2012 Astros Minor League Thread

[Doyle1228]

Originally Posted by No Worries The point, that I was not clearly making, was that the Astros farm system is much deeper than it was. The players I mentioned in prior years would be candidates for the top 20 lists. Off the top of my head, the following players were on top 20 lists last year but not this list: P Brett Oberholtzer 1B Telvin Nash P Jack Armstrong OF Ariel Ovando OF Austin Wates OF Jordan Scott OF J.B. Shuck 3B Mike Kvasnicka P Juan Abreu P Adrian Houser SS Jio Mier P Tanner Bushue 1B Chase Davidson Some of these players progressed as expected yet they fell off of the this top 20 list.

Just throwing my 2 cents in on this... The reason why a few of these guys arent on this years list compared to last years...

Jack armstrong hasnt played all year i believe he is had tommy john surgery this year so that y hes not on the list hasnt played all year....

Chase Davidson for one isnt really that good.. He played i think the first few weeks in tri city and then was sent to the bunch... And also he was shut down and sent to houston for surgery... Dont remember what surgery but he was shut down...

Austin Wates one of my favorite former valleycats but if u really think about it hes behind a bunch of guys for being a top 20 prospect... Talking just outfielders there would be 4 or 5 outfielders i would put in front of wates... Springer, santana, aplin, ovando... Thats what i can think of off the top of my head ag the moment...

Tanner Bushue didnt really have a good season in greeneville... Last i knew he had an 11 or 12 era... So thats not showing hes a top prospect...

[tellitlikeitis]

Tri-City advances to the New York-Penn League Championship Series with a 16-7 win over Auburn in Game 3. The ValleyCats drew 14 walks in this game!!! Compare that to only 2 strikeouts.



As you can see, everyone did their part.

[tellitlikeitis]

Lancaster is 1 win away from the California League Championship Series as they doubled up High Desert 10-5. Delino DeShields went 2-5 with 2 doubles, one of which went for an RBI. Chris Epps finished a single shy of the cycle; he had a 2-run triple in the 5th and a solo homer in the bottom of the 8th. Erik Castro cleared the bases with a double in the 7th. Carlos Perez drove in Epps with a double in the 5th. Telvin Nash sent one out to lead off the 3rd after being denied a request for time.

Pitching-wise, the Jethawks got a good start from Tyson Perez, who went 6 innings and allowed 2 runs on 8 hits, walked 1, and struck out 4. Chia-Jen Lo got knocked around in the 7th, allowing 2 runs on 3 hits while only getting 1 out. Kenny Long picked him up and pitched the final 2 2/3 innings, allowing a run on 2 hits and striking out 1.

[tellitlikeitis]

Instructional League Roster set

[Bear_Bryant]

Originally Posted by tellitlikeitis Instructional League Roster set

What exactly is the instructional league?

[bobmarley]

Originally Posted by tellitlikeitis Instructional League Roster set

^There are some nice assets on that roster.

[tellitlikeitis]

Originally Posted by Bear_Bryant What exactly is the instructional league?

I guess it's a fall league for the High-A and under guys, since the Arizona Fall League is usually reserved for AA and AAA players, although clubs can opt to send two players under AA there.

[tellitlikeitis]

Tri-City takes Game 1 of the New York-Penn League Championship Series over Hudson Valley by walking off with a 5-4 victory. After the Renegades jumped out to a 3-0 lead after the 1st, the ValleyCats took the lead on the strength of 2 2-run homers. Dan Gulbransen took Eduar Quinonez deep in the bottom of the 2nd, and Catfish Elkins followed suit in the 3rd.

Juri Perez went 5 innings and allowed 3 runs (2 earned) on 3 hits (2-run homer), walked 3, and struck out 4. Vince Velasquez was tasked with finishing out the game, but he served up a homer to Leonardo Reginatto with 1 out in the 9th that tied the game at 4. That was the only run he allowed in 3 1/3 innings. He allowed 2 hits, walked 1, and struck out 2. John Neely got the last 2 outs in the inning. He successfully navigated around a single and an error in the 10th, and got himself a victory on Preston Tucker's sac fly in the bottom half of the 10th. Neely went 1 2/3 innings, allowing 2 hits and striking out 2.

[Doyle1228]

Originally Posted by Bear_Bryant What exactly is the instructional league?

basically its for some of the new drafted guys to come in and get some extra work in and work with coaches and stuff... it doesnt go for very long but if you look at rosters its usually all newly drafted guys with some other guys that were drafted a year or 2 before hand...

[tellitlikeitis]

Lancaster's goin to the ship!!!! The Jethawks punched their ticket to the California League Championship series with a 9-6 victory over High Desert in Game 4. They scored 4 in the bottom of the 8th, turning a 6-5 game into the final score. Delino DeShields went 2-4 and scored 3 times. Rafael Valenzuela went 3-4 with an RBI single in the 6th and an RBI double in the 8th. Jio Mier had a 2-run single in the 8th. Chris Epps, Andrew Aplin, Carlos Perez, and Jonathan Meyer each drove in 1.

Erik Castro's effort in this game was immense. He went 2-3 with a double and scored 3 times; that double led off the 8th and set the stage for the Jethawks' clutch rally as he came around to score the tying run on Carlos Perez's pinch-hit single. He also singled to lead off the 6th and came around to score on Chris Epps' single.

Nick Tropeano went 6 innings and allowed 4 runs (3 earned) on 9 hits, walked 1, and struck out 6. Carlos Quevedo got 2 outs in the 7th, but left in a massive jam. Pat Urckfitz came on with the bases loaded.... and allowed 2 runs to score. In getting the final out of the 7th and the 1st out of the 8th, he allowed 2 hits and struck out 1. Jorge De Leon got the win in relief, walking 1 and striking out 1 in 1 2/3 scoreless.

[juicystream]

Originally Posted by Bear_Bryant What exactly is the instructional league?

Young players go there and work closely with coaches and work on improving their fundamentals.

The guys on MLB Network were talking earlier in the season how they spent more time in instructional leagues than players do today, and that they considered it vital to their future success in the major leagues.

[jim1961]

I just have to add what a turnaround this year has been for our minor league clubs compared to even a year ago. WOW

[codell]

So is Erick Castro going to get any serious prospect recognition or are his #s inflated? His splits look pretty good.

[Doyle1228]

Tri City Valleycats Update

TC came out fired up tonight wanted to win the NYPL title.. They came out hot scoring... Got a run in the 1st inning on a preston tucker double... Scored a second run in the 6th inning on a Ryan Dineen double, a wild pitch moving Dineen to 3rd and then a sac fly by Joe Sclafani...

Aaron West came out fired up tonight throwing 5 Perfect Game innings then in the 6th lost it with a throwing error by Sclafani then some hits by Hudson Valley to tie the game at 2.

In the 7th inning, Jamaine Cotton came in and gave up some hit but was able to get out of it...

With Blake Ford warming for the 8th inning, Cotton returned for the 8th and gave up a lead off hit to the 9th hitter then a sac bunt moving the 9 hole hitter to 2nd and then a Intentional walk to the 2 hitter put runners on 1st and 2nd for the 3 hole hitter in Richie Shaffer and he hit a 3 run home run...

Tri City lost the game 5-2... So there will be a game 3 tonight and its for all the marbles....

Kind of shocked that for game 3, tri city isnt starting Brady Rodgers who only lasted 2 innings vs Auburn on sunday... They are sending Joe Bircher to the mound but im assuming Rodgers will be in the pen ready to go if need be... Bircher hasnt pitched all post season... So hes got plenty of rest but expect holmes rodgers to be in the pen ready to go

[NIKEstrad]

Originally Posted by Doyle1228 Tri City Valleycats Update TC came out fired up tonight wanted to win the NYPL title.. They came out hot scoring... Got a run in the 1st inning on a preston tucker double... Scored a second run in the 6th inning on a Ryan Dineen double, a wild pitch moving Dineen to 3rd and then a sac fly by Joe Sclafani... Aaron West came out fired up tonight throwing 5 Perfect Game innings then in the 6th lost it with a throwing error by Sclafani then some hits by Hudson Valley to tie the game at 2. In the 7th inning, Jamaine Cotton came in and gave up some hit but was able to get out of it... With Blake Ford warming for the 8th inning, Cotton returned for the 8th and gave up a lead off hit to the 9th hitter then a sac bunt moving the 9 hole hitter to 2nd and then a Intentional walk to the 2 hitter put runners on 1st and 2nd for the 3 hole hitter in Richie Shaffer and he hit a 3 run home run... Tri City lost the game 5-2... So there will be a game 3 tonight and its for all the marbles.... Kind of shocked that for game 3, tri city isnt starting Brady Rodgers who only lasted 2 innings vs Auburn on sunday... They are sending Joe Bircher to the mound but im assuming Rodgers will be in the pen ready to go if need be... Bircher hasnt pitched all post season... So hes got plenty of rest but expect holmes rodgers to be in the pen ready to go

Rough start to the game...Bircher gave up 4 runs and only got 1 out. Rodgers came in and pitched great to settle things down (3.2 innings, 1 hit, 6 Ks). Game is in the bottom of the 6th with Hudson Valley up 4-2 and threatening again.

[Doyle1228]

Originally Posted by NIKEstrad Rough start to the game...Bircher gave up 4 runs and only got 1 out. Rodgers came in and pitched great to settle things down (3.2 innings, 1 hit, 6 Ks). Game is in the bottom of the 6th with Hudson Valley up 4-2 and threatening again.

Oh yeah it was a very long rough start... For one bircher shouldnt have started and 2 hes not that fast pitcher hes a crafty lefty pitcher... He walked the 1st guy to lead off the game and the 2 batter hit a grounder righ back to bircher and bircher threw the ball way left of the shortstop running over to cover 2nd... So an easy double play gone wrong and then from that point on the flood gates opened up scoring 4 runs that inning and scored 4 more throughtout the game...

Im not a person to make excuses but losing andrew aplin really hurt this team.... Elkins numbers dropped horribly and using mike cokinos as a dh and clean up hitter was not best choice... Cokinos 4 times in the playoffs was up with bases loaded and he was swinging 1st pitch and ground out every time...

When tc won the championship in 2010 we had some really good call ups late in the season with austin wates and telvin nash along with some pitchers (forget who) so we had alot of good pieces but losing aplin and morales and not getting anybody from greeneville really hurt... Im not even talking correa mccullers or ruiz... Im talking ovando would have been nice to have a true center fielder....

Having to use a guy who was undrafted in Neiko Johnson or Emilio King isnt not the best option but u do what u have to do... Emilio King and Neiko Johnson really hurt our chances to win... Neiko cant play defense and Emilio cant hit anything but a fastball when he can catch up to it...

Tonight Hudson Valley threw a lefty and when this happens our manager like to play the lefty righty game so we took Ryan Dineen and Dan Gulbranson out pf the lineup and played Neiko at 3rd and Emilio in center and Jarrod McKinney in leftfield who is a guy that could be an offensive tackle in the NFL...

Also we had Jean Carlos Batista on the bench who is a better option that Neiko at 3rd but Batista has been sitting the bench the last month for some unknown reason and in the 6th or 7th he pinch hit for Cokinos and delivered us a lead off single...

Also realized the last couple games that Preston Tucker was trying to hit a HR every time... In the beginning he was just trying to get a single now he was swinging for the fences and his numbers dropped the last 3 weeks...

But overall they had a great season winning 51 games is very temarkable and they did try but just wasnt enough....

[tellitlikeitis]

Jonathan Singleton and Delino DeShields named to Baseball America's Minor League All-Star Team

[tellitlikeitis]

Baseball America's Classification All-Stars

Shocking: No mention of George Springer.

Delino DeShields named Low Class A Player of the Year.

ValleyCats pitchers were shut out. Aplin and Tucker got nods.

[tellitlikeitis]

Lancaster is one win away from being crowned champions of the California League. They hold a 2-0 lead on Modesto after beating them 7-4 in Game 1, and 11-2 in Game 2. Both of those games were in Modesto, and now the series shifts to Lancaster, where the Jethawks get their first crack at closing the Nuts out.

Last night, Andrew Aplin went 4-5 with 3 doubles and 2 RBI. Telvin Nash hit his 2nd homer of the playoffs, a 3-run homer in the 5th. This gives him 31 on the year. Jonathan Meyer is hitting .355 in the playoffs. Delino DeShields, Jio Mier, Domingo Santana, Erik Castro, and Carlos Perez each had 1 RBI. Blair Walters allowed a run on 6 hits and struck out 6 in 5 innings. Chia-Jen Lo allowed 2 hits, walked 1, and struck out 4 in 2 scoreless. Carlos Quevedo allowed a run in the 9th. He allowed a hit (not a homer) and struck out 1 in 2 innings.

Colton Cain will get the start tonight for Lancaster, and he'll go up against a rehabbing Jorge De La Rosa.

[juicystream]

I really hope we don't lose Lo to the Rule V draft.