My thoughts on the minor league rosters: QC: I love the aggressive placement of Correa, Ruiz and McCullers. It's awesome that the big three from that class are staying together but its borderline shocking to me that McCullers is going to full season ball one year out of high school. He'll definitely be on strict pitch/inning limits. The pitching staff is mostly college (older), lower upside pitchers other than McCullers and Vincent Velasquez. The starting outfield are all intriguing sleeper prospects (T. Hernandez, Joyce and Ovando) that could make huge jumps. Lan: Very balanced roster with good prospects in all areas. Folty, West and Rodgers lead a strong rotation which is paramount in the Cali league. There's not a ton of power in the lineup but the top of the order (DDJ, Fontana, Aplin) should easily set the table for Preston Tucker. Brandon Meredith is an intriguing power/speed combo whose numbers could rocket in a full season at Cali; he had 15hr and 12sb in a little over half a season worth of PAs last year. CC: It's basically the same roster as Lancaster last year, which kind of sucks because Lancaster was kinda boring once you got past Springer and Santana. CC also had the most talent in the system last year and was very fun to watch. Wojo and Trope are the only pitchers I'll follow. Stoffel and Seaton should probably be at AAA already. Carlos Perez and Jio Mier are prospects in make-or-break situations; a bad or mediocre year and they're basically just organizational depth. OKC: Not particularly laden with high-upside talent, but I expect 10+ guys on this opening day roster to be called up over the course of the season. There's an overabundance of starting pitching that can fill in at the ML level (Keuchel, Lyles, Owens, Ely, Cosart, etc...). Johnny Villar is the highest upside player here; I'd love to see him continue to develop and refine his glove at SS. When Singleton comes back this will be a much more interesting offensive team. A few things stand out to me: -The entire top prospects list is in full-season ball. That's surprising but bodes well for arrival time. -Every level has at least 2-3 top 20 prospects on each side of the ball. This means the talent will come in waves consistently every year from here on out. -Every level has a few breakout candidates too. -There's a huge glut of pitchers right now. Most people know about Luhnow's tandem pitching plan. Hopefully this sorts itself out. Said it before but it bears repeating: it'll be an exciting year for the minor league teams!
I know the tandem system will allow pitchers to pitch almost as much as a normal setup, but I wonder if the Astros can use it in the low levels to keep young pitchers to low pitch counts.
Whats the tandem experiment is over and we pick the best 5 out of 8 (not sure this is how it wil work), what happens to the 3 guys on the outside looking in? Cant send them down, because the clubs downstream will probably be full. So do they just get waived? Released? Turned into long relievers?
If a guy can't win a rotation slot at his given level, it's probably not a great sign for his future prospects. If he's young for his league and want him to get regular work, you probably send him down. Otherwise, turned into a mid/long reliever.
My guess is they become relievers, but there will be injuries to take care if some of it, but on flip side could also gave promotions. I think they will stay tandem longer in the lower levels hoping to limit the innings pitched by the younger guys.
Who's Still in Florida? TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013 I just got done updating the Farmstros database, including assignments with full season affiliates. With only 100 slots available, quite a few players aren't going to be playing on Thursday. Some players will be taking part in extended spring training. Others are injured, I've indicated those that I know of. Following is a list of 30 players who are apparently still in Florida for one reason or another. This list is NOT comprehensive. I have noted the highest level the player reached in 2012. Jack Armstrong, RHP- DNP Jean Batista, IF- Tri-City Brian Blasik, IF- Greeneville Bobby Borchering, OF- Corpus Christi Tanner Bushue, RHP- Lexington Kevin Comer, RHP- Greeneville Jamaine Cotton, RHP- Tri-City Lance Day, RHP- Tri-City Austin Elkins, IF- Tri-City Sergio Escalona, LHP- DNP Michael Feliz, RHP- Greeneville Jose Fernandez, SS- Lexington Ernesto Genoves, C- Lexington Justin Gominsky, OF- Lexington Murilo Gouvea, RHP- Lexington Evan Grills, LHP- Lexington Grant Hogue, OF- Lancaster Adrian Houser, RHP- Greeneville Chia-jen Lo, RHP- Lancaster Kenny Long, LHP- Lancaster Chan Moon, IF- Lancaster Joseph Musgrove, RHP- Greeneville Telvin Nash, OF- Lancaster Luis Ordosgoitti, RHP- Lexington Andrew Simunic, IF- Oklahoma City Jon Singleton, 1B- Corpus Christi(Supsended) Max Stassi, C- Oakland organization(Injured) D'Andre Toney, OF- Greeneville Kyle Weiland, RHP- Houston Brandon Wikoff, IF- Corpus Christi(Injured)
Does Jonathan Singleton's suspension start when the redhawks play their first game or when the Astros started last Sunday?
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Mike Foltynewicz is scheduled to make the start on Opening Night with Alex Gillingham piggy-backing. <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23JetHawks">#JetHawks</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23Astros">#Astros</a></p>— Jason Schwartz (@jasondschwartz) <a href="https://twitter.com/jasondschwartz/status/319585058505760770">April 3, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Does anyone know if there are any sites that show live streams of minor league games? I am aware of sites that show MLB games.
If you're willing to pay, there's an minor league equivalent to MLB.tv (MILB.tv) Otherwise I doubt it. MILB radio is free though.
Game notes for tonight lists the pitching probables for the opening series with Springfield. Thursday: Ross Seaton & Jake Buchanan Friday: Nick Tropeano & Bobby Doran Saturday: Asher Wojciechowski & David Martinez Tonight, R.J. Alaniz gets the start in the exhibition. He'll be followed by Matt Heidenreich, Wojciechowski, and Martinez.
Happy Minor League Opening Day to all! It's probably a broken record at this point, but... Oklahoma City will be on the road as they take on Oscar Taveras and Memphis at 7:05. Jordan Lyles will oppose John Gast. I suppose we'll find out who his partner is tomorrow night. Corpus Christi welcomes the Texas League champs, Springfield, to Whataburger Field, also at 7:05. The tandem of Ross Seaton and Jake Buchanan will take the mound for the Hooks. Opposing them for the Cardinals will be Richard Castillo. Lancaster begins its defense of the California League championship by welcoming High Desert to Clear Channel Stadium, with the first pitch coming at 7 Pacific. Mike Foltynewicz and Alex Gillingham will be the tag team for game 1. In their first game as an Astros affiliate in 15 years, the Quad Cities River Bandits travel to suburban Chicago to take on Kane County. Vince Velasquez and a partner yet to be determined will face the Cougars, who will go with Pierce Johnson, the 43rd pick in last year's draft. First pitch will be at 6:30.
