49 Jorge De Leon: 24 Jonas Dufek: 21 Brian Holmes: 20 Frederick Tiburcio: 45 Three Stars 3. Carlos Corporan, C, Oklahoma City 1-4, 3-R HR (4) Looks like one swing of the bat was good enough to give OKC the win. 2. Drew Muren, CF, Corpus Christi 2-4, 3B, HR (1 with Corpus, 4 season) Is it safe to say that he's cemented his spot in Corpus now? He looks to be another one of those late-bloomer types with pretty good athleticism (reportedly the fastest man on the Tri-City roster last season, despite being built like Kevin Martin). 1. George Springer, CF, Lancaster 4-4, 3 2B, 2 RBI, 2 SB (20) Shot for a 30-30 season? Definitely. Should be on his way to Corpus in a few weeks. Honorable Mentions Carlos Quevedo, P, Lancaster: Great debut in the Hangar. His excellent command should prevent him from falling victim to the Lancaster Effect on a consistent basis. Tom Shirley, P, Lexington: Great to see Shirley picking up right where he left off before blowing out his knee almost 2 years ago. Enrique Hernandez, UTIL, Lancaster: I listed him as a utility guy because that's probably his ultimate ceiling. Can you believe that he's only 20? (Will turn 21 on August 24) Hernandez has some decent offensive skills for his age. I wouldn't be overly surprised if he reprises a utility role in Corpus next year, but he's young enough to repeat Lancaster without significantly damaging his (pretty limited) upside. Jonathan Meyer, 3B, Lancaster: Before the season even started, I pegged him to take over as the everyday 3B in Corpus for the 2nd half of the season. But slugging .367 in an extreme offensive environment is pretty unacceptable. That's probably why I believe that Matt Duffy is ahead of him in the pecking order despite being a level behind. Right now, Meyer looks like he could become a Matt Dominguez clone with the potential to have a slightly better bat. Justin Gominsky, CF, Lexington: Yet another one of those late-blooming college players, he's on a nice little run. Andrew Aplin, CF, Tri-City: So, is he ready for Lexington yet? Mickey Storey, P, Oklahoma City: Would prefer him (or anyone, for that matter) over Fernando Rodriguez in the Houston bullpen right now.... Angel Sanchez, 2B, Oklahoma City: He's still very much alive and kicking. Goat Forgettable outing for Arcenio Leon... Looking Ahead OKC gets to chill. Corpus will play the middle game of their series with Tulsa at 7:05. Jose Cisnero will go up against Joe Gardner. Lancaster and Stockton are wrapping up their series at 7 Pacific. The Jethawks send David Martinez to the mound to start. He will be opposed by Blake Hassebrock. Lexington gets a day off to hopefully get themselves together. They'll try to snap their 6-game losing streak when they return home to host Kannapolis for 4 games starting on Tuesday. Tri-City and Aberdeen will wrap up their series at 7 Eastern. TBA (who I presume is Joe Bircher) goes up against Mark Blackmar. Greeneville and Bristol will have their series finale at 7 Eastern. Dan Minor takes the mound for the Appy Astros. He'll go up against Tony Bucciferro.
Now... enjoy some old news, courtesy of Hooks beat writer Greg Rajan. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Former @<a href="https://twitter.com/cchooks">cchooks</a> OF T.J. Steele has retired ... and may play college football. No lie. <a href="http://t.co/wZo2vW1h" title="http://bit.ly/LLxwnC">bit.ly/LLxwnC</a></p>— Greg Rajan (@GregRajan) <a href="https://twitter.com/GregRajan/status/219907707916922880" data-datetime="2012-07-02T21:37:37+00:00">July 2, 2012</a></blockquote> <script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>. @<a href="https://twitter.com/cchooks">cchooks</a> staffer on T.J. Steele playing college football: "He can't hit, so he won't be on defense." Ouch.</p>— Greg Rajan (@GregRajan) <a href="https://twitter.com/GregRajan/status/219912721473339392" data-datetime="2012-07-02T21:57:33+00:00">July 2, 2012</a></blockquote> <script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Only Luhnow knows. Both Springer and Santana have box stats that merit promotion. The problem is both their K-rates are atrocious. There's a lot of varying opinion of whether Springer should stay and focus on fixing the holes in his swing at HiA or try that at AA. In AA if his numbers take a level/league related hit and his strike-outs go up, every one will lose their mind. Santana I'm not worried nearly as worried about. He'll be a Singleton-esque 20 y/o in AA next year. If he plays his cards right he'll be in the futures game.
Nice article on Singleton Makes very thought provoking comments on service time. Almost makes me want to delay his major league debut until mid-May 2014. Then we'd have him under control until 2020/age 28. That would never happen though; people are already chomping at the bit to get him up now.
Monday Stories Corpus turned their game into a laugher... Dramatics in Greeneville!!! Tri-City going back to what they do best: Great pitching, and great discipline. Recap Corpus absolutely drilled Tulsa, winning this one 16-2. Everyone got into the act, with all 8 position players (and Adam Bailey in a pinch-hit situation) driving in at least 1 run. Andy Simunic went 4-5 with a double and scored 3 times. A rehabbing Justin Maxwell went 2-4 with a double and scored twice. Drew Locke went 2-5 and clubbed a 3-run homer (5) in the 1st. Jake Goebbert had a solo homer (5) in the 4th. Jair Fernandez led off the 9th with a solo homer (5). He finished 2-5 with 2 RBI and scored twice. Later in the inning, Jose Martinez capped it off with a 2-run homer (10). Martinez went 2-6 with 3 RBI. Fresh off his Futures Game appearance, Jonathan Singleton went 2-3 with 2 RBI singles, 3 walks, and 3 runs scored. Jose Cisnero allowed 2 in the 1st, but that would be the only runs he and the bullpen allowed. He went 5 innings, allowed 4 hits, walked 4, and fanned 5. Henry Villar pitched 3 scoreless, allowing a hit, walking 1, and striking out 1. Kevin Chapman tossed a 1-2-3 9th. Lancaster stormed back against Stockton, coming back for an 8-5 win. The Jethawks struck first with 3 in the 5th, then 2 errors from Alex Todd in the 6th allowed the Ports to counter with 4. Lancaster then erupted for 5 in the bottom of the 7th. 4 of those runs came off a grand slam from Erik Castro. David Martinez went 6 innings, allowing 4 runs (1 earned) on 7 hits, walking 1 and striking out 8. Castro went 2-5 with 2 homers; the other was a solo shot in the 5th which was the game's first run. His slam gives him 14 homers on the season. Enrique Hernandez went 4-4 with a triple and an RBI single. Alex Todd and Rene Garcia also drove in 1. Kirk Clark got the win in relief, throwing 2 perfect innings and striking out 2. Tri-City got some very timely hitting late as they defeated Aberdeen 5-2 to take the series. After Creede Simpson hit an RBI single in the 7th to bring the Ironbirds even at 2, Joe Sclafani answered in the bottom half with an RBI single of his own, as the ValleyCats regained the lead and never looked back. Jesse Wierzbicki hit a solo homer in the 6th, his 2nd with Tri-City and 3rd of the season. Jarrod McKinney went 2-3 with an RBI single. Sclafani finished 1-4, adding an RBI force out in the 8th. Jobduan Morales had an RBI groundout in the 2nd and walked twice. Andrew Aplin went 1-3 with 2 walks, 2 steals (13), and a strikeout. Juri Perez allowed his first earned runs of the season. He went 6 2/3 innings, allowing 2 runs on 7 hits, walked 3, and struck out 4. Yet again, he had to settle for a no-decision. Travis Ballew got the win in relief, retiring all 4 batters he faced. Blake Ford got his 7th save of the season, walking 1 and striking out 1 in the 9th. Greeneville also won their series, walking off 6-5 winners against Bristol to take 2 of 3. After falling behind 2-0, the Appy Astros erupted in the bottom of the 6th. Terrell Joyce tied the game with a 2-run single, then after Ariel Ovando singled, and Angel Ibanez walked (while Mike Martinez popped out for out #2), Ricky Gingras cleared the bases with a double. The White Sox got 2 off Jordan Jankowski in the 7th to close the gap to 1, and Mike Hauschild couldn't close it. He allowed a double to Eric Grabe, then got wild on Cory Farris, which allowed Grabe to take 3rd. Hauschild ended up striking out Farris, but the ball got away from Ernesto Genoves. Farris was out at 1st, but Grabe seized the opportunity to score the tying run while everyone else was preoccupied. In the bottom half, Joyce played the hero as his single scored Marc Wik, who was the one-man rally. Wik beat out an infield single to lead off the inning, then Brian Blasik sacrificed him over to 2nd. A wild pitch from Storm Throne (yes, that's really his name) allowed him to take 3rd, and Joyce stepped up and ended it. Joyce (who went 3-5 with a double) and Gingras drove in all 6 runs. Dan Minor went 4 1/3, allowing 2 runs on 5 hits, walking 2 and striking out 5. Jankowski was alright in the 6th, but the wheels fell off for him in the 7th, despite managing to get 2 outs in the inning. In 1 2/3 innings, he allowed 2 runs on 3 hits, walked 2, and struck out 4. Hauschild allowed the tying run in the 9th and struck out the side. The GCLstros walked off 3-2 losers in Jupiter to the Marlins. Sloppy game, as both teams combined for 8 errors. They did not have an RBI. Darwin Rivera scored the 1st run of the game as he scored on a throwing error as Teoscar Hernandez stole 2nd. Hernandez wound up taking 3rd in the process. Luis De La Rosa scored the tying run in the 9th when Pedro Acosta couldn't hang on to the ball. Unfortunately, Ambiorix De Leon allowed a walk-off double to Michael Main. Brett Phillips went 1-4 with 3 outfield assists. Raul Rivera pitched 2 scoreless, allowing 1 hits, walking 1, and striking out 3. Chia-Jen Lo allowed a hit in the 3rd. Edison Frias pitched the next 5 innings, allowing 2 runs (1 earned) on 6 hits, walking 2 and striking out 4. De Leon got the loss. The run he allowed was unearned. The Academy lost 3-1 to the Cardinals. A solo homer from Hector Roa in his 1st game was the only offense. Apparently he'll turn 41 on Wednesday. Mesac Laguna had a double. Edwin Villarroel went 5 innings and allowed 3 runs (2 earned) on 6 hits (2-run homer), walking 1 and striking out 1. Luis Abad pitched 4 scoreless, walking 1 and striking out 4.
Nice to see Singleton back up on the horse. He had an atrocious June. He is hopefully earmarked to see some time in AAA by the end of the year.
I'm actually ok with seeing him finish out the rest of the year in AA since he's only 20, and start him at AAA next year. Bring him up towards the 2nd half of next season.
I'd like to give him the low/slow approach. His power is really promising but hasn't turned into consistent HR power yet. He's still more of a doubles hitter. (of course he flashed his HR power with 7hr in May). If we delayed his time to the majors a little more he might come up as a ready 20hr hitter.
DDJ with a leadoff single and 2 SBs early on tonight. 64 SBs on the year. Fontana with yet ANOTHER walk. That is 10 in 22 PAs.
Kinda reminds me of the Villar/Altuve pairing at Lancaster early last season. You just look at the pairing's production and think 'damn, that combo could be together a long time'. Of course Altuve decided to jump 50 levels years to Villar's poorly thought-out one promotion.
