Chances Travis Buck gets released? Guy is hitting .143 in AA bal in 7 games. A couple of games he only go 2 at bats. I know its on rehab assignment but come on, he's taking some select prospects spot who should be in Corpus Christi by now. Would rather see F. Martinez on the parent club than Buck anyways.
I'd like to see them get rid of Schafer as well. Go with Martinez/Maxwell/Martinez and have Bogey on the bench.
Agreed. I didn't care for Schafer when he was with the Braves and see him as completely irrelevant to the future of this team.
I know it's early but watching Jobduan Morales raking for Tri-City is getting me excited. Hopefully he gets to Lexington reasonably soon. Luhnow's legacy grows and grows.
Luhnow's favorite trade: fringe major league players for talented low-level players Wade's favorite trade: our few prospects for crappy ML middle-relievers Luhnow >>> Wade. Even if Luhnow doesn't hit on every trade (Chapman, Jobduan, etc...) his trades are infinitely more palatable.
Wade had a solid record as far as trades go. Wade traded crap for solid veterans. Luhnow trades fringe players into potential future pieces. And he raped the Red Sox giving up a reliever for a starting SS.
Speaking of Travis Buck... the usual suspects report that he's completed his rehab assignment and has been DFA'd. Fernando Martinez was activated and optioned to OKC.
Tuesday Stories Boring game in OKC was boring Lexington dropped another tough one late. A rather impressive offensive showing from Tri-City. Greeneville continuing their terrific start! Recap Really nothing much to report for OKC as they lost 5-1 against Omaha, dropping 3 of 4. Brett Wallace went 3-4 with a double and Fernando Martinez was 2-4. No RBIs for the Redhawks in this one, as the only run came when Carlos Corporan scored on an error that allowed Jimmy Paredes to reach base. Armando Galarraga didn't do too bad, as he allowed 2 runs on 5 hits in 6 innings, walking 3 and striking out 3. Sergio Perez got a strikeout in a 1-2-3 7th, then the Royals... I mean, Storm Chasers, pounded Jose Valdez for 3 in the 8th. Mickey Storey cleaned up the mess by getting the last 2 outs of the inning. The Hooks that were named Texas League All-Stars are chilling in Tulsa right now. Lancaster stopped a 5-game losing streak by blowing past Modesto 15-9. Everybody had a multi-hit game except for Erik Castro, who went 0-5 with a hat trick. Everyone had an RBI except for Castro and Telvin Nash, who was 2-4 with a double and scored 3 times. Everyone scored a run except for Ben Orloff. Domingo Santana was 2-5 with a 3-run homer (10) and finished with 4 RBI. His RBI single in the bottom of the 1st was the opening run of the game. Chris Epps continues to be unconscious as a Jethawk, going 3-4 with a solo homer (5, 7 season) and 3 runs scored. Enrique Hernandez finished a homer shy of the cycle, going 3-5 with 2 RBI and 2 runs scored. Orloff was 3-6 with a double and an RBI single. Jonathan Meyer was 2-4 with 2 RBI from a sac fly and a single. George Springer went 2-4 with a sac fly and scored twice. And finally, Ben Heath was 2-4 with an RBI single and an RBI double. Plenty of support for Tyson Perez in this one. He allowed 4 runs on 9 hits in 5 2/3, walking 3 and striking out 4. Pat Urckfitz and Kirk Clark served up homers in their appearances. Andrew Robinson finished it off with a 1-2-3 9th, striking out 1. Lexington lost another tough one to Greensboro, as Luis Cruz allowed the Grasshoppers to score 3 in the bottom of the 8th on the way to losing 3-1. Zach Johnson went 2-4, and his RBI single was the lone Legends run. Luis Alvarez also went 2-4. He doubled, stole a base, and scored the only run. Cruz owned Greensboro for 7 innings, then once again.... Aaron Senne's 2-run shot in the 8th knocked Cruz out of the game. Ultimately, he went 7+ innings (no outs in the 8th), allowing 3 runs on 7 hits, walking 2 and striking out 7. Nathan Pettus finished it out, walking 2 and striking out 2 in the 8th. Tri-City doubled up Lowell 10-5 as they've taken the first 2 in the series. Andrew Aplin went 2-3 with a triple, an RBI single, and scored twice. Dan Gulbransen was 2-4 with 2 RBI singles, Jesse Wierzbicki was 3-4 with an RBI double and scored twice. M.P. Cokinos was 2-4 with an RBI single, and Justin Gominsky capped off the scoring with a 2-run double. Brian Holmes allowed 2 runs (1 earned) on 2 hits (solo homer) in 3 1/3 innings, walking 2 and striking out 4. Travis Ballew got the win in relief, throwing 2 2/3 innings and also allowing 2 runs (1 earned) on 1 hit (solo homer). He struck out 3 in this outing. Brad Propst, Kenny Long, and Blake Ford finished with 1 inning each, with Propst giving up a run. Greeneville took down Princeton 8-7 as they've taken the first 2 of their series as well. They only scored in 2 innings, but they made those 2 count, scoring 4 in the 1st and another 4 in the 5th. You thought Jean Carlos Batista's start was nuts? Well, Brian Blasik has been just as insane to start the season, as he went 3-5 with a double, a 2-run homer, 3 RBI, and 2 runs scored. Marc Wik was 3-3 with 2 RBI. Ariel Ovando and Ernesto Genoves each drove in 1. Francis Ramirez was rather ineffective in 2 innings, as he allowed 2 runs on 3 hits, walked 3, and struck out 3. Christian Garcia allowed a run on 4 hits in 2 innings, striking out 1. Jordan Jankowski got the victory by throwing 2 innings of his own, allowing a run on 3 hits and striking out 5. Zach Dando was bailed out by Scott Zuloaga, and Mike Dimock gave up 2 in the 8th to cut the Appy Astros' lead to 1. Mike Hauschild was able to shut the door for the save. Another Appy Astros Report Debby washed out the GCLstros' game with the Cardinals. The Academy fell to the Dodgers 10-6 despite getting 3 homers. Luis Reynoso's first ever was a 2-run shot in the 1st. Mesac Laguna was 2-5 with a 2-run shot of his own in the 5th, and Frederick Serrano's first ever was a solo homer in the 8th. The only RBI that didn't come off a homer belonged to Tomas De La Cruz. Luis Abad only got 2 outs (both via strikeout) in the 1st, allowing a run on a hit and walking 3. Javier Saucedo allowed 3 on 5 hits in 3, walking 2 and fanning 2. Yonquelys Martinez got the loss, as he allowed 6 runs (1 earned) on 8 hits in 4 1/3, walking 3 and striking out 2. With most of the core from last year gone to America(Teoscar Hernandez, Juan Santana, Reymin Guduan, Ambiorix De Leon), this group has a ways to go. But with guys like Reynoso, Michelena, Arauz, Villarroel, and De Los Santos, the Academy could churn out some pretty damn good players in the coming years. Game Scores Armando Galarraga: 54 Tyson Perez: 36 Luis Cruz: 56 Brian Holmes: 52 Francis Ramirez: 42 Luis Abad: N/A Three Stars 3. Andrew Aplin, CF, Tri-City 2-3, 3B, RBI, 2 R 6 walks, 1 strikeout through 8 games. Aplin's not a toolsy guy and there's probably not many people salivating over his potential like we are with George Springer, but he plays the game the right way, and I have a ton of respect for guys like that. Marc Wik, CF, Greeneville 3-3, 2B, 2 RBI as the DH At least 2 hits in 4 of his first 5 games. He was a defensive replacement in the other game, so he didn't get a chance to hit. Despite missing some time with injuries in college this year, he still led his conference in steals. 2. Brian Blasik, SS, Greeneville 3-5, 2B, HR (1), 3 RBI, 2 R I'm quickly becoming a fan of his. This undrafted free agent clearly has a chip on his shoulder. Just wants to prove that he can play. And he certainly could play at Dayton. 1. Lancaster Jethawks W 15-9 vs. Modesto; 15 R, 19 H, 0 E Typical California League... In probably the worst park for pitchers in baseball history, anything is possible. Honorable Mentions Jesse Wierzbicki, 1B, Tri-City: Wasn't too bad in Lexington, but at 23 and in short-season ball, he's just another guy. Brett Wallace, 1B, Oklahoma City: With games like these, he'll be back in Houston sooner rather than later. In what appears to be a running theme, he had a crappy start and has really come on strong over the past couple of months. Dan Gulbransen, OF, Tri-City: Another solid game. Another one of those guys who just knows how to play. Goat Can't be too mad here, but boy, did Erik Castro miss out. Looking Ahead OKC hits the road to begin a series with Iowa at 7:05. Brett Oberholtzer will get the start against Chris Rusin. Corpus is off, obviously. Jorge De Leon will get the start for Lancaster as they wrap up their series with Modesto at 7 Pacific. He will be opposed by Juan Gonzalez. Lexington will be looking to shake off 2 straight tough losses against Greensboro, as they send Jonas Dufek to the mound at 12:30 Eastern. Greensboro will counter with Josh Hodges. Tri-City will be looking to sweep Lowell out of the building at 7 Eastern. Juri Perez will start against Justin Haley. Greeneville will also be looking to sweep Princeton in their 1st home series of the year at 7 Eastern. Chris Lee will go up against Jacob Faria. After Debby washed them out, the GCLstros will be back in action as they travel to Jupiter to play the Marlins at their complex. First pitch will be noon Eastern. The Academy will be hosting the Dodgers at 10:30 AM Eastern.
Who wants to write tonight's recaps? My Internet's out of commission and it'll take an eternity to type all that on an iPhone...
Wallace is on fire, I hope they find a place for him soon. At some point a player should be allowed to overtake the player in front of them. Hopefully this team of player development management is smart enough to figure the right time. I suppose his opportunity will come soon.
A fill in version Biggest stories: 1.) Brett Wallace, beast mode activated 2.) Schaudenfreude in Lancaster; Nash being Nash 3.) Great pitching and clutch hitting get the win for Tri-City OKC OKC won a pitcher's duel 10-6. Rough start for Oberholtzer (his 2nd since call up?) as he went 3 2/3 giving up 9 hits, 1 walk, 5 ERs, with 3Ks. Bullpen was good going 5 1/3 with only 4 hits, 1 walk, 1 run, and 2 Ks. Del Rosario picked up the win, sitting down 7 straight batters with 6 groundouts and a flyout. Lots of offense as Jimmy Paredes went 2 for 5 with a walk(!) and a RBI. He also got picked off. Snyder, Barnes, and Powell also all had 2 hit games, and Barnes added 2 SB for good measure. Barnes is hitting .333 in AAA but his slugging is down .100 from AA since the callup. He still has a nice .840 OPS. The big stars were Mike Hessman and and Brett Wallace. Hessman went 2 for 4, both hits being homers (22nd and 23rd). Wallace was an absolute monster, going 4 for 6, with 2 doubles and homer, his 13th in AAA. Weirdly only 1 RBI (when he drove himself in), but he scored 3 times. Wallace has been on a tear in the month of June. Combined with his Astros numbers, he's hitting .359/.692/1.143 (if I did my math right), including 14 XBH. 27 Ks in 91 PAs is on the high side, but those are pretty beastly. Corpus Corpus was off as it's all-star game tonight. A lot of Corpus on the roster -- Jose Martinez, Jon Singleton, Jonathan Villar, Austin Wates, Kevin Chapman, Brett Oberholtzer and Jason Stoffel were voted on in the initial announcement. Oberholtzer won't play since he's been called up (Cossart has been added), and Wates likely won't play since he's been rehabbing. Lancaster Another pitcher's dual in Lancaster, though the JetHawks were on the losing side of this one, 11-9. Not a good night for the staff, as De Leon started and couldn't get out of the first inning, yielding 7 hits, 1 walk, and allowing 8 runs, though only 2 were earned. The inning went like this: Single-Error (grounder to 2nd)-Single-Infield Single-Strikeout-Walk-Single-Pop Out-Double-Single-Single-[Pitching change]-Walk-Wild Pitch (run scored)-Strikeout And that's how you score 8 runs with only 1 extra base hit. De Leon falls to 1-7, with an 8.21 ERA. Tropeano or Folty? The bullpen was ok. Chowning came in in the first, and settled down after the walk and wild pitch. He went 3.1, allowing 2 hits, 3 walks, and 2 ER on a homer, in addition to the inherited runner). He added a nice 6 Ks. Dydalewicz added 4 innings of 2 hit, 2 BB baseball, allowing 1 run on a solo HR. The offense nearly came back from the 8 run hole. Kike Hernandez didn't quite atone for his error that led to the big inning, but he went 2-4 with a 2B, his team leading 20th. Rene Garcia, the catcher, went 3-5 with a 2B as well. Jonathan Meyer each went 1-5 with a double. George Springer had a nice game, with his 15th HR, going 2-4 with a BB and no Ks. Telvin Nash was Telvin Nash -- he went 1-5 with 3 Ks, and also hit his 20th HR. What do you do with that guy? This game pushed him back above a 50% K/AB ratio, with 128 Ks in 255 ABs. Lexington Lexington got beaten up, 8-2. Luis Ordosgoitti went 5 innings, gave up 6 runs on 9 hits and 2 walks and added 2 Ks. Quezada came in in relief for 3 innings, allowing 3 hits and a walk and giving up 2 unearned runs. Not much offense for the Legends. Jordan Scott and Roberto Pena had multi-hit games. DeShields provided the only extra base hit, going 1-3 with a double. He added 2 walks and a K, but also committed an error (14th). After hitting in the .250s in April and May, DDJ is batting .314 in June, with an OBP of .412. He's also cutting down walks and increasing Ks. Tri-City Tri-City made things interesting with a come from behind 2-1 victory. They trailed 1-0 headed to the 8th, but got some offense from the 2012 draft class to get the win. Juri Perez got a no decision, but pitched well. He went 6 innings allowing 2 hits and 3 BB to go along with 3 Ks, and the only run he allowed was unearned. Jeremiah Meiners had a really nice outing to pick up the win. He went 2 innings, striking out one, and allowing just one single, which he erased himself with a pickoff. Cotton and Long combined to pitch the 9th, with Long coming in after a Cotton walk to strike out the final batter and pick up a save. The staff as a whole faced 5 over the minimum and allowed 1 XBH. Neiko Johnson, playing 3rd base, went 2 for 3 and started the one out, 8th inning rally with an infield single. His hit was followed by a Justin Gominsky single, and Johnson was then driven in on a single 2012 draftee Austin Elkins', who went 2 for 4. Sclafani then atoned for his first inning error which led to the unearned run by following up with another single. Andrew Aplin, the Astros 5th rounder, then hit a sac fly for the go ahead run. Aplin was 1 for 2 with a walk to go with the RBI. Among the league leaders, Aplin has a terrific .541 OBP, and is leading the league in both BA (.429) and OBP in the early season (10 games in). 2nd place in OBP is nearly 90 points behind. He's also tied for 3rd with 3 steals. Jobduan Morales is hitting .400, which is good for 3rd in the league, and his .444 OBP also ranks him 3rd. Morales' 9 runs scored leads the league. Juri Perez and Aaron West are also making waves as the rotations have had 2 go turns. West leads the league with his insane 0.38 WHIP, and Perez ranks 5th with his 0.80. Obviously it's early, but they're among 5 pitchers with 0.00 ERAs. Greenville Greenville lost a tough one, 6-3. Frederick Tiburcio started things off, and was mediocre. He went 4.1, allowing 5 hits, 2 walks, and 3 runs to go with 5 Ks. Tanner Bushue came in and was Tanner Bushue. He pitched an inning, and gave up 3 hits, 2 walks, and 3 runs (including a 2 run HR), to earn the loss. Zachary Hardoin followed with 2.2 shutout innings, giving up just a single with 2 KS, and Zachary Dando finished with a 1-2-3 9th. 1B Michael Martinez went 2 for 3 with a walk along with a double. The only other offense of note came from Jean Carlos Batista, who went 2 for 5 with 2 doubles. He was playing shortstop today, as they seem to move him around often. Brian Blasik had the day off, as did Ariel Ovando. On the leaderboard, Blasik and Ovando are tied for the league lead with 5 2Bs. Among batting average leaders, Blasik (.464), Batista (.410), and Ovando (.387) are 2nd, 4th, and 6th. Among OPS leaders, the trio (1.233, 1.066, 1.054) same order, is 3rd, 8th, and 10th GCL Astros Rained out. Not tellitlikeitis, but hope that helps.
A minor league recap posted at another Astros forum by a dude named A****aka: http://www.forums.mlb.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?tsn=1163&nav=messages&webtag=ml-Astros&tid=85511
Nice post, thanks! I noticed that that list didn't have all of the latest signings so I got today's updated list of the website: http://www.scoutingbook.com/prospects/HOU The new list includes Nolan Fantana; it still doesn't have Rio Ruiz. What jumps out immediately to me is that the ratings are pretty much a numerical representation of the baseball prospectus star rating system (http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=15385). That is to say we've got our elite prospects and then a large drop off in quality, then another large drop-off in quality. It's interesting that that list hasn't adjusted for DDJ and Folty's strong seasons. (They are better classified as strong seasons rather than breakout seasons). It's also notable that Telvin Nash is no where to be found despite his 20 HR season so far. To break it down BP ratings style, my rankings would look like this: Four-Star Prospects: 1) Jonathan Singleton 2) Carlos Correa - Could be a five-star prospect if he performs 3) George Springer 4) Jared Cosart Three-Star Prospects: (all are a break-out season away from four star status) 5) Jonathan Villar 6) Lance McCullers 7) Delino DeShields Jr 8) Rio Ruiz 2.5-Star Prospects: 8) Brett Oberholtzer 9) Domingo Santana 10) Jose Cisnero Michael Foltynewicz Paul Clemens Two-Star Prospects: (in no particular order) Telvin Nash Ariel Ovando Austin Wates Nolan Fantana Nick Tropeano - NiTro! Very polished/Lyles-ish. He'll ascend quickly but doesn't have TOR stuff. Best of the rest: Brady Rodgers D'Andre Toney Jio Mier Andrew Aplin Kevin Chapman Adrian Houser Vincent Velasquez Bobby Doran Michael Kvasnicka It's starting to look like a deep system. Still has notable holes at TOR starting pitching, lefty pitching, and catching. It's weak at third base and in power-hitting. It's absolutely loaded in up-the-middle spots (SS, 2B, CF). I chose to not young guys who've already had a cup of coffee in the big leagues: Jimmy Paredes, Kyle Weiland, Dallas Keuchel.
Lancaster's rotation is god-awful. Aside from R.J. Alaniz and Tyson Perez, there's no viable options there. Only means one thing.... TROPEANO TIME!!!!!!
