tellitlikeitis, I'm sure others have said it already, but thanks for the constant updates. Really enjoy reading them.
Glad to see him have a great start. He is the guy I expect the most out of from the Bourn trade, even though his ceiling is lower than a guy like Clemens. He'll be competing with Happ/Clemens/Keuchel for a spot in next years rotation.
OKC had a 5-run 7th, but it wasn't enough as they lost to Iowa 12-7. Koby Clemens had a pinch-hit 2-run triple in the 7th. Anderson Hernandez had a 2-run homer in the 3rd, his 6th. Luis Durango, Drew Locke, and Jacob Goebbert drove in 1 apiece. The Hyphen allowed 7 runs on 9 hits (2-run homer) in 5 2/3, walking 2 and striking out 8. Jarred Cosart was on the mound for Corpus as they faced off against Midland. He was solid, allowing 1 run on 4 hits, despite walking 3 compared to only 2 strikeouts in 6 innings. He didn't factor in the decision, as the Hooks walked off 3-2 losers. Brandon Wikoff, an unlikely source of power, had what was the go-ahead solo homer (his 3rd) to break a 1-1 tie. Kody Hinze had an RBI single in the 8th to tie. Unfortunately, Jason Stoffel allowed 2 hits, 2 runs, and 2 walks without getting an out in the 9th. Lancaster topped Inland Empire 5-1, behind 2 RBIs from Erik Castro, and 1 apiece from the Jonathans, Singleton and Meyer. Wes Musick allowed 7 hits in 5 1/3 shutout innings, striking out 4. I really felt bad about not telling you guys about Telvin Nash's performance last night. He hit his 13th homer yesterday, a solo shot in the 5th. He went on to go 3-4 with 5 RBI and scored 3 times. Roberto Pena had a grand slam as Lexington pounded Asheville 13-5. Now on to tonight's game.... the Legends made a valiant effort to tie the game at 8 with 4 runs in the 8th, but Brian Streilein cancelled that out by allowing a grand slam to Dustin Garneau in the 10th, resulting in a 12-8 defeat. Emilio King went 5-5 with a 3-run homer in the 8th, his 7th blast of the season. Domingo Santana had a 2-run homer in the 6th, his 10th. Ben Orloff later in the inning, a 3-run shot for his 2nd. As for Nash, he had a hat trick, going 0-5. Carlos Quevedo went 4 2/3, allowing 6 runs (5 earned) on 9 hits (solo homer and a grand slam), walking 3 and striking out 5. Tri-City rallied from a 4-2 deficit by scoring 5 runs in the 8th to beat Brooklyn 7-4. Neiko Johnson hit his first professional home run, a solo shot in the bottom of the 1st. Ryan McCurdy also drove in a run. But the big hit of the night belonged to Jacke Healey, whose grand slam in the 8th gave the ValleyCats the win. Kyle Hallock went 5 innings, allowing 2 runs (1 earned) on 4 hits (solo homer), walking 3 and striking out 6. For anyone wondering about Chase Davidson, he was placed on the DL, retroactive to August 20. Greeneville allowed 3 runs in the 1st to Bluefield and were never really in the game, falling 5-2. Jordan Scott drove in both runs. I think he could be a guy worth watching in the future. Scott was decent in his 14-game cameo in Lexington, but something must have clicked for him in Greeneville (possibly the fact that he's an everyday player). He doesn't look like he'll have much power down the road, though. A native of Greer, South Carolina, he'll turn 20 on September 22. His triple slash line to this point: .335/.385/.417. Tyson Perez allowed 3 runs on 4 hits in 5 innings, walking 3 and striking out 4. The Gulf Coasters beat the Marlins 6-1, behind the bat of Justin Shults, who went 3-4 with a solo homer (his 4th) and scored 3 times. Wallace Gonzalez had 2 RBI, and Alfredo Gonzalez drove in a run. Evan Grills went 6 shutout innings, allowing 7 hits, walking 1, and striking out 4. The Academy's season is over. Rather, the Academy's season has been over. They finished with a record of 27-40, good for 7th in the 9-team Boca Chica North division.
Standings update: There is a great chance that every affiliate will not make the playoffs in their respective leagues. They all have losing records, too. OKC is 60-72, in last place in the PCL American League South. They are 20 games behind Round Rock, who was the first team in the league to clinch their division. Obviously, no playoffs here. Corpus has been in the cellar all season. With a 23-35 2nd half, they are now 48-80, the worst record in the Texas League. They were the first team eliminated from playoff contention and are 38 games behind San Antonio overall. Ditto for Lancaster. A 20-38 2nd half translates into a 48-80 record, 23 behind Rancho Cucamonga in the South division, and the worst record in the California League. They too were the first team eliminated from the playoffs. Lexington has transformed into the South Atlantic League's worst 2nd-half team. An 18-39 record (6-23 on the road) has put them at 53-74 on the season, the 2nd-worst in the Sally League, ahead of only Charleston. They are in 6th (again, only leading Charleston), 20.5 behind Savannah in the Southern Division. Tri-City has the best chance to qualify for the playoffs. At 30-35, they are in 3rd place, 1.5 behind Connecticut and 4 games behind Vermont in the New York-Penn League Stedler Division. Unfortunately, they're well behind Williamsport, who at 37-28, are locked in a tight battle with Brooklyn for the Wild Card spot. The ValleyCats' only hope is to win the division. Greeneville sits at 25-37, 4th in the Appalachian League West. They are 16 games behind Johnson City. They are also eliminated. The GCL Astros were 19-34, worst in the Gulf Coast League. They are 18.5 behind the Mets in the GCL East. The Academy finished 27-40, 7th out of 9 in the Boca Chica North Division.
Thanks again, tellitlikeitis, for the mountains of knowledge you drop on us about the goings on of the farm system. Is it too early to start speculating who'll get the September call ups?
Is there any chance we get to see Cosart? I know he's a while off from the big club, but they jumped Sosa up from AA (not that it's gone very well). I just want to see if his arm is as good as they say, and I probably won't make it down to Corpus anytime soon.
http://houston.astros.mlb.com/team/transactions.jsp?c_id=hou#month=8&year=2011&team_id=117 08/10/11 - Houston Astros called up RHP Henry Sosa from Oklahoma City RedHawks.
Despite the era, I don't think you can say that Sosa has been disappointing. I've seen him pitch in two games and he has shown that he can compete at this level.
http://houston.astros.mlb.com/mlb/prospects/watch/y2011/#list=hou Paul Clemens RHP Age: 23, Drafted: 2008, 7th (220) ERA: 1.05, WIP: 1.17 Brett Oberholtzer LHP Age: 22, Drafted: 2008, 8th (250) ERA: 3.92, WIP: 1.26 Jarred Cosart RHP Age: 21, Drafted: 2008, 38th (1156) ERA: 2.96, WIP: 1.06 All three are at Corpus Christi (AA). None are on the 40 man squad, FWIW. If they are brought up, the 40 man squad might have to lose some of its dead weight, like JMike and Angel Sanchez. Clemens and Cosart would be my choices.
I agree. I think he's got a live arm, and I've seen him hit a few balls very well (the almost-double that hit the wrong side of the foul line in left comes to mind). I think he's a damn good athlete, and if he can avoid being prone to that single big inning that puts the game out of reach, we'll all be glad he's here.
The reason why I was think Oberholtzer is because he's a lefty that relies on command/location more than just pure stuff (like the other two). You run the risk of early injury by bringing up the flamethrowers before they're ready... whereas the finnese guys tend to need longer to adjust to the league's tendencies (and are typically later bloomers... and need more time). None of them would be close to being ready on a "real" team... but we have the luxury (or the unfortuance circumstance... however you want to look at it), of being flexible enough to showcase their ability earlier on.
Dang. Those are some nice numbers. I'm getting excited about these guys, either for next year or the year after.
Ed Wade and Bobby Heck have to go right now, they can't draft. I usually believe minor league records are insignificant, but when our teams are so universally bad from top to bottom it's hard to ignore. They have had 4 drafts to replenish the system, so theres no reason our lower level clubs should still suck, yet they do. For those that don't wanna look themselves, from lexington up they split their season into two halves 1st half results AA Corpus Christi 25-45 (worst record in texas) A+ Lancaster 28-42 (worst record in cal league) A Lexington 35-35 (9th out of 14 in Sally) 2nd half results AA Corpus Christi 23-35 (worst record in texas) A+ Lancaster 20-38 (worst record in Cal league) A Lexington 18-39 (worst record in Sally) A- Tri City 30-35 (11th out of 14) RK Greeneville 25-37 (8th out of 10) RK GCL Astros 19-34 (last in GCL) If talent is truly being brought in it would show up somehow, somewhere in the system in wins.
Well on the flip side, when this club was dead last in minor league organization rankings from 2007ish till whenever Heck/Wade took over, they had some winning clubs (with very little talent). Thus, I put zero stock in minor league team win records... regardless. Its all about how they do when they get to the big leagues. So far, Altuve, Martinez, Paredes have held their own... hell Bogy is tearing it up as well (obviously from a different GM's draft).
Domingo Santana is on FIRRRREEEEEEEE. Guy has been fantastic since coming over, if he is putting it all together then he MIGHT end up being the best player to come out of the Pence trade and not because the other guys don't work out.
A scout on twitter said it best and I paraphrase...Astros draft for depth but trade for potential. None of Wade/Heck's drafts have been bad but none have been great. This season has the chance to be their BIG draft with Springer, Houser and Armstrong along with some intriguing lower round picks...sadly they might not see them blossom. However their trades all have been for HIGH ceiling players with a chance to be stars or at the very lease good MLB regulars...Cosart, Singleton, Santana, Clemens, Villar, Paredes, Sosa, Wallace...etc.
