Brad Hennessey's job security was pretty tenuous to begin with, but I wouldn't be surprised, nor disappointed, if he was released after this latest stinker, in which OKC was pounded 12-3 by Omaha. The RBIs were provided by J.B. Shuck, Robinson Cancel, and Oswaldo Navarro. Hennessey only lasted 2 2/3, allowing 9 runs on 11 hits (2-run homer), walked 2, and struck out 1. Henry Sosa had his first rough start with Corpus, allowing 6 runs on 9 hits (solo homer), walking 2 and fanning 3, but 4 runs in the 1st and 3rd gave the Hooks an 8-7 victory over Midland. They withstood 6 unanswered to get the win. Jonathan Villar led off the game with a homer, his 8th with the Hooks and 12th on the year. Jonathan Gaston put up a 3-run shot later in the 1st, his 6th on the season. Jose Vallejo added a 2-run single, and Brandon Wikoff drove in 1. Arcenio Leon got the win in relief, getting the last out in the 5th, and the first 2 in the 6th. He allowed 2 hits, an unearned run, walked 1, and fanned 1. Josh Zeid got 2 outs in the 8th in his debut, allowing a hit and striking out 1. Jason Stoffel got the save, his 3rd with the Hooks and 16th on the season. Lancaster got 2 solo homers from Erik Castro (7 this year) and another solo shot from David Flores (10, 14 overall) in a 4-3 win against Bakersfield. This was their first victory against the Blaze in Bakersfield in 3 years. Austin Wates drove in the other run on an out. Jonathan Singleton made his Jethawks debut.... as a defensive substitute for Castro in the bottom of the 7th. He doubled in his lone at-bat in the 9th, and was stranded at 3rd. Andrew Robinson allowed 2 runs on 8 hits in 6 innings, walking 1 and striking out 6. Lexington fell short against Rome, losing 3-2. The Legends' runs came in the bottom of the 1st. Ben Heath and Dan Adamson drove in 1 each. Mike Foltynewicz got the no-decision, allowing 2 runs (1 earned) on 5 hits, walking 1 and fanning 3. Gabriel Garcia served up a solo homer in the 7th, allowing the Braves to take the lead, and the win. Tri-City was held to 2 hits in a 6-1 loss to Auburn. John Hinson scored the only run. Drew Muren and Hector Rodriguez had the 2 hits. Juri Perez went 3 1/3, allowing 4 runs on 7 hits, walking and striking out 3. Greeneville was defeated by the Princeton Rays 6-1, as Chan Moon got the lone RBI on an out. Ricardo Batista went 4 innings, allowing 3 runs on 5 hits, walking 4 and striking out 3. The Gulf Coast club had a harrowing 9th, but managed to escape with a 4-3 win over the Cardinals. Jose Fernandez, Rafael Valenzuela, and Justin Shults drove in 1 each. Jarrod McKinney scored the other run. Enderson Franco allowed 1 run on 5 hits in 5. He walked 3 and fanned 2. In a game that was completed after the 7th, the Academy took down the Dodgers 3-2. The big hit was from Mesac Laguna, who had a 3-run homer in the 6th. It was his 2nd blast of the year. Rey Guduan allowed 2 hits in 3 scoreless innings, walking 3 and striking out 5. Felix Ramirez struck out 3 in 2 1/3 perfect innings of relief to get the victory. Guduan has struck out 46 in 36. He has walked 36 in the same timeframe, walking at least 2 in all 10 of his starts.
Astros aren't sold on Shelby Miller Smilin' Ken and JPM have combined for a post dissecting this Roy to St. Louis rumor: The Astros like Class A right-hander Shelby Miller but aren’t sold on the 19-year-old – or any other Cardinals prospect – as the centerpiece of an Oswalt trade, the source said... ... St. Louis has the built-in disadvantage of being in the same division as Houston; some in the industry believe Astros owner Drayton McLane wants to avoid dealing Oswalt within the National League Central.
Astros | Like Shelby Miller Posted: 374 days 11 hrs 30 mins ago. | Source kffl.com The Houston Astros like St. Louis Cardinals SP Shelby Miller, but are not sold on any of the team's prospects as the centerpiece for a trade involving SP Roy Oswalt, according to FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi. Miller is 3-4 with a 4.04 ERA in 16 starts with Single-A Quad Cities this year. Read more: http://www.fantasysp.com/player/mlb/Roy_Oswalt/1053128#ixzz1Tkgr3OBd
I don't believe that report whatsoever. Drayton even said in an article right around the time that the Oswalt trade talks were heating where he said how badly the organization was hoping Miller would fall to them in the '09 draft.
JD Sussman, who is one of the guys who runs the Bullpen Banter website, watched Folty tonight and said that he was very impressive and far more impressive than his opponent Carlos Perez. Perez is a young high-upside lefty in the Braves organization. Then another guy on the minorleagueball website said that he doesn't see how people can be down on Folty. He said he showed a good feel for commanding his fastball and that he was "built like a clothes hanger". Nice to hear positive reports.
See, the thing with strikeouts is they tend to magnify as you go up the chain. And I can't really think of anybody who has in any meaningful way "fixed" a high strikeout problem, just like people really don't "fix" an inability to draw a walk. You can tweak it a bit with a lot of hard work, but not much. He's definitely a great athlete. The stolen bases show that. He has speed and power. Apparently he is nice on defense. But if you can't hit a curveball, it doesn't matter. But right now, I'd take Wallace over Gose, and that isn't in any reflection on Wallace. Rather, Gose is looking like at best, a broke man's version of Mike Cameron to me right now.
Then I do not know what to tell you... a number of well respected reporters reported it. I guess you are entitiled to your opinion.
Not I.... he is 20 years old, flashing power in AA and although his K rate is a major red flag, his ability to walk is a huge sign from my perspective. I say the chances of Gose being a good MLB regular is 33%, if that, but he is younger and still developing with a rare skill set. Wallace is substantially older, and has no power as a power position.... I wonder what his upside is.
Rosenthal, etc. are hacks. Miller was never coming here. The cardinals' first offer had friggin jon jay as the centerpiece.
If Villar can turn into what his potential says he could, the the Oswalt trade will be ok in my book. That's why you get three guys for one, so that you can have better odds. The thing with Gose is he is still in Double A. Wallace was a much, much better Double A player than Gose is now. If Wallace were still a prospect, then he too would still be rated as a top 75 prospect. The only difference between the two is that Wallace is older and has been tried in the majors. As Double A players Wallace is leaps and bounds ahead of where Gose is now. Of course Gose could improve at an exponential rate and reach a higher point in his development curve than Wallace ever will reach, but chances are slim.
Only reason people are somewhat down on him is his SO numbers which are very low, he has shown flashes but still needs to miss more bats.
I don't really like the moves. I don't think Paredes is ready (even Wade said this). I figured Carlos Lee would now be the every day LF and Wallace the every day 1B.
MLB.com has updated our Top 10 Prospects: 1) Jarred Cosart 2) Jonathan Singleton 3) Jose Altuve 4) Jonathan Villar 5) Mike Foltynewicz 6) Paul Clemens 7) Delino Deshields Jr. 8) J.D. Martinez 9) Tanner Bushue 10) Brett Oberholtzer Jordan Lyles is no longer eligible, so he went off, and Mier & Paredes have moved off. I'm not sure what other player was on there previously.
That top 10 looks so much better, brings a smile to my face. That said, Altuve and JD should come off by season's end and probably be replaced with Springer and Ovando. Tanner will probably come off due to injury but Houser should replace him. I really hope they throw money at Armstrong and get him signed and whoever we get for Wandy will have top 10 talent.
I think Ovando might have been the other player that dropped off. Personally, I'm not that high on Armstrong. I'd like him to sign purely to add potential to the system, but I'm not that impressed with him. I wouldn't give him a big bonus (of course I wouldn't have drafted him).
In MLB.com's Top 50 Prospects: 37. Jarred Cosart - RHP 38. Jonathan Singleton - OF/1B Both from the Pence/Phillies trade.
“@alysonfooter: LHP Dallas Keuchel, one of the club's well-regarded pitching prospects, was promoted to OKC from Corpus.” In addition, Cedeno and Abreu also to OKC and Hennessey released.
IMO, this is THE list... with everybody still in the minors, except for Paredes making his debut tonight. The list looks good.