What the Astros need from any draft is 2-4 players to make it to the bigs. The other 35 or so picks are to fill roster slots and that is all. If they can not hit in the clutch or close out games, what does it matter? The minor league clubs will struggle for wins, when the 2-4 real prospects can not carry the team. The only argument that I can have with poor minor league team performances is that there may be a real player development problems down on the farm, which might impact the 2-4 real prospects development time. That argument is a bit hard to make, since draftees Castro and Lyles were able to sprint through the minors and show some promise in the bigs.
Trailing Iowa 5-1 entering the bottom of the 8th, OKC erupted for 9 in their half and emerged 10-5 victors. The scoring plays were as follows: Anderson Hernandez had an RBI groundout in the 6th, scoring Luis Durango. Hernandez added a 2-run single to open the scoring in the 8th. Jose Vallejo followed that up with an RBI single. Chris Johnson blasted a 3-run homer. J.B. Shuck then drew a bases-loaded walk. And finally, Brett Wallace closed the scoring with a 2-run single. Xavier Cedeno allowed 4 runs on 10 hits (leadoff solo homer) in 5 innings, striking out 4. Mickey Storey got the win in relief, allowing a solo homer, 2 other hits, walking 1, and fanning 2. Corpus was swept in a doubleheader with Midland, 2-1 in game 1, and 3-2 in game 2. Jonathan Gaston had a solo homer (his 7th) in game 1 which tied the game at 1 in the 7th, but the Hooks walked off losers on a walk-off single from Adam Heether. Ross Seaton went 4 1/3, allowing 1 run on 5 hits, walking 4 and striking out 5. Arcenio Leon pitched 2 innings, committed an error in the 7th, and allowed the winning run, which was unearned. In game 2, Kody Hinze hit a 2-run homer in the 1st, his 7th with Corpus and 29th on the season. That was all the scoring Corpus did there. Josh Zeid got the start and went 2 innings, allowing 2 runs (1 earned) on 1 hit (not a homer), walking 1 and striking out 2. Blake King allowed a run in the 3rd, and ended up with the loss. Lancaster took the opener of their series with Lake Elsinore 9-3. Everyone had a hit except for Dan Adamson. Austin Wates was 1-5, but had 3 RBI and stole 2nd and 3rd to give him 24 steals on the year. Erik Castro went 3-5 with 2 RBI. Jio Mier and Jonathan Meyer drove in 1 each. Mier went 3-5 and scored twice, bringing himself to the Mendoza Line with Lancaster. Andrew Robinson, fresh off a 12-strikeout masterpiece against Stockton, went 5 1/3, allowing 3 runs (2 earned) on 6 hits, walking 1 and striking out 5. Before I get to Lexington, Domingo Santana hit a 2-run homer last night, his 11th of the season. He went 1-5 tonight, and is now hitting .341 with 4 homers and 13 RBI since coming over from Lakewood, Philly's low-A affiliate (same league). Lexington traveled to Charleston, West Virginia, to begin a series with the West Virginia Power. The Legends allowed 4 runs in the 5th, leading to a 7-5 loss. Tyler Burnett had 2 RBI. Mike Kvasnicka (5) and Ben Heath (4, 10 overall) had solo homers. Ben Orloff also drove in a run. Mike Foltynewicz allowed 7 runs (5 earned) in 4 1/3, walking 2 and striking out 4. George Springer made his much-anticipated debut for Tri-City tonight as they took on Lowell. He played center and was the leadoff batter for the ValleyCats, and went 0-3 with a K before being replaced by Justin Gominsky in the 5th. Gominsky had a 2-run double in the 8th in an 8-3 Tri-City win. 4 (Rafael Valenzuela, Zach Johnson, Chris Epps, and Jacke Healey) drove in 1 each. Jamaine Cotton allowed an unearned run on 3 hits in 5 innings, walking 1 and striking out 3. That should have been enough for a win, but Mitchell Lambson, who's having a rough time on the mound lately, allowed 3 runs (2 earned) in the 6th, which allowed the Spinners to tie the game at 4 after the inning. Dayan Diaz had a 3-inning save, walking 2 and striking out 3. Greeneville led Burlington 2-1 entering the bottom of the 5th, but the Royals got 2 in that half, and despite holding them to 3 hits, the Appy Astros fell 3-2. Ariel Ovando had the only RBI, and Darwin Rivera scored both runs. Ovando's triple slash line in 40 games: .247/.298/.390. He's hitting .224/.286/.368 in August. Francis Ramirez allowed 2 runs (1 earned) on 2 hits (solo homer) in 4 2/3, walking 1 and striking out 2. Matison Smith allowed the other hit, walking 1 and striking out 3 in his 1 2/3. The Gulf Coasters walked off 1-0 winners over the Mets, as Jose Fernandez drove in the decisive run. 3 pitchers combined on a 4-hitter, as Michael Feliz allowed 3 hits and struck out 4. Freddy Tiburcio fanned 2 in 3 perfect innings, and Blake Ford allowed a single in the 9th, and got the win.
Adrian Houser for Greeneville tonight: 5 shutout innings, 2 hits, 2 walks, 4 strikeouts Unfortunately, he will have to settle for a no-decision as Greeneville and Burlington are tied at 3 in the 8th. Errors from Chan Moon and Jose Vargas resulted in 3 runs in the 6th and 3 unearned runs for Brad Propst.
What happened to Koby Clemens? I haven't heard anything about him since had a breakout year in the minors last year. Is he a career minor leaguer?
Brett Wallace is now the AAA first baseman, sending Koby to the bench. Koby prior to that has been struggling offensively. With real solid first baseman prospects at AA (Kody Hinze) and high A (Jonathan Singleton), Koby's future with the Astros is tenuous. Checking KC's stats he has played 21 games at third and 7 games at LF, so he and the Astros have seen the writing on the wall.
Don't like stealing Tellitlikeitis' thunder but Springer, DD Jr and Santana have all gone deep and Villar has a couple of hits tonight.
Brett Wallace finally has a home run to his name in Oklahoma City. It took him 25 games to record one, which was a solo shot on Sunday. OKC topped New Orleans, as they scored 3 in the top of the 9th to steal a 7-6 victory. Chris Johnson had a solo homer in the 2nd, his 3rd in the Minors and 9th overall. He also drove in the go-ahead run in the 9th and finished with 3 RBI. 4 drove in 1 apiece, led by Brett Wallace and Jacob Goebbert. The Hyphen allowed 6 runs on 9 hits in 4 2/3, walking 3 and striking out 2. Ross Wolf got the win in relief, pitching a scoreless 8th. Corpus downed San Antonio 8-3. A 5-run 6th for the Hooks broke a 2-2 tie and sent them on their way. Jonathan Villar ultimately finished 3-4, driving in a run and scoring 3 times. Brandon Barnes was 3-5 with 2 doubles and an RBI. Adam Bailey went 2-5 with 3 RBI. Brandon Wikoff was 2-4 with a double, 2 RBI, and scored twice. Brett O allowed 2 runs on 5 hits in 6 innings, walking 1 and striking out 7. Dan Meszaros pitched 2 shutout innings of relief after Oberholtzer left, and allowed 2 hits while fanning 5. Lancaster topped Lake Elsinore 5-2, as Jonathan Meyer had a solo homer, his 13th. Dan Afamson drove in 2, and Jio Mier and Andrew Simunic drove in 1 each. Wes Musick went 6 innings, allowing 1 run on 4 hits, walking 2 and striking out 5. Well, the Jethawks would have been proud of what happened in Lexington's game with WV. Unfortunately, the Legends were on the wrong end of a 17-9 stick. Lexington allowed 8 in the 4th and 6 in the 7th. Not exactly winning pitching there. Delino DeShields (9) and Domingo Santana (12) went solo. Tyler Burnett was 2-5 with 3 RBI. Emilio King had a 2-run homer, his 9th. Carlos Quevedo took his lumps, allowing 8 runs on 8 hits (1 homer) in 3 1/3, walking 1 and striking out 5. At least his pinpoint control was there. Tri-City was swept in a doubleheader against Lowell, losing game 1 5-4 in 10 and game 2 by a score of 3-2. The big story was that George Springer character hitting his first of what should be many homers. He finished game 1 2-4 with the solo homer (his other hit was a double) and scored 3 times. I look forward to seeing him on the fast track next season. Zach Johnson was 3-4 with the only other RBI in game 1. Juri Perez actually pitched alright. Problem was, he allowed 3 runs with 1 swing of the bat. In the 1st inning. He went 4, allowing 3 runs on 6 hits, walking 1 and striking out 4. Joan Belliard got the loss, as he allowed 2 runs in the 10th which allowed Lowell take the lead. Zach Johnson and Rafael Valenzuela drove in the 2 runs in game 2. Adam Champion allowed a solo homer in the 1st and an unearned run in 4 innings. He allowed 4 other hits and struck out 2. Mitchell Lambson got the loss, as he allowed the go-ahead run for the Spinners. He struck out 5 in his 2 innings. The winner of MiLB.com's "Minors Moniker Madness" contest was Seth Schwindenhammer of Lowell, better known as The Hammer. If he made it to the Majors, his last name would pass Jarrod Saltalamacchia for longest last name ever. He's 20, but is a serious hacker, hitting .212 depite 9 homers. He owns a 102:17 K:BB ratio, with a .212/.273/.404 line in 54 games (198 at-bats). Greeneville was shut down by Pulaski 4-0. A 1-0 lead snowballed into the final score in the 9th. Jean Carlos Batista had 2 of the 4 Greeneville hits, as Chan Moon and Josh Magee had a hit apiece. Tyson Perez pitched pretty well, allowing only 1 run on 5 hits in 5 innings, walking 1 and striking out 7. As the Appy Astros failed to score, he took the loss.
So after all the restocking of the farm system, what positions are still pretty weak? mostly pitching and maybe 3rd base? C: C. Wallace, Heath 1B: Wallace, Singleton, Hinze, Nash 2B: DDJ SS: Villar, Mier 3B: ??? OF: Springer, Wates, Ovando,
Two names to keep in mind...Domingo Santana and Mike Kvasnicka. Kvasnicka was the supplemental rd pick last year and a 3rd baseman, he's had an underwhelming 1st full year but still time to make adjustments. I'm skeptical about him but not ready to give up on him. Domingo Santana is the real wildcard of the whole system IMHO. He could be a nice OF or a superstar. He was good before the deal with Philly but since coming over he is making a statement with an OPS over 1.100.
GregRajan Greg Rajan GregRajan Greg Rajan Pointless move this late in the season EXCEPT if the Stros want to take a look this September and want to give Clemens a warmup start in OKC. Edit - With Harrell coming up Friday, this is probably a move to cover his start but you never know.
I'm really excited about the future of this team. So many names to keep up with now, it's nice having a good farm system. DD Jr., Ovando, Santana, Singleton, Cosart, Paul Clemens, Springer, Oberholtzer, Villar and quite possibly the #1 pick in next year's draft. Not to even mention Lyles, Martinez and Altuve in the majors. And I was actually excited about getting Brett Wallace last year HA!
OKC trailed New Orleans 5-4 entering the 7th, but tied the game there and took the lead by adding 2 more in the 8th for a 7-5 win. Drew Locke had a 2-run homer, his 10th. Chris Johnson hit a solo homer in the 8th, his 4th in the Minors and 10th on the year. Brett Wallace drove in 2, and J.B. Shuck and Anderson Hernandez drove in 1. Dallas Keuchel probably knocked himself out of consideration for a September call-up, but he was terribly unlucky during his time in OKC and he'll most likely start there next year after auditioning for a rotation spot in the spring. He went 5 2/3, allowing 5 runs on on 7 hits (2 2-run homers), walking 3 and striking out 1. Sammy Gervacio got the win, pitching a scoreless 7th and striking out 2. Jarred Cosart took the mound for Corpus tonight against Frisco. In 5 innings, he threw 91 pitches, allowing 1 run on 4 hits, walking 2 and striking out 5 as the Hooks won 7-1. Brandon Barnes hit his 7th homer with Corpus, a solo shot in the 2nd. He has 15 homers on the season, and finished with 2 RBI. T.J. Steele had a 2-run double, and Kody Hinze drove in 1. Lancaster and Visalia were postponed. Doubleheader manana. Lexington and WV both had 9 hits in their game. Both had 2-run innings. Lexington had 1 more 2-run inning, therefore, they won 4-2. Domingo Santana went 3-4 with an RBI single. Delino DeShields had an RBI double. Mike Kvasnicka had a 2-run double scoring Santana and Telvin Nash. Ruben Alaniz allowed 4 hits in 3 2/3 scoreless, walking 1 and striking out 2. Alex Sogard replaced him, and he went 4 1/3, allowing 2 runs on 4 hits, walking 1 and fanning 5. Kyle Hallock continued his stellar run for Tri-City as they defeated Aberdeen 4-1. Hallock, Travis Smink, and Dayan Diaz combined on a 3-hitter. Miles Hamblin, Drew Muren, and Jordan Scott, making his ValleyCats debut, drove in a run apiece. George Springer was 0-3 and scored a run. Hallock allowed all 3 hits, a run, walked 2, and struck out 5 in 5 innings. Smink and Diaz no-hit the Ironbirds through the final 4 innings, pitching 2 apiece. Smink walked and struck out 2. Diaz got the save, walking 1 and striking out 2. In 12 starts (tonight was the 12th), Hallock is 3-4 with a 1.82 ERA. In 59 1/3 IP, he's allowed 53 hits (2 homers), 23 runs (12 earned), walked 16, and struck out 58. Opponents are hitting .231 off him. In their season finale, Greeneville fell to Pulaski 3-1. Jean Carlos Batista went 2-4 with the only RBI. Chris Lee went 5 innings, allowing an unearned run on 3 hits, walking 4 and striking out 3. Greeneville finishes their season at 25-43. I think Lee has pretty good upside (just turned 19) if he can develop adequate control and command as he progresses through the system. 34 walks in 48 2/3..... yuck. Ariel Ovando went 1-4 and will finish his first professional season with this line: .235/.283/.365, with 10 doubles, 3 triples, 2 homers, 30 RBI, 12 walks, and 51 strikeouts in 44 games (out of a possible 68) played. He did not attempt a steal this season. He slumped to the end, hitting .207/.260/.326 with 1 home run and 12 RBI in August. Hard to believe he hasn't turned 18 yet. He'll do so on September 15. It was a bit of a challenge for him, as he skipped the Academy in order to begin his career in America. And he ended up missing quite a bit of time with elbow and hip problems. Here's a question: will he skip Tri-City and head directly to Lexington next season? If so, I look forward to an outfield of him, George Springer, and some combination of Jordan Scott and Brandon Meredith.
Half of our top 10 prospects are pitchers: Jarred Cosart, Mike Foltynewicz, Paul Clemens, Tanner Bushue, and Brett Oberholtzer. Link. The above list does not include Henry Sosa (who if eligible should make the list next year), Dallas Keuchel, Ross Seaton, Jason Stoffel, Henry Villar, Josh Zeid, Tommy Shirley, and the 2011 Draftees (Nicholas Tropeano , Kyle Hallock, Adrian Houser). These pitchers should be candidates for top 20 lists next year. The arguably best pitcher from the 2010 draft, Vincent Velasquez, had Tommy John surgery, missed this season and hopefully recovers form next year.
