Saturday Stories Jonathan Singleton tearing the Texas League a new one. And.... dramatics in Corpus!!! MOAR DRAMATICS IN LANCASTER!!!!!!!!!! Not really a night to remember in Lexington. Recap OKC fell to Albuquerque 7-4. The Isotopes got 3 in the 6th off Wes Musick to break away. J.B. Shuck went 3-3. Landon Powell, Scott Moore, and Brett Wallace drove in 1 each. Wallace, after not walking once this month, now has 4 in his last 2 games. Musick went 5 2/3, allowing 6 runs (5 earned) on 11 hits (solo homer), walking 2 and striking out 4. It looked as if the wheels were falling off for Corpus in their series opener against Springfield, as they allowed 5 in the top of the 6th, which turned the game into a 5-3 deficit. However, they got it going late, and that set the stage for Jonathan Villar in the bottom of the 9th. Oh no big deal, he ended the game with a solo home run for a 6-5 Hooks victory. The homer was Villar's 2nd of the season. Jonathan Singleton continues to impose his will on the Texas League, as he went 2-5 and clubbed a 2-run homer in the 5th for his 9th of the season. Brandon Barnes started the comeback with a solo homer in the 8th (8) to make it a 5-4 game. Then Andy Simunic tied the game with an RBI single. Jake Goebbert went 3-4 and scored twice. Chris Wallace made his return to the lineup and went 3-3 with a double. Jose Cisnero had an alright outing to end a rough May. In 5+ innings, he allowed 2 runs on 5 hits (2-run homer), didn't walk a man, and struck out 5. Yes. He did not walk anyone. Alex Sogard allowed 3 runs (2 earned) after coming on for Cisnero in the 6th. Josh Zeid and Kevin Chapman stopped the bleeding by shutting out Springfield the rest of the way. For the 2nd straight night, Lancaster walked off winners, as they beat Inland Empire 5-4 in 10 to win the series. The 66ers scored 3 in the 1st off David Martinez, but the Jethawks got all 3 runs back in the 2nd. George Springer went 1-3 with a 2-run triple, walked twice, and struck out twice. Telvin Nash went deep in the 6th for his 13th home run of the year. Rene Garcia went 3-5 with a double and delivered the game-winning single that scored Nash in the 10th. David Martinez went 6 innings and allowed 4 runs (2 earned) on 8 hits, walked 3, and struck out 1. Once again, the bullpen came up big, as they held the 66ers at bay once again. Brian Streilein, Pat Urckfitz, and Jose Trinidad combined for 4 scoreless, allowed 2 hits, walked 1, and struck out 2. Uh... well, Lexington got mauled 11-2 by Hickory. Matt Duffy hit his 7th home run of the season, and Jordan Scott had an RBI groundout. Delino DeShields went 2-3 with a double, but was caught stealing yet again. Justin Gominsky and Chan-Jong Moon each had 2 hits at the bottom of the order. Jonas Dufek was roughed up in his 4 innings, allowing 6 runs on 7 hits (solo and 3-run homer), walking 1 and striking out 3. Forgettable night. Game Scores Jose Cisnero: 54 David Martinez: 42 Wes Musick: 27 Jonas Dufek: 26 Three Stars 3. Rene Garcia, C, Lancaster 3-5, 2B, GW single Walk-off hit = bonus points. 2. Jonathan Singleton, 1B, Corpus Christi 2-4, 2-R HR (9) F**k it, let's promote him now. 1. Jonathan Villar, SS, Corpus Christi 2-5, walk-off HR (2), 2 R, SB (19) Turnaround in full swing. Honorable Mentions George Springer, CF, Lancaster: 2-game hitting streak. Hmm... I'd rather see him in Corpus. I feel for the Hooks fans that have had to endure T.J. Steele. Matt Duffy, 3B, Lexington: Putting himself in consideration for a promotion? Jose Cisnero, P, Corpus Christi: A good start to end a forgettable May. Brandon Barnes, CF, Corpus Christi: Bidding farewell to the Texas League with a homer. Goat Jimmy Paredes gets it for an 0-5 performance with a hat trick. Looking Ahead Paul Clemens gets the start for OKC in game 3 of their series with Albuquerque at 7:05. Mike Antonini will oppose him. Corpus and Springfield are back at it for the middle game of their 3-game set at 1:05. Brett Oberholtzer will face off against Trevor Rosenthal. Lancaster hits the road, as they travel to Lake Elsinore to start a 4-game series. Bobby Doran will oppose Matt Andriese at 2:05 Pacific. Lexington will conclude their series with Hickory at 5 Eastern. Nick Tropeano will start for the Legends as they look to get the split. The Crawdads will counter with Luke Jackson, I presume.
Wasn't Barnes playing CF for CC? Will Wates move to CF? My guess is Steele has a pretty short leash -- Either Adam Bailey or George Springer are due a call up. I'd rather Santana up there too. Seeing Springer and Singleton together in AA would be pretty exciting. It looks like CC only has 3 OFs on the roster now anyhow? I suppose that's a good thing when our entire outfield in high A is arguably ready for AA! Singleton is now #2 in BA, #2 in OBP, #2 in RBIs, #3 in OPS, #5 in SLG, and #6 in HR. Both the guys ahead of him in OPS have been promoted to AAA. If the Astros could figure out what to do with Wallace, I could see Singleton getting a call up to AAA soon.
You are correct-- there are only 3 OFs in Corpus right now. If Steele doesn't do anything with his playing time, he'll probably be released. Barnes was primarily the CF, so Wates would get the time there. So it'll be Goebbert, Wates, and Steele. Santana will be 20 in August, so he might stay in Lancaster all year. He would most likely get some time in Corpus towards the very end of the season. Bailey would probably get the call to Corpus first ahead of Springer, mainly because he's 24 already has shown that he can hold his own there. I expect Springer to be up by the middle or towards the end of June. Here's an unlikely but overdue promotion: Jason Chowning goes straight to Corpus from Lexington. Erick Abreu will be 29 and really serves no purpose in the system. Abreu gets released and Chowning takes his place. Chowning is 24 and really has no business in Low-A. Somewhat spotty command of his fastball, but has a wipeout slider and has basically mowed everyone down with that slider.
Wallace looks as if he may be a good enough defender at 3rd. There is the matter of Mike "Crash Davis" Hessman in Singleton's way... which is honestly a non-issue.
Can't imagine Hessman would be any impediment to Singleton. He's having a fine season but is only there for insurance...Lee has a minor injury and they're not ready to start Singleton's service time.
Wallace has pretty much split his time between 1B and 3B, with Moore actually getting some pretty good production at 3B with a nice 1.000 OPS. Granted, Moore at age 28 is only marginally more of a prospect than Hessman, but I think booting him out makes it slightly more difficult. The organization has a few too many guys who have ceilings as 4th/5th outfielders floating between the majors and AAA. Wouldn't be a bad thing to make another deal like the Ruggiano deal for Shuck or Buck.
I'm ready to see Fernando Martinez, the Bogusevic/Buck combo has been pretty awful. Brandon Barnes and Jake Goebbert both need to be promoted for good to AAA, too old to be at Double A. There is hardly a logjam at Triple A, especially now that Ruggiano is gone. Wates needs more seasoning IMO. They might want to be slow with Springer, but Adam Baily certainly needs to be in AA. That wave of outfielder promotions seems obvious to me. I don't really see any reason to rush Springer and Singleton. Neither guy is gonna be in Houston permanently til mid 2013 anyhow.
http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2012_05_27_spraax_coraax_1 This can't be good for Steele. They've gone with Singleton in LF (with Kody Hinze at first) instead of putting Steele in the lineup. Good for Chowning -- you've been calling for that one for awhile!
https://twitter.com/GregRajan/status/206855625534222336 Make that no more Steele. Brandon Wikoff called up from extended spring training, but he's an infielder really...I find it hard to believe they'll go with only 2 true outfielders in Corpus? Unless they just want Singleton getting more time at LF?
Bah, a little position flexibility will keep him on his toes. Berkman switched positions frequently. El Caballo has done it more than once. Even Pujols switched around positions in the minors.
There's still one open roster spot in Corpus, even with the news of Wikoff's assignment to Corpus and Steele's release. Uh.... Jason Chowning, anyone? And, they can get rid of Erick Abreu, too! Once again, they'd have an extra spot. They would probably move Adam Bailey to give the Hooks 3 outfielders. Yeah, it's not the sexy call-up, but never fear, with the way George Springer's been hitting, he'll probably be in Corpus sooner rather than later.
Sunday Stories OKC down big, so what do they do? Try to mount an epic comeback? Ha, don't make me laugh. T.J. Steele is no longer a part of the Houston Astros organization. In all seriousness, tough news for him. Injuries, general inconsistency, and reportedly a poor attitude was his downfall. Jio Mier sent out a series of strongly worded tweets in regards to Steele's release: <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Extremely sad to see a good friend/great person get released. Wish him all the best in whatever he does. And to all the people "rejoicing"..</p>— Jiovanni Mier (@JioMier) <a href="https://twitter.com/JioMier/status/207122464008978432" data-datetime="2012-05-28T14:53:38+00:00">May 28, 2012</a></blockquote> <script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>And jumpin for joy he's gone is a joke. Good to know what kind of people there are out there. Real easy to talk trash behind a keyboard..</p>— Jiovanni Mier (@JioMier) <a href="https://twitter.com/JioMier/status/207123092366049282" data-datetime="2012-05-28T14:56:08+00:00">May 28, 2012</a></blockquote> <script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>For most of us baseball is a passion and life and for people to actually sit there and be happy it was taken away from someone makes it more</p>— Jiovanni Mier (@JioMier) <a href="https://twitter.com/JioMier/status/207123976047169536" data-datetime="2012-05-28T14:59:38+00:00">May 28, 2012</a></blockquote> <script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Sad to see. That is all.</p>— Jiovanni Mier (@JioMier) <a href="https://twitter.com/JioMier/status/207124335612272642" data-datetime="2012-05-28T15:01:04+00:00">May 28, 2012</a></blockquote> <script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> EVEN MOAR DRAMATICS FOR LANCASTER!!!!!! The Nick Tropeano South Atlantic League Domination Tour made a stop in Hickory, North Carolina tonight. How did the star of the show fare? Recap After getting their asses kicked 11-1 by Albuquerque in the 7th, OKC decided to attempt an epic comeback by scoring 4 in the top of the 8th. Unfortunately, that epic comeback attempt fell just short, as they fell 11-9. Scott Moore went 2-4 with a 2-run single and scored twice. Fernando Martinez had a pinch-hit RBI double, and Landon Powell did him one better, driving in 2 when he was called to pinch-hit. Angel Sanchez came in as a defensive replacement and went 2-2 with an RBI and scored twice. Brian Bixler and J.B. Shuck also drove in 1. Paul Clemens would probably like to forget May, as he got torched again. In his defense, the guys on rehab assignments, most notably Matt Kemp and Juan Rivera knocked him around. He allowed 8 runs on 11 hits (3 homers, 1 each to Kemp and Rivera), walked 1, and, on the bright side, struck out 8. Also, there's a roster move that was made pertaining to the Oklahoma City Redhawks. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Astros signed RHP Brian Bass, who has been in Korea. He will start Wednesday for Oklahoma City.</p>— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) <a href="https://twitter.com/brianmctaggart/status/206829425856229376" data-datetime="2012-05-27T19:29:12+00:00">May 27, 2012</a></blockquote> <script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> Bass spent all last season with Lehigh Valley, the Phillies' AAA affiliate. He went 8-10 with a 3.81 ERA in 28 starts (1 CG). In 158 1/3 innings, he allowed 170 hits (13 homers), 79 runs (67 earned), walked 56, and struck out 105. Looks like a groundball specialist, as he had a 2.38 GO/AO figure last season. Oh, Corpus had a game yesterday? I would not have known, considering how they were never really in it. They allowed 5 in the 1st to Springfield on the way to getting smashed 10-1. Brett Oberholtzer's yo-yo season continued, as he went 6 innings, allowing 5 runs (all in the 1st) on 6 hits (2 2-run homers), walked 3, and struck out 3. He also doubled for the Hooks' only base hit. Jose Martinez's sac fly in the 1st constituted the only run of the game. Jonathan Villar was hitless, but he added 2 steals. Another guy that could and should be on his way out: Erick Abreu. He pitched the 8th and allowed 4 runs (2 earned) on 2 hits, walking 2. Lancaster was involved in even more dramatics, but they came out on the losing end, walking off with a 6-5 loss in 14 in their series opener against Lake Elsinore. George Springer went 1-6 with an RBI single, scored twice, and stole 2 bases. Domingo Santana was 3-6 with a triple and 2 RBI. Jonathan Meyer was 3-5 with an RBI. Bobby Doran had another nice night on the mound. In 7 1/3 innings, he allowed 4 runs (2 earned) on 7 hits (2-run homer), walked 2, and struck out 6. Santana tripled to lead off the top of the 10th and Meyer drove him in with a single. Unfortunately, in the bottom half, Gabriel Garcia served up a solo homer to Tommy Medica, Medica's 2nd of the night. In the 14th, Chris Bisson reached 1st on a sac bunt attempt, resulting in the lead runner being thrown out at 2nd. Bisson then stole 2nd, then Everett Williams drove him home with the game-winning single off Jose Trinidad. Lexington defeated Hickory 6-4 to earn a split in the series. Chris Epps had a 2-run double to extend his hitting streak to 10 games. Roberto Pena had a sac fly, and Chan-Jong Moon had an RBI double. Zach Johnson hit a solo homer (8) in the 7th. Matt Duffy and Brandon Meredith both had 2 hits, a double, and scored a run. Nick Tropeano's BABIP took a bit of a jump, as he allowed 4 runs (1 inherited) on 12 hits in 6 1/3 innings. This was his 3rd straight start without a walk, and he fanned 4. Murilo Gouvea came on and allowed an inherited runner to score, but he got out of the jam in the 7th, and pitched a scoreless 8th despite allowing 2 hits, by getting 2 straight strikeouts to end the inning. And Jason Chowning was being Jason Chowning as usual. He struck out 2 in the 9th to get his 9th save of the season. Game Scores Bobby Doran: 53 Brett Oberholtzer: 40 Nick Tropeano: 37 Paul Clemens: 21 Three Stars 3. Jason Chowning, P, Lexington S (9), IP, 2 K #FreeJasonChowning 2. Zach Johnson, 1B, Lexington 1-3, HR (8), 2 R as the DH If memory serves me right, he's leading the Minors in RBI. It's unfortunate that he's stuck in Lexington. 1. Domingo Santana, RF, Lancaster 3-6, 3B, 2 RBI, R He had a sluggish start due to the injury, but he's really turned it on. Santana will be in Lancaster all season, and might get a taste of Corpus Christi towards the end. Honorable Mentions Jonathan Meyer, 3B, Lancaster: Clutch hit gave his team the lead late. Unfortunately it was in vain. A pretty good defender with a relatively empty .295 average; I hope he can start producing on the offensive side of things. Chris Epps, RF, Lexington: 10-game hitting streak has seen his average jump from .111 to .246. Goat Only 1 sac fly? And your starter was the only one in the lineup with an extra-base hit? Dishonorable mentions go out to Rafael Valenzuela and Delino DeShields for hat tricks. Looking Ahead Aneury Rodriguez will get the start for OKC in their series finale with Albuquerque at 2:35 Mountain. He'll be opposed by Mike Parisi. Corpus will also be involved in a series finale with Springfield at 7:05 tonight. Jake Buchanan will be the starter, and he'll match up with Richard Castillo. Lancaster will look to get back on track in the 2nd game of their series with Lake Elsinore at 2:05 Pacific. Tyson Perez will be looking to rebound after his worst start of the season. Opposing him on the mound for the Storm will be Jerry Sullivan. After a quick roadtrip, Lexington returns home to open a series with the Augusta GreenJackets at 7:05 Eastern. Luis Ordosgoitti will be looking to build on his best performance of the season tonight, as he will get the start. Joe Biagini will oppose him on the mound for Augusta.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>No @<a href="https://twitter.com/cchooks">cchooks</a> moves yet. Outfield for tonight: Goebbert (LF), Wates (CF), Simunic (RF). Wikoff making his '12 debut at 3B. Springer watch on.</p>— Greg Rajan (@GregRajan) <a href="https://twitter.com/GregRajan/status/207225827061014528" data-datetime="2012-05-28T21:44:21+00:00">May 28, 2012</a></blockquote> <script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Attention everyone: Domingo Santana has hit a 2-run homer for his 9th of the season. He also has an RBI double. Lancaster is leading Lake Elsinore in the bottom of the 5th.
Beast. He's now slugging .647 in May with an OBP of .360. Perhaps he's angling for that call up? (...even though he's probably 3rd out of the Lancaster outfielders, but I'll take 19 year olds putting up 1.000 OPS months!). He's caught up to Springer for homers in the month of May with 8. Springer and Bailey both have XBHs too. Nash has fallen off a cliff...average down to .220 and another 3K night. He has 47 Ks in 90 ABs this month, ugly!
