OKC was rained out, so Lancaster will be the only minor league club in action tonight. The good news is that tomorrow is an Astros off day, so I'll be making an open thread to discuss Astros minor league action tomorrow.
Wanna guess what Nolan Fontana did to lead off the game tonight? Lancaster lineup vs. High Desert 1. Nolan Fontana, SS 2. Carlos Perdomo, 2B 3. Andrew Aplin, CF 4. Zach Johnson, 1B 5. Preston Tucker, DH 6. Brandon Meredith, LF 7. Chris Epps, RF 8. Matt Duffy, 3B 9. Ryan McCurdy Starter: Mike Foltynewicz/?
Listening to Lancaster as I wait for the Rockets to start. Foltynewicz not missing any bats. Lots of singles against him in the 1st and High Desert is up 2-0.
Thanks, Telli. Your recaps are the best. Look forward to each one. Unlimited metaphorical rep points. Stros should get you on their payroll.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Nolan Fontana just walked for the 3rd time tonight -- in the 4th inning! He’s now walked 8 times in 15 PAs this series. <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/324723251421011969">April 18, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Folty just does not miss bats. Pitchers that can't miss bats at the lower levels really give concern about their future prospects.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Umpire called a balk and I could read the official scorer’s lips as he turned to the guy next to him… “What’s a balk?”</p>— Jason Schwartz (@jasondschwartz) <a href="https://twitter.com/jasondschwartz/status/324728015114350595">April 18, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
9 8 Lancaster only scored in 2 innings, but they got plenty out of them. The Jethawks got 3 in the 3rd and 6 in the 4th, but they had to hang on for that victory, as High Desert was on the comeback trail, scoring 5 unanswered. Offensively, every Jethawk had a hit exept for Raoul Torrez, who came on as a defensive replacement for Matt Duffy. The only player in the lineup with a multi-hit game was Zach Johnson, who went 3-5 with an RBI single in the 3rd and a bases-clearing double in the 4th. Brandon Meredith drew a bases-loaded walk in the 3rd, hit an RBI triple in the 4th, and did his best Nolan Fontana impersonation, walking 3 times. Speaking of Fontana, he was 1-2 with 3 walks and 2 runs scored. Chris Epps had a sac fly that turned into a double play that ended the 3rd, and Preston Tucker hit an RBI single in the 4th. The only run that wasn't an RBI was scored by Meredith, as he came home on a wild pitch in the 4th. Mike Foltynewicz went 4 innings and allowed 3 runs (2 earned) on 4 hits (solo homer), walked 1, and struck out 2. Blair Walters got the win, even though he didn't have a very good outing. He went 2 innings and allowed 3 runs on 4 hits, walked 3, and struck out 2. Jonas Dufek allowed a run on 3 hits and struck out 2 in his 2 innings. Travis Ballew allowed a 2-out single to Steven Baron, then a Fontana error allowed Dan Paolini to reach, putting runners on the corners. Ballew got wild, which allowed Baron to trot home and cut the Jethawk lead to 9-8. However, Ballew struck out the side in his 3rd straight inning as he punched out Anthony Phillips to end it. The Jethawks will be driving 55 miles back to Lancaster (I'm pretty sure they're already back) as they get set to welcome Bakersfield to The Hangar for 4 games begining tonight at 7 Pacific. Chris Devenski and Brady Rodgers will start the opener for the Jethawks; their opponent has yet to be determined. Radhames Quezada started 5 days ago for Bakersfield, but he was recently sent back to extended spring training.
I live in Chicago so I didn't see him at the exhibition at Minute Maid. It sure sounded impressive. But he's had a couple full seasons in MiLB with solid, yet unspectacular numbers. He's had a K% between 15-20% for his entire MiLB career which doesn't scream front-end starter. Like Jared Cosart, he's starting to seem like a hard throwing guy who induces a lot of weak contact. It really just highlights the fact that we have several arms in our system--Folty, Cosart, Tropeano, West--who project as solid major league contributors, but we're talking about middle-end of rotation guys (Cosart, Folty) or possible bullpen arms. When you look at K% and BB% of guys in our system though, Chris Devenski really jumps out. He's posted higher K% and lower BB% than Foltynewicz at every level so farm. Really, really excited to follow that guy this year.
Could it also be that our pitching development is trying to get our pitchers to pitch to contact so our starting pitchers can go more than 5-6 innings? Sure strikeouts are sexier, but there is nothing wrong with the pitch to contact mentality. Obviously it is nice to have the pure stuff to fall back on in specific situations (i.e. 1st and 3rd with 0 outs) where you could use a strikeout. I guess I am saying that perhaps using strictly K% isn't necessarily indicative of a pitching prospect's stuff.
Oh, absolutely, there's more to a pitcher's success than his K%. Often times though, elite major league pitchers were striking out minor leaguers at the lower levels in droves. As for institutional mentality, I have no idea. I've always heard that the Pirates really try to teach their guys to pitch to contact, but I've never heard anything about the Astros. Really, you probably want to teach to the strengths of every prospect. Guys with hard sink on their fastball are likely to succeed by pitching to contact, whereas guys with swing-and-miss stuff should probably be trying to fool people.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Clarification on <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23cchooks">#cchooks</a> OF Domingo Santana going on the DL: He has a hamstring ailment, not a groin injury. <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23astros">#astros</a></p>— Greg Rajan (@GregRajan) <a href="https://twitter.com/GregRajan/status/325038140387639296">April 19, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Thursday Stories Lancaster actually was not the last team to finish its game tonight. Let's play 2 in OKC! Quad Cities sought to make their 2nd trip to Kane County another success. Recap Oklahoma City 5, Round Rock 3 in Game 1 The doubleheader started off well enough. The damage was dealt by the bottom 4/9ths of the order, as Che-Hsuan Lin kicked off the scoring with a 2-run single in the 2nd. After Round Rock countered with 2 in the top of the 3rd, the Redhawks answered with 2 of their own in the bottom half, coming off an RBI double from Marc Krauss and an RBI single from Jonathan Villar. The Express would score 1 in the 6th to get within 1, but Cody Clark's RBI double in the bottom of the 6th proved to be the difference. Everyone had a hit except for Fernando Martinez and Jimmy Paredes, who both went 0-3 with 2 strikeouts. Krauss finished 2-3 while Villar was 3-3 at the plate with 2 steals (3). Both scored twice. The other run was scored by Trevor Crowe. Travis Blackley went 2 innings in his rehab start, allowing a run (inherited) and striking out 1. He hit Aaron Cunningham with a pitch in the 3rd, and he came around to score after Engel Beltre's single off of Jose Cisnero. Cisnero went 3 innings and allowed 2 of his own (1 earned) on 4 hits, walked 2, and struck out 2. C.J. Fick had a strikeout in a 1-2-3 6th, while Kevin Chapman got the first 2 outs in the 7th, working around a base hit. Jose Valdez walked Jurickson Profar after making his entrance, but he struck out Jim Adduci to end the game. Round Rock 8, Oklahoma City 4 in Game 2 Villar followed up his 3-3 game 1 with a golden sombrero, as he struck out to end the 2nd game. Jake Elmore was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the 7th for his RBI. Marc Krauss was 1-3, hitting an RBI single in the 1st and also drawing a bases-loaded walk in the 7th. Jimmy Paredes went 2-2 with a steal (4) and also drew a bases-loaded walk in the 7th, one of his 2 walks on the day. Rudy Owens went 4 innings and allowed 2 runs on 7 hits, walked 3, and struck out 1. Kyle Hallock allowed a run on 2 hits and walked 1 in the 5th. Science Guy allowed 4 runs (3 inherited) on 1 hit and walked 3 in 1 1/3. Lance Day allowed the bases-loaded situation he inherited from Berger to score, and he also gave up one of his own while trying to get the last 2 outs of the 7th. Day allowed 2 hits and fanned 1. The finale of this series pits Ross Seaton and Jordan Lyles against Collin Balester. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05. Frisco 4, Corpus Christi 2 in 17 innings Well, it was a duel with no end in sight. The Hooks offense was rendered useless as they struck out 19 times. George Springer was 0-6 with a golden sombrero. Austin Wates, Jonathan Meyer, and Drew Muren had hat tricks, Jio Mier and Michael Burgess struck out twice, and Rene Garcia and Rafael Valenzuela fanned once. Garcia was the only Hook with more than 1 hit, going 2-7. Meyer put the first run on the board by drawing a bases-loaded walk in the 4th. After Odubel Herrera's 6th-inning RBI single tied the game, Enrique Hernandez put the Hooks back on top with a solo shot in the 7th, his 2nd of the season. Aaaaaaaaannnnnnndddddd.... that was the last we heard of the Hooks offense. Drew Muren hustled for a double in the 12th and they actually loaded the bases in the frame, but... nothing. Muren was forced out at home and Austin Wates grounded out to end the inning. Jake Buchanan tossed 5 shutout innings and allowed 2 hits. It took him 51 pitches (32 strikes) to get his 5 in. Carlos Quevedo allowed the game-tying single in the 6th. That was the only hit and the only run (unearned) he allowed, and he walked 1 and struck out 1 in his only inning of work. Andrew Robinson allowed a hit and struck out 3 in 1 1/3, and he gave way to Alex Sogard, who allowed a hit to Herrera, but got the final 2 outs of the 8th, both via strikeout. Jason Stoffel couldn't close it out as he served up a solo shot to Brett Nicholas to lead off the 9th, which tied the game at 2. The 9th inning proved to be an adventure for him, as he gave up 2 more hits. He did, however, come out unscathed. Stoffel also allowed a 2-out single to Jared Hoying in the 10th, but nothing came of it. He got a measure of revenge on Nicholas as he punched him out to end the 10th. Jorge De Leon was excellent in his 4 scoreless innings of relief, as he allowed a hit and struck out 1. Pat Urckfitz was the last man in the bullpen and he got through the 15th and retired Frisco in order in the 16th inning. Unfortunately in the 17th, the wheels fell off for him. He gave up a single to Tomas Telis to lead off the inning. Telis would take 2nd on a sac bunt, then he took advantage of an oblivious Urckfitz to steal 3rd. He came home on a fielder's choice. Jonathan Meyer tried to nail him at the plate, but his throw hit Telis in the back. That allowed Hanser Alberto to take 2nd. He would add an insurance run on an RBI single from Jared Hoying with 2 outs in the inning. Urckfitz went 3 innings and allowed 2 runs (both in the 17th) on 3 hits, walked 2 (both intentional), and struck out 1. The Hooks went quietly in the 17th, and 4 hours and 43 minutes later, that was that. Bobby Doran and Nick Tropeano will be tonight's pairing for the Hooks as they play the 2nd game of this series at 7:05. Opposing them for the Roughriders will be Kevin Pucetas. Bakersfield 4, Lancaster 2 The Blaze torched Chris Devenski for 4 in the 2nd. That was all they needed. To Devenski's credit, he settled down after that, although he still gave up a good amount of hits. Also a bit encouraging was that only one of the 10 hits he allowed went for extra bases. Chalk this one up to some balls finding holes. In 5 innings, Devenski allowed 4 runs (all in the 2nd) on 10 hits, walked 1, and struck out 4. Brady Rodgers delivered a 2nd straight solid outing, throwing 4 scoreless, allowing 3 hits and fanning 4. The lone RBI in the game for Lancaster came off a single from Zach Johnson in the 4th. Andrew Aplin doubled to lead off the inning and scored on the play. Raoul Torrez scored the other run when Carlos Perdomo grounded into a DP in the 5th. Aplin, Nolan Fontana, and M.P. Cokinos each had 2 hits in the game, with Torrez and Johnson adding 1 apiece. David Rollins will look to continue his stellar start to the season as he and Tyson Perez take the hill for the middle game of this series. Their counterpart for Bakersfield will be Tanner Robles. First pitch is at 7 Pacific. Quad Cities 9, Kane County 8 in 10 innings The River Bandits improved to 6-1 on the road and 4-0 in Kane County. QC jumped out to a 5-0 lead after the top of the 2nd thanks to an outburst in the inning, but the lead was short-lived, as the Cougars went on an 8-0 run over the next 3 innings, scoring 3 in the bottom of the 2nd, 4 in the 3rd, and 1 more in the 4th. The Bandits would storm back with 2 in the 7th and were able to tie the game at 8 in the 8th, and that's where they stood heading into extras. After Jordan Scott drew a 1-out walk, he scored the go-ahead run on Terrell Joyce's double. That was Joyce's 2nd double of the game, and it came at a crucial time for QC. He finished 3-4 and scored twice. Jesse Wierzbicki went 2-4 with a triple to lead off the 2nd, which was the catalyst for that big 5-run inning. He also had an RBI groundout in the 7th. Roberto Peña's RBI single brought Wierzbicki home for QC's first run of the evening. Teoscar Hernandez was 2-5 with the game-tying RBI double in the 8th. Rio Ruiz was 1-2 with a double and a run scored before giving way to Ryan Dineen, whose RBI groundout in the 7th pulled the River Bandits to within 1. Ariel Ovando hit his 1st homer of the season, a 3-run shot in the 2nd. Joyce scored the only run that wasn't an RBI, as an error by Kane County CF Trey Martin in the 2nd allowed him to score. Teoscar Hernandez was credited with a single on the play. Tough outing for Colton Cain, as he allowed 7 runs on 8 hits (3-run homer), walked 1, and struck out 3. Gera Sanchez bridged the gap, and he allowed a run on 3 hits, walked 2, and struck out 1 in 2 innings. Mike Hauschild got the victory, as he tossed 4 scoreless, allowing a hit, walking 2, and striking out 1. All 8 of the outs that were put in play off Hauschild were groundouts. At 23, he's old for Low-A, but his propensity for getting the groundball out will really serve him well if he sees Lancaster this year. John Neely got the save (2) by retiring Kane County in order in the bottom of the 10th. He struck out Rock (given name: Roderick) Shoulders for the 2nd out of the inning. The team of Brian Holmes and Jordan Jankowski will be the pairing for the middle game of this series, which starts at 6:30. Their opponent will be Pierce Johnson. Three Stars 3. Jake Buchanan, P, Corpus Christi 5 IP, 2 H Wow. Fastest 5 innings by an Astros minor league pitcher this season. No strikeouts, but that's not Buchanan's game. He worked quickly and got groundouts. If he can replicate his 2011 form, he might sneak back into the mix in the minor league starter ranks. 2. Brady Rodgers, P, Lancaster 4 IP, 3 H, 4 K Fared much better in his second pair of appearances. He was torched by 3 homers in his first 2 appearances, but for the most part, Rodgers has found success at keeping the ball down. As we all know, that's a recipe for success in such an extreme hitter's environment. 1. Terrell Joyce, LF, Quad Cities 3-4, 2 2B, RBI, 2 R Clutch double gives his team the victory. He seems to be showing signs of breaking out of his early-season funk and the adjustment period to full-season ball. Honorable Mentions Marc Krauss, 1B/LF/DH, Oklahoma City: A solid day at the plate for him. Jorge De Leon, P, Corpus Christi: Possibly the best outing of his career. He's looking to put that disaster that was his 2012 in Lancaster behind him. Mike Hauschild, P, Quad Cities: Well, his second look at Kane County turned out to be a win for him and his team. Teoscar Hernandez, CF, Quad Cities: $20,000 well spent. Game 1 Jonathan Villar, SS, Oklahoma City: This was a game he sorely needed to jumpstart his lethargic bat. Goat And then he got himself a golden sombrero in Game 2. Struck out to end the game, to boot. Dishonorable mention goes to George Springer for his 2nd golden sombrero of the season.
I believe it's his assigned team. When OKC got rained out, it was reported that he would remain on suspension until the game was made up/ until OKC played 50 games.
Doubleheader tomorrow starting at 1 PM. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>This evening's 6:30 pm game has been POSTPONED due to inclement weather with cold and windy conditions. The... <a href="http://t.co/2VJM612llN" title="http://fb.me/2pqE20r4S">fb.me/2pqE20r4S</a></p>— Kane County Cougars (@KCCougars) <a href="https://twitter.com/KCCougars/status/325328511214702593">April 19, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Jordan Lyles pitches tonight for OKC and it's interesting there is no second starter listed.</p>— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) <a href="https://twitter.com/brianmctaggart/status/325380546211487744">April 19, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> It appears that according to OKC's game notes for today, Ross Seaton will start Sunday in Albuquerque and will be Brett Oberholtzer's new partner.
