2012 Astros Minor League Thread

[Bear_Bryant]

Originally Posted by tellitlikeitis Farmstros might have an idea. Bolded players = you wish. Bryan Brickhouse, a standout from The Woodlands, is probably the most likely of the "you wish" group. 2011 draftees cannot be traded until it has been at least 1 year from the day they signed a contract. So, when did they sign?

Why hasn't Brickhouse played yet? Google is failing me now.

Also, I guess we can do a process of elimination on who the player will be by watching the date.

[tellitlikeitis]

Brickhouse signed at the deadline, and I presume he's in extended spring training. He's probably ticketed for either Burlington or Idaho Falls.

[tellitlikeitis]

Tuesday Stories

Nasty, nasty weather in OKC.

Did Adam Bailey go out helping Lancaster get the win?

Once again, Lexington decides not to do much of anything on offense until the late stages of the game. Oh, but a nice start from Mike Foltynewicz, though.

Recap

OKC defeated Nashville 2-0 in their series opener. The game was called in the bottom of the 5th because of some very heavy thunderstorms in the area. Jimmy Paredes had an RBI double in the 4th, and Brad Snyder added an RBI double of his own in the 5th. Dallas Keuchel went back to being Dallas Keuchel, pitching all 5 innings, allowing 4 hits and striking out 3.

Corpus had yesterday off.

Lancaster was looking to make things interesting in the 9th against Lake Elsinore, but they couldn't avoid the sweep, as they fell 7-4. Ben Orloff went 1-4 with a 2-run single in the 5th. Enrique Hernandez tried to get something started with a solo homer in the 9th (3). In his final game with Lancaster, Adam Bailey went 1-5 with an RBI double and 2 Ks. Well, don't look now, but Domingo Santana went 2-4 and is now batting .283. He's been absolutely killing it since being moved to the cleanup spot in the lineup. George Springer might be hitting a rut, as he went 0-4 with 2 strikeouts. He's struck out in 8 of his last 16 at-bats, and now has a 4:1 K:BB ratio (60 K:15 BB) on the year. Jorge De Leon was wild and ineffective in his 3 innings, as he allowed 6 runs on 5 hits, walked 5, and only struck out 1. Pull the plug on this experiment! Zach Grimmett had another solid relief outing, as he allowed an unearned run on 5 hits in 5 innings. He walked 1 and struck out 3.

Lexington's offense went to sleep once again in their game against Augusta as not only were they down 1-0, they were getting no-hit by GreenJackets starter Clayton Blackburn for 6 2/3 innings. Matt Duffy broke it up in the 7th with a double. The Legends then found themselves with a bases-loaded situation after Chris Epps singled and Brandon Meredith was hit by a pitch. Sadly, Mike Kvasnicka grounded out to end the inning. Well, that's progress. What happened in the 8th was a breakthrough. Delino DeShields tied the game at 1 by going deep with 2 outs in the inning. His 3rd homer of the season was the only run for Lexington.

Mike Foltynewicz had to settle for a no-decision last night. In 7 innings, he allowed a run on 5 hits, walked 1, and fanned 5. His only mistake was serving one up to Elliot Blair in the 3rd. He also took a comebacker off his leg that resulted in a bruise, but it appears that it didn't bother him much. Dayan Diaz came on and threw 2 hitless innings, walking 1 and striking out 3. Murilo Gouvea pitched a scoreless 10th and got 2 outs in the 11th, but served up the go-ahead homer to Mark Minicozzi. Jordan Scott and Matt Duffy drew walks in the bottom half of the inning, but three well-struck balls off the bats of Zach Johnson, Chris Epps, and Brandon Meredith were all caught. So, Gouvea got the L in a 2-1 Legends loss in 11. Solo homers accounted for all 3 runs scored in the game.

Game Scores

Mike Foltynewicz: 67
Dallas Keuchel: 62
Jorge De Leon: 21

Three Stars

There really weren't any standout offensive performances in the system last night, to be honest. Yeah, Delino DeShields homered, but that was his only hit of the game. Domingo Santana was the only player with more than 1 hit last night. Three teams in action and only 1 person had 2 hits. Now granted, OKC's game was cut short. But wow.

3.



Dayan Diaz, P, Lexington
2 IP, BB, 3 K

Diaz has been virtually untouchable this season. WTHB's post on the Crawfish Boxes reports that he's consistently been at 95-97.

2.



Mike Foltynewicz, P, Lexington
7 IP, 5 H, ER, BB, 5 K, 67 Game Score

Barring one mistake, Folty had yet another excellent outing. I'm not quite on board with sending him straight to Corpus just yet, considering their rotation is already set, but another month's worth of starts like these and he might force the issue.

1.



Dallas Keuchel, P, Oklahoma City
W, CG, 4 H, 3 K, 62 Game Score

Well, Keuchel only went 5 innings, but he can't control the weather. He probably needed an outing like this after two straight disasters on the road.

Honorable Mentions

Domingo Santana, RF, Lancaster: .283 season average, on a tear from the cleanup spot.

Delino DeShields, 2B, Lexington: Clutch homer. Too bad it was the only run for his team.

Jimmy Paredes and Brad Snyder, Oklahoma City: Got their offense in just in time.

Goat



Can the Jethawks not run Jorge De Leon out as a starter anymore, please? Dishonorable mention goes out to Erik Castro for a hat trick, and some of my ire goes to Murilo Gouvea for serving up a go-ahead and eventual game-winning home run in the 11th.

Looking Ahead

Hopefully, better weather is in store for Oklahoma City, as the Redhawks and Nashville go at it again at 7:05. TBD goes up against Seth McClung. Brian Bass, who was signed a couple of days ago, was supposed to start, but he isn't with the team at the moment.

Corpus is back in action as they open up a series with Arkansas at 7:10. Jarred Cosart gets the start against Matt Oye.

Lancaster's roadtrip continues as they play 3 with Visalia starting at 7 Pacific. R.J. Alaniz will match up against Jeff Shields.

Lexington and Augusta will conclude their series at 7:05 Eastern. Luis Cruz will take the mound for the Legends; he will be opposed by Chris Marlowe, an Oklahoma State product by way of Klein Collins High School.

[NIKEstrad]

Cosart was scratched tonight for "not conforming to organizational policy". http://corpuschristi.hooks.milb.com/...=.jsp&sid=t482

Uh, what?

Seaton starting in place - there was an off day, so it didn't affect the rotation too much. I wonder if this was for the twitter thing, and they were just waiting till the schedule broke right so it didn't cause a burden to the pitching staff?

[tellitlikeitis]

Jonathan Singleton has just hit his 10th home run to tie Corpus' game with Arkansas at 2 in the 7th.

[tellitlikeitis]

Originally Posted by NIKEstrad Cosart was scratched tonight for "not conforming to organizational policy". http://corpuschristi.hooks.milb.com/...=.jsp&sid=t482 Uh, what? Seaton starting in place - there was an off day, so it didn't affect the rotation too much. I wonder if this was for the twitter thing, and they were just waiting till the schedule broke right so it didn't cause a burden to the pitching staff?

A certain Lexington pitcher has been toeing the line a little in recent days, as well.

[tellitlikeitis]

Wednesday Stories

Brian Bass (journeyman, BTW) made his OKC debut.

Overall, a night of really solid pitching performances across the system.

Minor League Sweep!!!!



Unfortunately, the Astros still can't seem to win on the road.

Recap

OKC got a strong debut out of Brian Bass in their 7-2 victory over Nashville. Bass threw 6 shutout innings, allowing 5 hits, walking 1, and striking out 2. Offensively, Brett Wallace kicked things off with a solo homer (8) in the 1st. Brandon Barnes went 2-4 with an RBI single, Scott Moore had a 2-run single in the 7th, and Angel Sanchez had a 2-run homer (3) in the 8th. Carlos Corporan had a double and an RBI groundout.

A Jonathan Villar sac fly in the 8th proved to be the difference in Corpus Christi's 3-2 win over Arkansas. Jonathan Singleton tied the game at 2 in the 7th with his 10th home run of the season. And Jose Martinez had an RBI groundout in the 1st. The story of the night was Jarred Cosart being disciplined for "not conforming to organizational policy." Hmm...

Greg Rajan, the Hooks beat writer, doesn't believe this...

Sad when people from your own organization doubt you and your team. It's about time to silence critics. hey @astros I'm coming for ya

— Jarred Cosart (@JarredCosart) May 22, 2012

..resulted in Cosart getting an unscheduled day off.

Just a guess, but don't think what Cosart did was Twitter-related. That particular tweet came before his last start and for now, is still up

— Greg Rajan (@GregRajan) May 30, 2012

Apparently I missed some maturity issues reported by the Phillies. Cosart seems like a guy who is determined to show everyone what he's about everytime he steps on the mound, and I don't see a problem with that. He probably should have done his venting in private, though. Just saying.

Well, anyway, Ross Seaton got the start in Cosart's stead, and did alright. In 6 2/3, he allowed 2 runs on 9 hits despite only striking out 1. He got the no-decision. Josh Zeid, who had some really crappy outings lately, got the win, going 4 up, 4 down, and striking out 1. Jason Stoffel finished it off for his 6th save of the season.

Lancaster took the series opener with Visalia 4-3 behing 8 strong innings from R.J. Alaniz. He allowed 2 runs on 7 hits (solo homer), walked 1, and fanned 4. Andrew Robinson allowed the first 2 guys he faced to reach in the 9th, so Kirk Clark tried to get the save opportunity instead. He did allow one of Robinson's runners to score, and despite 2 walks, he was able to finish off the game for his 6th save. Erik Castro went 2-4 and had a 2-run homer (8) in the 5th. George Springer went 1-5 with a hat trick and scored twice, the first coming off a wild pitch in the 1st that opened the scoring. Rafael Valenzuela had an RBI double in the 3rd that scored Springer.

Lexington finished off their series with Augusta with a 6-1 win. No late start for the offense, as they got out to a 2-0 lead after the 2nd. Luis Cruz continued his excellent form as a starter, as he tossed 7 shutout innings, allowing 7 hits, walking 1, and striking out 5. Evan Grills finished the game and allowed a run (in the 9th) on 2 hits, walking 1 and striking out 2. Jesse Wierzbicki tripled and had a 2-run single. Delino DeShields had an RBI single and stole his 32nd base. Jordan Scott had an RBI double. Matt Duffy also had an RBI single, Roberto Pena had an RBI groundout, and Chan-Jong Moon went 3-3 and scored twice from the 9 spot.

Game Scores

Luis Cruz: 67
Brian Bass: 63
R.J. Alaniz: 63
Ross Seaton: 49

Three Stars

3.



Erik Castro, DH, Lancaster
2-4, 2-R HR (8)

Castro may be emerging as a darkhorse candidate for an in-house DH option. Who gets promoted first: Him, or Matt Duffy?

2 (tie).



Chan-Jong Moon, SS, Lexington
3-3, 2 R

Nice line from the bottom of the order. Small sample size, but his bat is showing some progress.

Jesse Wierzbicki, 1B, Lexington

2-4, 3B, 2 RBI, R

Legged out a triple (impressive), but his 2-run single was probably the big hit for the Legends.

1.



The Starting Pitchers

Brian Bass, Oklahoma City
W, 6 IP, 5 H, BB, 2 K

A nice debut from the journeyman.

Ross Seaton. Corpus Christi
6.2 IP, 9 H, 2 ER, K

Unless Seaton starts striking out people, he'll be in Corpus for a while. Still, I won't complain too much as long as he's doing his job effectively.

R.J. Alaniz, Lancaster
W, 8 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, BB, 4 K

A bit uneven in May. But he has belonged. Solid outing after looking sort of average as of late.

Luis Cruz, Lexington
W, 7 IP, 7 H, BB, 5 K

Cruz doesn't seem to have anything to prove in Lexington. Why not promote him to Lancaster? It's a pretty low-risk move.

Honorable Mentions

Jonathan Singleton, 1B, Corpus Christi: Just being the #1 prospect, is all.

Alex Todd, SS, Lancaster: Drawing 3 walks? I like.

Brandon Barnes, CF, Oklahoma City: Why wasn't he there to begin with?

Goat



Telvin Nash has a 46.7% K rate in May. If only at-bats are accounted for, that number jumps up to 51.5%.

Looking Ahead

OKC and Nashville are back at it again at 7:05. Wes Musick goes up against Mark Rogers, the #5 pick in the 2004 draft.

Corpus and Arkansas will play game 3 of their series at 7:10. Jose Cisnero will go up against A.J. Schugel.

Lancaster and Visalia will be playing the middle game of their series at 7 Pacific. David Martinez gets the start for the Jethawks; opposing him will be David Holmberg.

Lexington will welcome the South Atlantic League's worst team, the Rome Braves, into town for a 4 game series beginning at 7:05 Eastern. Jonas Dufek takes the mound against Ryan Weber.

[tellitlikeitis]

Thursday's Top Story

What a long, long night for the organization. Corpus played 15, Lancaster 13, and Lexington 14. Too much. Add in Houston and OKC finishing their games on schedule, and that's 60 innings, and 18:08 worth of baseball.

Recap

OKC was the only team to play 9 innings, as they handled Nashville 4-1. Brett Wallace hit a 2-run homer (9) in the 3rd. Fernando Martinez went 2-4 with an RBI triple in the 1st, and Scott Moore scored on a wild pitch in the 3rd. Wes Musick had a solid night on the mound, allowing a run on 7 hits in 6 innings and striking out 4. Mickey Storey pitched 2 perfect innings, and Jose Valdez earned his 11th save of the season.

It took 4 1/2 hours, but Corpus Christi finally emerged victorious against Arkansas, as they took this one 5-2 in 15 innings. Before I get to how everyone did, allow me to set the stage. A Ryan Mount sac fly in the 1st inning put Arkansas on the board first, and then Chris Wallace responded with a solo homer (3) in the 2nd. The game would be tied 1-1 all the way until the top of the 15th.

Andy Simunic hit a single off Mike Piazza (yes, that's really his name) with 1 out. Then, one batter later, Jair Fernandez launched a ground-rule double, putting runners on 2nd and 3rd. Austin Wates put the Hooks on top with a sac fly, then Brandon Wikoff came in to pinch-run for Fernandez. Jonathan Villar, who had been 0-6, beat out an infield single and moved Wikoff to 3rd. With Jose Martinez batting, Piazza committed a huge blunder. He had Villar dead to rights between 1st and 2nd, then Wikoff distracted him, allowing Villar to steal 2nd. Wikoff would retreat to 3rd safely. Martinez made him pay dearly by smacking a 2-run double. And lastly, Jonathan Singleton finished the outburst with an RBI single.

Jason Stoffel came on to finish the game (non-save situation) and although he allowed a 1-out triple to Jean Segura (the Angels' #2 prospect) and allowed Renny Osuna to drive him in, Jonathan Villar helped end the game by turning 2 on Rian Kiniry.

Villar finished 1-7 with a golden sombrero. Jonathan Singleton went 1-5 with the RBI single, walked twice, and had a hat trick. Jose Martinez went 2-7 with the 2-run double, Austin Wates was 2-6 with the go-ahead sac fly, and Wallace's solo homer was his only hit in 4 at-bats. Jose Cisnero was excellent in his 7 innings, allowing an unearned run on 5 hits, walking 1, and striking out 7. Kevin Chapman pitched the 8th and 9th, allowing 2 hits and walking 1. Erick Abreu held the Travelers scoreless for 5 and probably delayed his release with a very nice relief effort, allowing 2 hits, walking 1, and fanning 3. Stoffel finished it out. The Osuna RBI single snapped an 11 2/3 inning scoreless streak for him.

Lancaster got in on the act too, as they topped Visalia 7-6 in 13. Telvin Nash had a hat trick, but his 14th home run of the season came in the 9th to give the Jethawks a 4-3 lead. Unfortunately, Kirk Clark gave it back by allowing a homer to Bobby Borchering in the bottom half. Domingo Santana poked an RBI double down the line in the 10th scoring Enrique Hernandez and moving Erik Castro to 3rd, then Rafael Valenzuela singled Castro home, but Santana was nailed at the plate to end the 10th. Clark then proceeded to cancel those runs out by allowing a 2-run homer to Eric Groff (his 2nd of the game) in the bottom of the 10th. After a rather quiet 11th and 12th, in which Andrew Robinson kept the Rawhide at bay, Grant Hogue kicked off the 13th with a long, long ground rule double. He would eventually score the go-ahead run on a wild pitch from Bradin Hagens. Pat Urckfitz allowed a single, but promptly shut the door for the save.

The Lancaster offense was flummoxed by David Holmberg for most of the night, but they finally broke through with 3 in the 6th. George Springer had an RBI single, Erik Castro drew a walk with the bases loaded, and Domingo Santana grounded out, and Ben Orloff scored on a dead sprint home. David Martinez went 5 1/3, allowing 3 runs on 4 hits (2 solo homers), walked 1, and struck out 3.

Lexington lost their extra-inning game in heartbreaking fashion, as the battery decided to melt down in the 14th. Mike Kvasnicka was called for a passed ball resulting in Will Skinner moving to 2nd. Skinner scored on a sac bunt attempt from Brandon Drury, as Euris Quezada threw the ball into the Legends dugout. That constituted Lexington's 7th error, and resulted in a 10-9 loss in 14. Delino DeShields went 2-7 with 2 doubles, scored twice, and had a golden sombrero. He scored the first run for Lexington as Jordan Scott reached on an error. Talk about opposite ends of the spectrum... and a crazy 6th inning saw the Legends put 6 up on the board. Zach Johnson had an RBI single. Jesse Wierzbicki was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Then, Drew Muren singled home Matt Duffy. Finally, Chan-Jong Moon sent a 2-run single down the line with 2 outs. Moon would take 2nd on the throw home. After the Braves took a 9-7 lead into the 8th, Mike Kvasnicka came through with a huge 2-run homer to tie the game. Then Jason Chowning was just being Jason Chowining for 2 innings. He allowed a single to the first man he faced, then wiped out the Braves after that. Euris Quezada's error in the 14th put a damper on a pretty good outing from him; he worked his way into trouble twice and got out of both jams unscathed. Jonas Dufek was the starter and left about 10 innings ago. In 5 2/3, he allowed 6 runs (5 earned) on 8 hits (2-run homer), walked 2, and fanned 4.

Game Scores

Jose Cisnero: 71
Wes Musick: 58
David Martinez: 50
Jonas Dufek: 33

Three Stars

3.



Brett Wallace, 3B/1B, Oklahoma City
1-4, 2-R HR (9)

Good news: Looks like he's found the power. Bad news: His walk and strikeout rates need some correction, big time. Also, his BABIP all season has been pretty low.

2.



Jason Chowning, P, Lexington
2 IP, H, BB, 3 K

Everyone do your duty on Twitter and make #FreeJasonChowning a trending topic!!!

1.



Jose Martinez, 2B, Corpus Christi
2-7, 2B, 2 RBI, R

What a clutch hit!

Jose Cisnero, P
7 IP, 5 H, R, BB, 7 K

Glad to see an outing like this from Cisnero. His last 2 starts bode very well for him, and I hope he builds on them.

Honorable Mentions

Erick Abreu, P, Corpus Christi: Nice outing in relief for the old man. He's now the Hooks' career leader in wins, with 18.

Drew Muren, Mike Kvasnicka, and Chan-Jong Moon, Lexington: Solid production from the bottom third of the Legends order.

Goat



Kirk Clark, for blowing 2 leads. At least the Jethawks got the win. Dishonorable mentions go out to Delino DeShields and Jonathan Villar. Although they got hits, they also had golden sombreros too.

Looking Ahead

OKC and Nashville go at it in a battle of top pitchers at 7:05. Paul Clemens goes up against Wily Peralta.

Corpus and Arkansas are back at it again at 7:10. Brett Oberholtzer will match up against Johnny Hellweg.

Lancaster concludes their series with Visalia at 7 Pacific. Bobby Doran will get the start; he'll be opposed by Andrew Chafin, a former teammate of Kyle Hallock's at Kent State, and the Minors' strikeout leader.

Lexington and Rome play game 2 of their series at 7:05 Eastern. An intriguing pitching matchup here as Nick Tropeano goes up against Navery Moore. Two junior pitchers from the 2011 Draft (Moore is a 14th-rounder from Vanderbilt) doing extremely well in the South Atlantic League. Both of them figure to be on their way out soon.

[SupermoochieFro]

Jason Chowning must have kicked somebody's dog in the front office cuz dude should be on the fast track this year. He's turning 25 this year so why not "rush" him and see what he can handle. If he bombs then he bombs but at least know what you have!

[tellitlikeitis]

The Dominican Summer League kicks off its season tomorrow morning, as the Astros' academy will take on the Mariners at 10:30 AM local time.

Time in the Dominican Republic is standard year-round (no daylight saving). Right now, it's the same as Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-4).

[The Cat]

With the calendar turning to June, I'm officially growing impatient... I want to see Fernando Martinez in Houston. Now hitting .326 at OKC, with a .381 OBP and .925 OPS. I think Bogusevic has had enough time to consider it a real evaluation.

[tellitlikeitis]

Originally Posted by tellitlikeitis The Dominican Summer League kicks off its season tomorrow morning, as the Astros' academy will take on the Mariners at 10:30 AM local time. Time in the Dominican Republic is standard year-round (no daylight saving). Right now, it's the same as Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-4).

Also, the Astros will be playing in the Santo Domingo North division this season. They will play 72 games against the Mariners, Cardinals, A's, Rays, Indians, Dodgers, and Royals. Those 7 teams will be the only ones they will be playing this season.

Obviously, there's not much record-keeping going on here in the lowest level of minor league baseball. But here are last year's statistical leaders and some guys to potentially keep an eye on.

Stat Leaders, 2011

Average

Franny Polanco, C: .292
Jose Solano, SS: .282
Teoscar Hernandez, OF: .274
Juan Santana, SS: .274

At-Bats

Juan Santana: 248
Jose Solano: 238
Yoel Silfa: 237

Hits

Juan Santana: 68
Jose Solano: 67
Teoscar Hernandez: 62

Doubles

Teoscar Hernandez: 13
Juan Santana: 11
Mario Gonzalez, 1B: 11

Triples

Teoscar Hernandez: 7
4 others had 1 triple apiece.

Home Runs

Teoscar Hernandez: 7
Michael Medina, 1B: 4
Mesac Laguna, OF: 3
Juan Santana: 3
Mario Gonzalez: 3

On-base Percentage

Mario Gonzalez: .443
Teoscar Hernandez: .360
Juan Santana: .350

Slugging

Teoscar Hernandez: .487
Mario Gonzalez: .398
Franny Polanco: .368

OPS

Teoscar Hernandez: .847
Mario Gonzalez: .841
Juan Santana: .713

WTHB: Tentative Dominican Summer League Roster

Last year's bonus babies will be starting out their careers tomorrow. Big day for some of these kids.

Dominican Summer League Roster The Dominican Summer League starts play tomorrow, June 2nd. Here is the TENTATIVE opening day roster. Players in BOLD are new to the DSL Astros team this season. The DSL roster can have up to 35 players on it with up to 30 players being "dressed and available" for any given game. PITCHERS RHP Luis Abad RHP Harold Arauz RHP Johan Arias RHP Rayderson Chevalier RHP Frangy Colon RHP Samil De Los Santos RHP Juan Delis LHP Edgar Ferreira LHP Geronimo Franzua RHP Angel Heredia - I believe he'll start the season on the restricted list. RHP Elieser Hernandez RHP Juan Hernandez LHP Erick Hurtado RHP Tomas Lopez RHP Yonquelis Martinez RHP Victor Mesa LHP Javier Saucedo RHP Carlos Vasquez LHP Edwin Villarroel CATCHERS Marlon Avea Pedro Coa Brian Pena INFIELDERS Randy Cesar Jean Cortorreal Michael Medina Arturo Michelina Luis Reynosa Yoel Silfa OUTFIELDERS Tomas de la Cruz Mesac Laguna Brauly Mejia *Cristian Murillo Jarico Reynosa Edward Santana Frederick Serrano *Bats left In addition, there are several notable absences from last year's roster. I think we can assume that such players as Teoscar Hernandez, Juan Santana, Reymin Guduan and a few others are probably currently at extended spring training and may be earmarked for short season teams, although those rosters won't be set until closer to June 18th (opening day for the first of the short season teams).

Farmstros: International Free Agents signed since July 2, 2011

2011 International Free Agent Signings International Free Agents signed by the Astros since July 2, 2011: Harold Arauz, RHP, Panama (Article, Video links to someone else) Randy Miguel Cesar, 3B, Dominican Republic Rayderson Chevalier, RHP, Dominican Republic Frangy Colon, RHP, Dominican Republic (made 10 appearances last year) Jean Carlos Cortorreal, 2B, Dominican Republic Angel Heredia, RHP, Dominican Republic (formerly with the Pirates, suspended 50 games) Elieser Alexis Hernandez, RHP, Venezuela Juan Alberton Hernandez, RHP, Dominican Republic Tomas Lopez, RHP, Dominican Republic (Article) (signed for $70,000) Arturo Michelina, SS, Venezuela (signed for $220,000) Brian Pena, C, Dominican Republic Luis Reynoso, SS, Dominican Republic (Video) (signed for $700,000) Jarico Reynoso, OF, Dominican Republic Edward Santana, OF, Dominican Republic Carlos Vasquez, RHP, Dominican Republic Edwin Saul Villarroel, LHP, Venezuela

Baseball America reporting on Arturo Michelena's Signing for $220K

Chronicle on the signings of Michelena and Luis Reynoso

I'm pretty excited to see what Michelena and Reynoso can do.

Ben Badler on Reynoso:

"has an athletic, projectable body and combines solid tools with instincts and feel on both sides of the ball." He's a contact-oriented hitter with speed from the right side, and it's expected that he'll be able to man the middle infield long-term.

Badler on Michelena:

Michelena, a 16-year-old out of Maracaibo, is 6 feet, 165 pounds and has represented his country during international youth tournaments. He's a righthanded hitters with good hand-eye coordination and defensive actions.

[tellitlikeitis]

Originally Posted by The Cat With the calendar turning to June, I'm officially growing impatient... I want to see Fernando Martinez in Houston. Now hitting .326 at OKC, with a .381 OBP and .925 OPS. I think Bogusevic has had enough time to consider it a real evaluation.

What might be keeping him down is his lack of production against lefties. 49 ABs is a microscopic sample size, but a .577 OPS is probably why Martinez isn't already up. I'm guessing the Astros still see him as a full-time starter and not a platoon guy. But he's got to hit lefthanders better.

[tellitlikeitis]

@GregRajan can't say anything thats not 100% serious or on topic without it being taken the wrong way lol

— Jarred Cosart (@JarredCosart) June 1, 2012

[The Cat]

Originally Posted by tellitlikeitis What might be keeping him down is his lack of production against lefties. 49 ABs is a microscopic sample size, but a .577 OPS is probably why Martinez isn't already up. I'm guessing the Astros still see him as a full-time starter and not a platoon guy. But he's got to hit lefthanders better.

Perhaps, but I don't see a ton in his history that tells me he's going to get a lot better. His OPS in AAA a year ago against lefties was .527. At some point soon, I'd like to see him get his platoon shot in the Majors - though maybe he'll prove me wrong and develop into something more.

[tellitlikeitis]

A couple more guys in the DSL that may be ones to watch down the road

Astros busy in the Dominican The Astros have signed a pair of teenagers out of the Dominican Republic, pitcher Carlos Vasquez and outfielder Edward Santana, and have reached an agreement with pitcher Tomas Lopez, whose signing isn’t yet official. Vasquez, 16, is a 6-2, 180-pound right-hander with an extra large frame and someone who Astros director of Latin American scouting Felix Francisco believes will be a power pitcher. He throws between 88 and 90 mph now, but Francisco said the ball jumps out of his hands and he has a good breaking ball. “We feel this guy is going to be really strong in the future,” Francisco said. Santana, 17, was the best position player left on the market, Francisco said. He can play center field, but the Astros like more in right field. There are many things Francisco likes about Santana, whose older brother used to play in the Rangers system. “He runs 60 yards in 6.75 seconds and has a good arm,” Francisco said. “He can hit and has a real nice balance. He stays inside the baseball and uses the whole field. He’s not a big power guy right now and more of a guy you can project will hit 15-20 home runs. His power will come with time, but he does have good bat speed and good extension.” Francisco likes that Santana hits the ball to the opposite field, which you don’t usually see in young players in the Dominican. Lopez, 17, is a right-handed pitcher with nice arm action. He recently established himself in the Dominican Prospect League and began to draw interest from several teams, including the Astros. All three players will report to the Astros academy in the Dominican Republic and will play there this summer.

[NIKEstrad]

Jonathan Singleton continuing his damage. 2 for 4 with a HR, 2B, and also a walk (of the intentional variety it looks like)

[codell]

With Carlos Lee coming up lame and possibly being DL'd, wonder if the Stros would be tempted to give Singleton a tryout.

Wishful thinking of course. Wallace will be called up.

[tellitlikeitis]

Originally Posted by The Cat With the calendar turning to June, I'm officially growing impatient... I want to see Fernando Martinez in Houston. Now hitting .326 at OKC, with a .381 OBP and .925 OPS. I think Bogusevic has had enough time to consider it a real evaluation.

Well....

#Astros call up Fernando Martinez. He will flight to Houston tomorrow 10 am.

— Enrique Rojas/ESPN (@Enrique_Rojas1) June 2, 2012

[CJLarson]

Originally Posted by tellitlikeitis Well.... #Astros call up Fernando Martinez. He will flight to Houston tomorrow 10 am. — Enrique Rojas/ESPN (@Enrique_Rojas1) June 2, 2012

YES!!!!!