What is the upside for Blake Ford? Dominating at Tri City so far. Potential to move quickly as a closer since he's "already" 24?
Jeff Luhnow is in Corpus tonight. Greg Rajan, the Hooks beat writer, has a series of tweets regarding his thoughts on player movement...
Been putting off my surf/fish/baseball trip to Corpus in anticipation of Springer being there. August works for me, make it happen Luhnow.
So Oberholtzer with another ugly tonight. Seems to get rocked in the 1st inning. ERA of about 18 in the 1st. Rest of the games he has pitched in, ERA is about 3.35.
Aaron West with 7 shutout innings for Tri-City, allowing 2 hits and striking out 7. He's now 4-0 with a 0.88 ERA
DDJ went 2-3 with 1 2B, 2 SB (69), 1 BB. More importantly he got his OBP up to the magical .400 number tonight.
Friday Stories Marwin hurt, Chris Johnson hurt.... promotion for someone in OKC? Big night in Corpus for Andy Simunic! George Springer promotion watch is officially on. The rain stopped Lexington, but they made sure to do their thing in Greenville. Aaron West continues to roll. Preston Tucker has formally arrived on the scene. Tri-City doing what they do. Tough night for Greeneville... A much better showing from the GCLstros after getting perfected their last time out. Recap Otherwise, not a very good night for Oklahoma City as they were pounded 8-1 by Memphis. They didn't have an RBI, and Jimmy Paredes went 2-4 while scoring the only run, as Mike Hessman grounded into a double play in the 9th. Shelby Miller got his revenge on the Redhawks, after they've pretty much owned him for a good chunk of the season. Brett Oberholtzer allowed 6 runs on 7 hits (3 homers) and struck out 7 in 6 innings. I guess the only positive was that he didn't walk anyone. Here he goes with the alternating good starts and bad starts thing again.... Corpus got a very nice night from Andy Simunic as they topped Frisco 7-5. Simunic went 2-3 with a grand slam (2) in the 5th and finished with 5 RBI. His other RBI came when he drew a bases-loaded walk in the 6th inning. The other 2 runs were driven in by Ben Orloff, on a sac fly in the 2nd and a single in the 6th. Jake Goebbert, Adam Bailey, and Rene Garcia each had 2 hits for the Hooks. Rob Rasmussen had a bare minimum quality start, allowing 5 hits (solo homer), walking 1 and striking out 6. Josh Zeid went 2 innings, allowing a 2-run homer to Mike Olt in the 8th and struck out 2. Jason Stoffel got his 16th save of the season. On a side note: I really don't know why Jurickson Profar and Mike Olt are still in Double-A. They've more than proven their mastery of the level. Lancaster battered former possible Astro Garrett Gould and Rancho Cucamonga 8-2 in their series opener behind George Springer, who went 3-5 with 3 RBI and 3 steals (24). He had a 2-run single in the 2nd (Jethawks scored 5 in the inning) and added an RBI single in the 8th. Also occurring in the inning was a 2-run homer from Enrique Hernandez, his 5th of the season. Grant Hogue added 2 steals, giving him 19 on the season. Alex Todd went 2-3 with a double and scored twice, and Domingo Santana capped the night with a 2-run homer in the 9th, his 16th of the season. R.J. Alaniz, in his first start off the DL, went 3 innings (capped) and allowed 2 runs on 3 hits (solo homer), walked 2, and fanned 2. He did not leave with another injury; the Jethawks wanted to ease him back into action, hence the 3-inning limit. David Martinez came on to pitch the rest of the game and shut down the Quakes. He threw 6 scoreless, allowed 7 hits, walked 1, and struck out 3. Lexington defeated Greenville 7-4 in a game that was called after 7 innings due to rain. Zach Johnson went 2-4 with 2 doubles and 3 RBI. Justin Gominsky added 2 sac flies. Brandon Meredith drove in 1. Delino DeShields went 2-3 with a double, scored twice, and stole 2 bases (69). His OBP is now .400. Nolan Fontana went 0-2, but he drew his customary 2 walks. Ruben Sosa went 3-4 and scored twice. Juri Perez went 5 1/3 innings and allowed 4 runs (1 earned) on 3 hits, walked 3, and struck out 7. Tom Shirley got the save, as he allowed a walk and fanned 2 while getting 5 outs. Tri-City continues its domination of the New York-Penn League, as they shut down Vermont 6-0, with Aaron West and Jamaine Cotton combining on a 2-hitter. West was just locked in, as he allowed 2 hits over 7 shutout innings and struck out 7. Cotton came on and retired all 6 Lake Monsters he faced. Offensively, it was a HUGE night for Preston Tucker, who trumpeted his arrival by driving in 5 of the 6 runs. He went 2-3 with a 3-run homer (1st pro) in the 4th and added a 2-run single in the 5th. Jesse Wierzbicki scored the only run that wasn't driven in by Tucker, as he stole 3rd (5) and scored on a wild pitch by Vermont starter Deyvi Jimenez. Jarrod McKinney, who struck out on the play, advanced to 2nd, while Tyler Heineman stole 2nd (2) and ended up advancing to 3rd on the play. Andrew Aplin also contributed 2 hits, but shockingly, did not walk. ValleyCats hitters drew 9 walks in this game. Tough night for Greeneville, as they were swept in a doubleheader against Kingsport, losing game 1 2-0 and game 2 2-1. Jose Monzon doubled in game 1 for the Appy Astros' lone extra-base hit in either game. Frederick Tiburcio threw his 2nd straight complete game, allowing 2 runs (1 earned, both in the 3rd) on 3 hits, walking 2 and striking out 3. In game 2, the only RBI came on a Jimmy Howick groundout in the 7th. Angel Ibanez went 2-3. Chris Lee went 2 innings and allowed 2 unearned runs (both in the 1st) on 2 hits and walked 2. Andrew Walter threw 3 innings, allowing 1 hit and striking out 3. Mike Hauschild finished it out, allowing a hit and striking out 1 in the 6th. The GCLstros had a much better showing this time out, but they still lost 8-7 to the Nationals. Carlos Correa went 2-5 with a steal (3) and..... a double. The River went 3-5 with a triple and scored twice. Alfredo Gonzalez went 2-4 with 2 RBI, on a single and a double. Juan Santana was 2-3 with a double, a sac fly, and scored twice. Brett Phillips and Darwin Rivera each drove in 1. Edison Frias went 3 2/3 innings and allowed 6 runs (3 earned) on 7 hits, walked 1, and struck out 3. Ambiorix De Leon got 3 outs (1 in the 4th and 2 in the 5th) while allowing 2 unearned runs on 2 hits and striking out 1. Agapito Barrios finished with 4 1/3 scorless innings, allowing 4 hits and striking out 2. In what has become all too common, the Academy was shut out 5-0 by the A's. They only had 4 hits, with Mesac Laguna collecting 2 of them. I think I know which area needs more emphasis... and it's definitely the hitters. Elieser Hernandez allowed 4 runs on 8 hits in 6 innings and struck out 3. Luis Abad allowed a solo homer in the 7th, the only hit and run he allowed in his 2 innings. He struck out 2. One release here... <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>The business side of baseball really hurts sometimes. This is one of those times. The Astros have released RHP Kirk Clark.</p>— Jayne (@whattheheck57) <a href="https://twitter.com/whattheheck57/status/226707887139991553" data-datetime="2012-07-21T15:59:06+00:00">July 21, 2012</a></blockquote> <script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> Game Scores Brett Oberholtzer: 41 Rob Rasmussen: 55 R.J. Alaniz: 45 (David Martinez: 60) Juri Perez: 56 Aaron West: 80 Frederick Tiburcio: 61 Chris Lee: 48 Edison Frias: 31 Elieser Hernandez: 43 Three Stars 3. George Springer, CF, Lancaster 3-5, 3 RBI, R, 3 SB (24) On any other night, he'd be the #1 star with a line like that. Methinks he's ready for Corpus, don't you? 2. Andy Simunic, 3B, Corpus Christi 2-3, GS (2), 5 RBI He's been a real solid stopgap option at 3B for the Hooks. He's held off Matt Duffy and Jonathan Meyer pretty well. 1. Preston Tucker, RF, Tri-City 2-3, 3-R HR (1), 5 RBI This is why the Astros drafted him, right? Power bat with a good eye at the plate is a combination that I think should enable him to move quickly through the minors. Too early to call or predict his ceiling, but he emerge as a DH option in 2014 or 2015. Aaron West, P, Tri-City W, 7 IP, 2 H, 7 K, 80 GS Is it too early to say that West has made the NYPL look too easy? Unfortunately, the Lexington rotation is filled up at the moment, but he could force the issue with some more quality starts. Honorable Mentions Delino DeShields, 2B, Lexington: Now owns a .400 OBP. We'll see him in Lancaster soon. Now, I'm not sure on his chances for 100 walks/100 steals, but it looks to be a very outside chance that he reaches that figure. Ben Orloff, SS, Corpus Christi: Provided the other 28.6% of the Corpus offense. Rio Ruiz, 3B, GCL Astros: This kid is the future at 3B!! Zach Johnson, 1B, Lexington: Promoting him was long overdue. He's just another organizational guy. Carlos Correa, SS, GCL Astros: Nice to see him expand on the customary 1-4 days. Goat Was not Greeneville's night. Dishonorable mention goes to Luis Alvarez, who had a hat trick for Lexington. Looking Ahead OKC will be looking to shake off Friday's nightmare by getting another go at Memphis at 7:05. Sergio Perez will take on Nick Additon. Corpus and Frisco are back at it at 7:05. Jarred Cosart will get the start; he will go against Nick Tepesch. Lancaster and Rancho Cucamonga will play the middle game of their series at 7:05 Pacific. Tyson Perez gets the start for the Jethawks; opposing him will be Angel Sanchez. Lexington and Greenville will play game 3 of their series at 7:05 Eastern. The starters are TBD. Tri-City is looking to run their current winning streak to 4 as they take on Vermont in the middle game of the series at 7 Eastern. Brian Holmes will take on Andres Avila. Greeneville, for some weird reason, will head back home to conclude their series with Kingsport at 6 Eastern. Adrian Houser will get the start for the Appy Astros. Opposing him for the Mets will be John Gant. GCLstros and DSLstros in progress.
Gotta bring the DDJ lovefest back. Since his monster month of June that put him on everyone's radar, DDJ has quietly gotten even better at the plate. His numbers look even better in July, though he missed a few games due to a minor injury. Month by Month stats: April: .253/.367/.353 with 12 sb May: .252/.365/.397 with 16 sb June: .303/.407/.424 with 25 sb July: .406/.500/.625 with 12 sb (through 16 games) His overall season line is .293/.400/.427 with 8hr, 60bb, 69sb, 90k, and 12cs By his caught-stealing percentage this month (25%), it appears like he's pressing in his quest for 100sb. There are 41 games left in the season. He still has a shot at the big counting stats (100bb/100sb) and looks like a lock for a .300 batting average. Luhnow has mentioned that early August will see a flurry of minor league moves; I expect DDJ's promotion to Lancaster to be one of them. It'll be exciting following his progression through the system. I still ballpark his arrival in Houston at late 2014 at the earliest.
A flurry of moves are being made. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Heidenreich (21) will be assigned to Corpus Christi, Walters (22) will be assigned to Lancaster.</p>— Houston Astros (@astros) <a href="https://twitter.com/astros/status/226761926242353154" data-datetime="2012-07-21T19:33:50+00:00">July 21, 2012</a></blockquote> <script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Another couple of roster moves: OKC RHP Jose Valdez has been activated from the DL & 3B Kyle Redinger was assigned from GCL to Tri-City</p>— Jayne (@whattheheck57) <a href="https://twitter.com/whattheheck57/status/226787328230838273" data-datetime="2012-07-21T21:14:47+00:00">July 21, 2012</a></blockquote> <script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>And yet another roster move - RHP Richard Rodriguez was assigned to the GCL from Greeneville.</p>— Jayne (@whattheheck57) <a href="https://twitter.com/whattheheck57/status/226788686728138753" data-datetime="2012-07-21T21:20:11+00:00">July 21, 2012</a></blockquote> <script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>@<a href="https://twitter.com/KRED60">KRED60</a>, who recently indicated that he is switching to Pitcher, has been added to the @<a href="https://twitter.com/ValleyCats">ValleyCats</a> roster</p>— Mike Tauser (@farmstros) <a href="https://twitter.com/farmstros/status/226744405166534656" data-datetime="2012-07-21T18:24:13+00:00">July 21, 2012</a></blockquote> <script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> Redinger, hoping to revive his career, has converted to pitching. A 20-year-old from Lebanon, Pennsylvania, he was drafted in the 11th round out of Cedar Crest HS in Lebanon. He hit .186/.268/.234 with no homers and 24 RBI in 3 years as a 3B, none of which were spent above the GCL. Good luck to him in switching positions. Hope it goes well. In 6 starts for Greeneville, Rodriguez was 2-1 with a 3.64 ERA. In 29 2/3 innings, he allowed 17 runs (16 earned) on 23 hits (3 homers), walked 9, and struck out 34. Opponents were hitting .207 off of him. Yeah, I'm feeling a release after the season in his future, sad to say...
Huh? His numbers look pretty decent to me. He even got a spot start in Lexington which didn't go terribly. Why has he been going backwards in promotion? He's only 21 and this is his 3rd year in the system.
Yeah. He's 22 but has been serviceable for the most part in Greeneville. Unless it's Michael Feliz heading the other way, I'm not sure what to say.
