I don't know if anybody else caught Luhnow on Astros Live yesterday. I really like how he actually gives some insight on player movement. -Not really a shocker but he said he fully expects Keuchel to be in main rotation next year which is a given since Wandy will be gone and likely Happ as well. -Most telling was that he said Cosart was to be promoted last week but they wanted a few more starts from him so he should be in OKC soon! -Also, he said everybody will be surprised at Nolan Fontana and we should see him in AA next year for sure. I honestly could see him getting called up next Sept after only 1 year in the minors.
Thanks for the backup there, xcrunner and NIKEstrad. Good job, good efforts all around. But you did miss the Dominican Summer League club losing 5-1 to the Dodgers. Only 3 hits in the game for the Academy. Randy Cesar doubled, and Jarico Reynoso had the only RBI on an out. Edwin Villarroel took the loss despite another nice outing, going 7 innings and allowing a run on 6 hits, walking 2 and striking out 2.
Heh, that's almost exactly the commentary on today's minor league report on TCB. Are you subber10? Not to beat a dead horse, but I hope the front office is doing everything they can to secure an A+ team in the Carolina league again. Lancaster is the place where pitching prospects go to die. I'd hate to see Nitro derailed by the Cali league.
At a minimum, they should consider prospects skipping Lancaster and going straight to Corpus if possible.
Need to somehow get the Sugar Land Skeeters into the Florida State League and make them the Astros A+ affiliate. That would be the best of all possible outcomes.
Carlos Correa was 1-3 with a double in game 2. Unfortunately, it looks like the GCLstros are gonna get swept.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Ruben Sosa and Justin Gominsky were promoted to @<a href="https://twitter.com/LexingtonLegend">LexingtonLegend</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%2523Astros">#Astros</a></p>— Brooks Parker (@Subber10) <a href="https://twitter.com/Subber10/status/218464934336536576" data-datetime="2012-06-28T22:04:33+00:00">June 28, 2012</a></blockquote> <script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> Also, Rio Ruiz has been assigned to the GCL.
The big 3 of the draft (Correa, McCullers, and Ruiz) are all at the rookie-league GCL Astros team in Kissimmee, Florida.
McCullers said on Twitter that his first start would be sometime next week. He's getting the Adrian Houser treatment, as he's expected to go to Greeneville at some point this season.
Three Stars, Honorable Mentions, and Goat coming later. Hopefully. Thursday Stories Epic comeback... Short-season teams impressing in the early going. Hooks repping the Astros in the Texas League All-Star game. Recap OKC downed Iowa 3-1 to open their series. There was no scoring until the 5th when Matt Tolbert tripled, then scored on Jimmy Paredes' error on the same play. The Redhawks answered with 3 unanswered, as Brett Wallace tied the game with a single in the 6th. Landon Powell's RBI single in the 7th gave them the lead, then Paredes atoned for his error with an RBI single. All of these hits were to left field. Aneury Rodriguez went 5 innings, allowing a run on 8 hits, walking 1 and striking out 4. Sergio Perez got the win in 1 2/3 innings of relief, allowing 2 hits, walking 2, and striking out 1. Mickey Storey got the save, allowing 2 hits and fanning 2 in 2 1/3 innings. In the Texas League All-Star game, the South fell 3-1. Ross Seaton allowed all 3 runs in the 4th. Jarred Cosart had a 1-2-3 5th. Jason Stoffel worked around an Oscar Taveras double to get Jermaine Curtis, Nolan Arenado, and Jean Segura out. Kevin Chapman only got 1 out in the 8th. Jonathan Villar struck out and was plunked. Jose Martinez went 0-4 and was the final out of the game. Jonathan Singleton walked and flew out. Lancaster rocked Rancho Cucamonga in their series opener, winning 10-3. A balanced attack, as everyone had a hit except for Rafael Valenzuela, who drew 2 walks and scored to make up for that. Telvin Nash (21) and Erik Castro (11, 2-run) homered. 5 others (Ben Orloff, Jonathan Meyer, George Springer, Domingo Santana, and Enrique Hernandez) drove in 1 apiece. R.J. Alaniz was scratched from his scheduled start and has been placed on the 7-Day DL. In his stead, Jose Trinidad scattered 7 hits across 7 shutout innings, walking 1 and striking out 2. Brian Streilein allowed all 3 Quakes runs in the last 2 innings, but that's alright. Down 7-1 after 2 innings? No problem. Lexington turned the tables on Greensboro with a 10-1 run and won 11-8. Everybody had a hit except for Justin Gominsky. Delino DeShields went 2-4 with a double, 3 runs scored, and 3 steals (54). Jordan Scott (1-4), Matt Duffy (1-5), Jay Austin (4-5), and Brandon Meredith (3-6, 2 R) all doubled and drove in 2. Roberto Pena was 2-6 with an RBI, and Chan-Jong Moon had an RBI triple and a stolen base. Jonas Dufek was shelled in 1 2/3, allowing 7 runs (6 earned) on 9 hits (2-run homer) and struck out 2. The bullpen did an excellent job, with Evan Grills going 3 2/3 and allowing just one more run, Murilo Gouvea went 2 2/3, allowing 1 hit and striking out 1, and Dayan Diaz ran into some trouble, but he still got his 9th save of the year. Tri-City took their series opener with Connecticut 5-2. Austin Elkins, Ryan Dineen, Dan Gulbransen, and Emilio King each had an RBI. M.P. Cokinos scored a run in the 5th while Joe Sclafani grounded into a force play. Joe Bircher went 4 innings and allowed 2 runs on 7 hits (solo homer) and struck out 1. Juan Minaya followed him with 4 scoreless, allowing a hit and striking out 1. Blake Ford got the save, striking out 2. Greeneville took the opener of their series against Danville 5-2, as a 4-run 3rd did the trick. Mike Martinez led off the inning with his first professional homer. Jean Carlos Batista then hit a 2-run single, and D'Andre Toney scored when Brian Blasik grounded into a double play. Jimmy Howick went 2-3 with an RBI single in the 7th. Dan Minor went 4 innings and allowed 2 runs on 6 hits (solo homer), walked 1, and struck out 3. Mitchell Lambson may be turning into a Jason Chowning situation soon... he threw 3 shutout innings in relief, allowing a hit and striking out 3 to get the victory. In 9 2/3 innings, he's allowed 4 hits and struck out 12. Mike Hauschild got the save, pitching the final 2 innings. He allowed a hit, a walk, and fanned 3. The GCLstros were swept in a doubleheader against the Marlins, losing the first game 3-1, and walking off 7-6 losers in 8 innings. In game 1, Brett Phillips finished a homer shy of the cycle, going a perfect 3-3 with an RBI. Ydarqui Marte doubled and scored the only run, as he came home on Phillips' triple in the 3rd. Edison Frias threw 3 hitless innings, but was all over the place, walking 5 and striking out 2. Andrew Walter walked 1 and struck out 3 in 2 innings. Ambiorix De Leon got the loss as he served up a 2-run shot to Jose Ceballos.. Alan Abreu finished it off with 1 2/3 innings, walking 1 and striking out 3. Now in the 2nd game, they tied it with 4 in the top of the 7th... only to lose in the 8th. Carlos Correa went 1-4 with a double and a run scored. Kyle Redinger went 1-4 with 2 RBI. Darwin Rivera and Phillips also had an RBI. Jandel Gustave allowed 4 runs on 2 hits and walked 3 in 1 1/3 innings of work. He led the organization with 21 wild pitches last year, and uncorked 2 in this one. Jose Montero got the loss as Jose Solano threw the ball away as Austin Dean (a teammate of C.J. Hinojosa's at Klein Collins) attempted a suicide squeeze. Luis Ortiz scored on the play. The Academy rolled the last-place Rays 11-4. Luis Reynoso went 3-4 with an RBI and scored 3 times. Jarico Reynoso had a triple, an RBI, a steal (7), and scored 3 runs. Brauly Mejia and Tomas De La Cruz also drove in 1. Big day for Yoel Silfa as he went 3-5 with 2 doubles, 4 RBI, and 2 runs scored. Johan Arias got the victory, as he threw 7 innings, allowing 2 runs on 7 hits, walking 1 and striking out 4. Victor Mesa allowed 2 unearned runs in the 8th. And Rauldison Rodriguez, in his season debut, struck out 2 in the 9th.
And many of us on here are as well. I would have preferred seeing him in Corpus, but he'll get some time there before the end of the season. I believe Tropeano has the mentality to succeed in Lancaster. I don't expect any dramatic regression there either.
