OKC opened their 2nd half with a victory, defeating Iowa 8-4. Anderson Hernandez went 3-3 with a solo homer and scored twice. Tommy Manzella went 1-4 with 2 RBI, and Luis Durango, Drew Locke, Collin DeLome, and J.R. Towles contributed 1 RBI to the cause. Andy Van Hekken, who last played in the majors in 2002 with the Tigers, went 7 innings, allowing 7 hits, 4 runs (1 earned), and struck out 7 to get the win. Corpus walked off 2-1 losers in Frisco. Jimmy Paredes provided the one run with a solo homer in the 1st, his 9th. Kody Hinze went 2-4 and doubled twice. Interesting note: Jose Altuve is not in the lineup due to a leg injury, according to Greg Rajan. That's why he was pulled a couple nights back. First 3 tweets are from July 12, and the final one was from tonight. Anyway, Erick Abreu allowed 1 run (on a solo homer) on 4 hits in 6 innings. He walked 1 and fanned 7. Brad James issued 4 walks (3 intentional) and only got 1 out in the 9th before allowing Renny Osuna to hit the game-winning single for Frisco. The late game will be reported first thing tomorrow morning. As reported earlier by rockets934life, Mike Foltynewicz allowed 1 run (on a solo homer) on 4 hits, walking 2, and striking out 9 in 6 innings to get the win as Lexington beat down Savannah 7-1. Mike Kvasnicka and Jay Austin each had 2 RBI (though Austin went 0-3.) Delino DeShields had an RBI double, and Ben Heath went 2-4 with an RBI. Tri-City was doubled up by Batavia, 6-3. The ValleyCats were held to 3 hits. John Hinson had the lone RBI and scored twice. Nick Tropeano allowed 4 runs (2 earned) on 6 hits in 4, walking 3 and striking out 5. Dayan Diaz allowed an unearned run and walked 2 in 2 innings, but did not allow a hit and struck out 6. In other words, he struck out the side twice. Yeah, uh, Greeneville got destroyed by Johnson City to the tune of 17-1. Josh Magee had the only RBI on an out. Jordan Scott went 2-3 with a double and scored the only run. Jamaine Cotton allowed 7 runs (6 earned) on 4 hits in 1 1/3, walking 1. Adrian Houser gets his first victory as a professional as the Gulf Coasters defeated the Nationals 6-1. Houser went 5 2/3, allowing 5 hits, 1 run, walking 2, and fanning 8. Yonathan Mejia and the rehabbing Jason Bourgeois drove in 2 each, while Justin Shults and Jarrod McKinney drove in 1 apiece. The Academy was off. Oh, and by the way, Nelson Figueroa can go too.
In a typical Cali League game, Lancaster outgunned High Desert 13-7 on the strength of 3 David Flores homers. He had a 3-run shot in the 4th, flew solo in the 6th, and added another 3-run homer in the 9th for the cherry. He went back-to-back with Jonathan Meyer in the 6th, when Meyer smacked a 3-run homer of his own. Flores now has 6 homers with Lancaster and 10 overall. Meyer's blast was his 9th. Andrew Simunic, Jose Thompson, and Jordan Comadena added 1 RBI amongst themselves. Andrew Robinson allowed 6 runs on 9 hits (1 homer) in 3 2/3. He walked 1 and struck out 3. Mike Ness got the victory in relief, allowing a run on 3 hits, striking out 3.
Top Draft Picks Anchor Valley Cats' Rotation The Astros haven't signed the top collegiate pitcher they selected in last month's draft. However, the next three pitchers they picked out of college have settled into the Tri-City rotation quite nicely. With third round pick Jack Armstrong pitching in the Cape Cod League, Nick Tropeano (5th Round), Jonas Dufek (9th Round), and Kyle Hallock (11th Round) have started 14 of the Valley Cats' 24 games to this point in the season. Nick Tropeano, 20, RHP. Tropeano joined the Houston organization out of SUNY-Stony Brook. He has made four professional starts, posting a 3.18 ERA in 17 innings pitched. He is slated to make his fifth start tonight in Batavia. Jonas Dufek, 23, RHP. From Creighton, Dufek will enter his next start with a scoreless streak of 14 1/3 innings. In five starts, he has a 2.92 ERA in 24 2/3 IP. Kyle Hallock, 22, LHP. Hallock, out of Kent St., has the lowest ERA of the trio, 1.86 in five professional starts. He has 29 strikeouts in 29 innings.
Does anyone know the outlook on the picks we haven't signed yet, specifically Springer and Armstrong?
Jim Callis had a chat @ baseballamerica.com earlier this week and stated that Springer will sign. As for Armstrong, he decided to pitch in the Cape Cod League to help raise his stock (since he was projected to go higher than the third round). Over at Astros County, there is an interview with Armstrong's college coach who thinks it will be a 50/50 shot that he signs... the Astros are going to need to throw some money at Armstrong to get him to sign.
Yeah, it's frustrating but as good as JD has been Trout has been fast tracked for a while and considered special. A better comparison would be Leonys Martin from the Rangers. 23 year old Cuban who has had 35 total games in the minors this season and is at AAA. I have convinced myself they are going to skip JD and Dallas rather than sending to AAA but when is the question?
I'm not on top of all the details, but why are some people eager to rush prospects to the bigs and start their arbitration clocks are whatever you call it? It makes no sense for a number of reasons. I don't think it made any sense to call Lyles up this season either. If I understand correctly, Lyles will be under control for less time now because of pointlessly being called up this season. That, or he will potentially be due more money sooner down the line. Please correct me with terminology and details because I'm not that knowledgeable on the subject. I may be wrong. If I'm right and you say the financial difference down the line isn't that big of a deal, I still say why do it? What is there to gain? Why sacrifice any advantages, even minor ones, for down the road when we may actually be relevant again? Just to give yourselves a reason to watch Astros games now, even if it could hurt us in some way down the line? How fun was it watching Lyles throw wild pitch after wild pitch in his last start? How fun was it realizing that Castro wasn't close to ready to be an impact player? The excitement fades quickly and now you've pointlessly started the clocks on these top prospects when we won't be releveant for years. Sounds like simply fan impatience unless I'm missing something.
@Brooks: we've been slow on bringing up many of our guys as a rule, carefully paying attention to arb-eligible years, etc. That worked out pretty well for us; I'm glad we were able to maximize the younger years of such future Cooperstown nominees as Chris Burke, Jason Lane, Chris Johnson, and others. Better to find out IMO than to have them aging in the minors. For a while there it seemed the Astros could nearly fill a AAAA All-Star team of guys with "potential" who sat in AAA while we were giving it a go with the likes of Preston Wilson, Kaz Matsui, that loser washed-up 3B last year, et. al.
The Astros signed 34th-round pick Dustin Kellogg, reports Alyson Footer. Hmm, this isn't the headcase I was hearing about.
I hear you and I'm not talking about going in the other direction either. We need to get young and build from within. I'm saying that we are in total rebuild mode unlike during the period you reference above. We aren't even close to contention and in the near future, we won't have any aged vets taking up spots on the big league roster and we will have new ownership trying to do things the right way so there won't be any Biggio-type situations. The point is that calling up players barely over 20 and starting their clocks at this point in time makes little to no sense. I am sort of leaning toward the thought that Wade was trying to show off Lyles for his own sake. If that was in any way the case, not only could it backfire on him but it could impact us negatively down the line, even if only marginally. The same goes for the likes of Altuve and any other top prospects in their very early 20s that we start the clock on anytime soon. Perhaps you call up the likes of Martinez and Hinze when the opportunity presents itself since those are the kinds of players we need to look at to see what we have. If those types turn into something, you can flip them for younger prospects that fit better with our timeline.
meh. if they can perform on the ML level, let 'em. If not, then don't. I personally am more concerned about the clock that's ticking over the player's age and usefulness that arbitration and club control, esp since all that may change this winter anyway.
Sanchez was 4-0 with a 2.55 ERA and a save in 15 appearances for the Academy, all in relief. In 24.2 innings, he allowed 21 hits, 13 runs (7 earned), walked 12, struck out 18, had a 1.36 WHIP, and allowed a .228 batting average against,
Here's the part where I take a look at the standings. OKC is 40-52, tied with Fresno and 1 game ahead of Salt Lake for the worst record. They are in last place in the PCL American League South, 13.5 behind Round Rock. Corpus is 8-11 in the 2nd half, 5 games behind San Antonio, and 33-56 overall. They're still the worst team in the Texas League, 29 games behind the Missions, and are tied with Midland for last in the South Division in the 2nd half. Lancaster is 8-13, tied with Inland Empire for last in the Cali League South Division. They are 4 games behind Lake Elsinore in the 2nd half and 14 behind Rancho Cucamonga, the 1st half division winner and overall leader. Overall, they are 36-55, worst in the league. Lexington is 8-13 in the 2nd half, 6th out of 7 in the SAL South, 6 games behind Savannah in the 2nd half and 10.5 behind them overall. The Legends are 43-48 overall, 3rd in the South. Tri-City is 10-15, last in the NYPL Stedler division and 5.5 behind Vermont. There are only 4 teams in the division. Greeneville is 8-15, last in the Appalachian League East, and 9 games behind Johnson City. They're tied with Burlington for the worst record in the league. The Gulf Coastera are 7-15, last in the GCL East. 8.5 games behind the Marlins. The Academy is 12-21, last in the Dominican Summer League Boca Chica North Division. They are 10.5 games behind the Pirates.
