When the team I root for is the worst team in the league, I'm clamoring for something to shake the team up. Keuchel has nothing left to prove in Double-A. He should be heading up I-37 and I-35 on his way to Oklahoma City after the Texas League All-Star game. Sorry, I wrote that when there was still nothing on Ovando's condition. I gotta say they probably wanted that to be on the down-low so no one would freak... whoops.
I read an interview with a low A prospect, the name slips my mind, and he said that he was told, the Stros usually are more aggressive in promoting prospects after the AA and AAA all-star breaks. By that way of thinking, we should get a mass promotion to OKC in about a week and Hinze, Wates and Buchanon to CC. Not that I agree with that line of thinking but...
In one of the very few instances of an OKC game finishing after a Lancaster game, they get beaten like a freaking drum and bludgeoned by Round Rock to the tune of 14-2. The Redhawks allowed 8 runs in the bottom of the 6th. Sergio Perez went 4 innings, allowing 6 runs (3 earned) on 7 hits (2 homers to Chris Davis), walking 2, and fanning 1. Brad Hennessey, the former Giant trying to make his way back to the bigs, went 1 1/3, allowing 4 runs (2 earned) on 4 hits. Emerson Frostad and Robinson Cancel drove in the 2 runs. I believe Frostad was called up when Brian Esposito moved to Houston. Corpus walked off in dramatic fashion, defeating Frisco 4-3. Jacob Goebbert and Jonathan Gaston went solo in the 7th to get Corpus on the board; they had been down 3-0. Then, T.J. Steele ended it with a 2-run homer, his 5th, to send the fans at Whataburger Field home happy. Hooks batters struck out 15 times tonight; 14 of those at the hands of Frisco starter Robert Erlin. Brandon Wikoff was in at short for the injured Jonathan Villar; he went 1-3 and struck out twice. Villar is day-to-day with a sprained ankle. Erick Abreu got the bare minimum quality start, allowing 4 hits (1 solo homer) and striking out 7. Arcenio Leon got the win in relief, allowing 1 hit, walking 2, and fanning 2 in 1 1/3. Lancaster was never in it against RC, getting destroyed 13-1. The 1 was scored in the 9th, and Jordan Comadena drove it in. Robby Donovan bore the brunt of the attack, allowing 10 runs (8 earned) in 2 2/3, walking and striking out 2. Incredibly, he did not allow a homer. Note: The Quakes had a rehabbing Rafael Furcal in their midst. The DH, he went 2-3 and scored 3 times as the leadoff man. Lexington let their game with Greenville get out of hand in the 8th. The Drive went back-to-back-to-back with homers in the 8th. They had been leading 2-0. Gabriel Garcia was the victim of this assault, as he allowed a 3-run homer to Brandon Jacobs and 2 solo shots to Christian Vazquez and Xander Bogaerts. And all this occurred without Garcia recording an out. The Legends left the top of the 8th trailing 9-0, then made the game respectable by scoring 3 in the bottom half and 2 in the 9th for the 9-5 loss. Alex Sogard allowed 2 runs on 6 hits in 6, walking 1 and striking out 8. Tri-City was embroiled in a duel with Connecticut, but they blinked first. Mitchell Lambson, the 19th-round pick out of Arizona State, was stellar in his professional debut, relieving Kyle Hallock.... until the 9th inning. There, Jason King launched a pitch into the seats to break a 0-0 tie. Then, a couple batters later, Zach Maggard launched a 2-run homer off Garrett Bullock to increase the lead to 3-0. Lambson was charged with 1 run (Matt Perry) and Bullock was charged with Maggard's run. Zach Johnson drove in the lone ValleyCats run in the bottom half. Hallock held the Tigers to 4 hits in his 6 innings, walking 1 and fanning 6. Lambson took the loss, striking out 3 in his 2 2/3. Note: The ValleyCats' game with Connecticut that was postponed June 22 will be made up as part of a doubleheader on their next visit to Norwich on July 21. Greeneville remains winless on the season, getting swept at the hands of Johnson City 9-2. Ernesto Genoves had a solo homer and Ruben Sosa, playing center, had a sac fly. Jose Perdomo got knocked around for 6 runs on 7 hits (1 homer) in 3 innings. He walked 1 and fanned 4. Rod Quintero kept the Cardinals in check, allowing 1 hit and fanning 4 in his 3 innings of relief. Looks like Ariel Ovando's elbow is still irritating him a bit; he was held out once again. The G-Stros' quest for their first win stays in Greeneville, as the Kingsport Mets come to town tomorrow to begin a 3-game set. The Gulf Coasters fell 5-4 to the Cardinals. They allowed 3 runs in the bottom of the 4th, retook the lead in the top of the 6th, lost it in the bottom half, and allowed the Cards to score the go-ahead run in the 8th. Justin Shults, Chris Epps, and Max Ayarza drove in the runs. Michael Feliz allowed 3 runs on 5 hits in 3 2/3, walking 2 and fanning 4. Krishawn Holley took the loss, allowing an unearned run in 2 innings, walking 1 and striking out 1. Telvin Nash continued his rehab assignment, with a double and a run scored in 3 ABs. The Academy was off today.
Listened to the Ed Wade show on 740 this evening and a few things stood out... Ed LOVES Altuve, sounded like he is ready to call him up but wants to wait until September or some deals open up spaces on the big league roster. Don't think he'll see time at OKC or at most very little before the call up. Odds are Dallas Kuechel will be called up sometime in August or September. Ed and the crew have had internal conversations about bringing him up, skipping AAA, he is VERY high on the kid. Kody Hinze is also someone of major interest within the organization but he wasn't as definite as he was with Dallas. Sounds like they want to work with him some more but it also sounded like he'll be moving up to AA soon with the possibilty to break ST with the club or start in AAA next season. This part is just an observation on my part, it sounded very much like they are looking at AA as their proving ground for these kids. He said, paraphrasing a bit, that he felt like CC was were they could make certain determinations on what these guys would become. Which explains why they are givining some folks like JD, Dallas, Cedeno, Wikoff and Altuve extended looks at CC and not moving them up to OKC as quick as we would like.
Nice to see the arms have positive outings tonight. One more thing Wade said about Altuve...he compared him to Placido Polanco.
man, i talked about his show last year and how surprisingly good and informative it was, and i've forgotten about it/haven't been in the car for it yet this season. the guy is way more open and candid than i'd expect from him, don't you agree? if he gets canned, hopefully the new GM will do the same. thanks for the recap. would be cool if somebody could recap his show on here every week.
Thanks, I don't think its on every week during the season, honestly didn't know it was on until I heard the Matt Thomas show promote it this afternoon. I remember you bringing it up last year, It was more open and informative then most shows. One part I didn't add because I didn't know how to take it was the fact he wants more consistency from the ball club but what got me was he followed it up with "before the trade deadline." Not sure how to take that but he didn't follow it up with anything else.
OKC downed Round Rock 4-1... Robinson Cancel's 2-run homer in the 6th sealed the deal. Drew Locke drove in a run and scored twice. Wesley Wright allowed a run on 2 hits, walked 4, and struck out 2 in 4 innings. Ross Wolf got the win in relief, holding the Express to 1 hit and striking out 2 in his 3 innings. David Carpenter notched save #9 with OKC, and #14 overall. Yes, sadly the Hooks lost to Frisco 6-3. 1-hitter for Xavier Cedeno, striking out 14 in 6 2/3. Yeah, he's thrilled that his effort was completely for naught. Brandon Wikoff and Jose Altuve each had 3 hits; Altuve had an RBI and scored twice. Mike Perconte and Henry Villar combined for a total meltdown, as the Roughriders scored all 6 in the final 2 innings. Lancaster was doubled up by High Desert in the hit column, but the Jethawks beat them 4-3 in the column that counts. They scored 3 in the 1st and 1 more in the 2nd. Jonathan Meyer had a 2-run homer, his 7th of the season. Jake Buchanan allowed 3 runs (1 earned) on 8 hits in 6, striking out 3 to get the win. Lexington walked off 2-1 losers in 10 in West Virginia, as Jorge De Leon allowed a homer to the first man he saw in the 10th. And yep, wasted a great start from Mike Foltynewicz, who seems to be really turning the corner the past couple months. Ben Heath drove in the only run. Delino DeShields went 2-5 today to raise his average to .197. Tri-City was blanked 6-0 by Connecticut. Nick Tropeano couldn't replicate his performance in his debut, allowing 4 runs (3 earned) on 6 hits in 3 innings, walking 1 and failing to record a strikeout. After 6 straight losses, Greeneville welcomed Kingsport to their town, and the G-Stros took out their frustrations on the Mets, pounding out 20 hits in a 15-6 thrashing. Greeneville scored at least 1 run from the 3rd to the 8th. No Ovando for the 6th straight game. Alright, stay with me here. I'll just list the players by what they did. -Perfect: Ruben Sosa (3-3) -4 runs scored: Chase Davidson -4 hits: Darwin Rivera -3 RBI: Davidson, Jordan Scott -3 hits: Davidson, Sosa, Alex Todd -2 runs scored: Luis Alvarez, Rivera, Jose Monzon, Sosa -2 RBI: Alvarez, Todd, Rivera -2 hits: Scott, Alvarez, Monzon -Homers: Davidson (3), Ramirez (1) Chris Lee allowed 4 runs on 5 hits (1 homer) in 3 2/3. He walked 3 and struck out 2. Jamaine Cotton got the W, pitching 4 innings, allowing 7 hits, 2 runs, and fanning 5. The Gulf Coasters fell 9-3 to the Mets in Kissimmee. All 3 runs came in the 4th, off RBIs from Yonathan Mejia, Justin Shults, and Chris Epps. Francis Ramirez allowed 3 runs (2 earned) on 4 hits in 3 1/3. He walked 5 and fanned 3. Brad Dydalewicz, on his first rehab appearance, walked 3 and allowed 1 hit and 1 run, faced 4 hitters, and did not get them out. The Academy's game with the Yankees' 2nd squad was suspended in the 7th with the game tied at 1. Franny Polanco is 2-3 with an RBI. Agapito Barrios allowed 1 run on 5 hits in 6, striking out 5.
AA ball has been where players have always separated themselves. Most real prospects don't spend more than a couple of months at AAA. AAA rosters are filled with guys who weren't quite good enough to make it on the 25 man roster, but provide depth for when injuries occur to the major league roster. Altuve would be making a huge jump from A+ to ML during the season. JD Martinez has been a virtual lock to be a September callup. Keuchel will only make the jump if both Myers and Wandy get traded (or injured), IMO.
speaking of which...when i listened last year he talked about the possibility of turning wilton lopez into a starter. i wonder if myers and wandy get moved, if that door is possibly opened again heading into next year.
He did make a couple of starts as a rookie, and was a starter at CC. I would leave him in his current role since he has excelled at it, and our bullpen sucks. It is amazing how much better he has been in the majors than he ever was in the minors.
Really don't know what to make of Xavier Cedeno. Guy is about to be 25 but lost a year to injury yet has never put up the numbers he has this season. Guy seems like he has good command and pretty nasty stuff, lots of swings and misses. Interesting to see what the Stros do with him the rest of the year.
I get what you guys are saying about AA and I agree. My point was that we might see some guys skip AAA and move directly to the bigs which has gotten more rare. Like you guys have said, most guys spend a few months before heading to the bigs. We might be seeing some guys completely skip that stage and fast forward them which I have very little problem with.
yeah our pen sucks, but if you can transition him into a good starter, you take that tradeoff. to paraphrase JD during the rangers series when they were talking about doing the same with neftali feliz - if you feel a guy as good as him has the capability to help your team for 200 innings instead of 60, you take it. relievers are more easily replaceable.
Heard 88-91mph with a good curve that he commands well. Want to see how he does at AAA but could be fourth starter material, maybe more potential than Happ.
