Followed the Lexington and Tri-City box scores. It's god damn rewarding to watch the starters leave with a lead and not see it blown up. Houser got the win in Greeneville, Bircher left after 4ip and didn't qualify for the win.
Wednesday Stories AAA All-Star Game!!! Other than that, Lexington was the only full-season team playing today. Some solid pitching for the short-season clubs. Delino DeShields blowing up. Recap The AAA All-Star Game was tonight. The PCL All-Stars shut down the International League 3-0. OKC's All-Stars were rather quiet, as Mike Hessman went 0-2 with an RBI and Jimmy Paredes was 0-2 with a strikeout. Corpus is chillin'. Lancaster and Visalia were rained out. Doubleheader manana. In the day game, Lexington topped Kannapolis 3-2. Delino DeShields put the Legends on his back, as his 3-run homer (8) in the 5th broke a scoreless tie. Evan Grills made it pretty interesting as he served up back-to-back homers in the 8th. Luis Cruz threw 5 shutout innings, allowing 5 hits, walking 2 and striking out 2. In 3 innings, those 2 homers were the only runs that Grills allowed. Dayan Diaz made it pretty interesting in the 9th by allowing 2 hits, but he managed to close it out for his 12th save of the season. Tri-City took the opener of their series against Williamsport 4-2. Ryan Dineen went 2-4 and hit his first pro homer, a solo shot in the 3rd. Tyler Heineman went 2-4 with an RBI, and Joe Sclafani also drove in a run. Joe Bircher went 4 innings and allowed 2 runs (1 earned) on 6 hits and struck out 5. Jeremiah Meiners got the victory as he threw 4 scoreless, allowing 2 hits, walking 1, and striking out 4. Blake Ford now has 8 saves on the season. In the opener of a pretty big series, Greeneville defeated Elizabethton 7-4. The Twins entered this one 2 1/2 ahead of the Appy Astros for 1st in the division. Brian Blasik went 2-3 with 4 RBI, clearing the bases with a triple in the 3rd. They scored 5 in the inning. Terrell Joyce and Ernesto Genoves each drove in a run. Adrian Houser got his 1st win of the season, throwing 6 strong innings, allowing 2 runs on 6 hits, walking 4 (only negative) and striking out 8. Mike Dimock pitched 2 2/3 innings for the save, although he allowed 2 runs in the 9th. He allowed 4 hits and struck out 2. The GCLstros walked off 7-6 losers to the Cardinals in Palm Beach. Yonathan Mejia went 3-5 with a double and a 2-run homer (2) in the 7th. Teoscar Hernandez went 2-5 with 2 RBI. Wallace Gonzalez and Franny Polanco each drove in 1. Enderson Franco went 6 innings, allowing 2 runs on 5 hits, walking 1 and striking out 6. Juan Mojica ended up getting tagged with the loss. The Academy lost 8-0 to the Royals. Not much to report here. Hector Roa went 2-4. DSL All-Star Samil De Los Santos went 2 2/3 innings, allowing 4 runs (3 earned) on 4 hits, walking 3 and striking out 3.
The fact that DDJ is going to hit double digit HRs this season is so awesome. He's been prospected to have some pop and to see him mix it in with everything else he's doing(avg,sb,bb,obp,ops,h,r) is a very encouraging sign. I'm very hyped about his game and potential!
Yeah I got to imagine that is the case for most 19 year olds. The thing I like most about Deshields is that his walk count has already increased from last year and he has had 131 less ABs. I think it is a result somewhat because he had to repeat low A ball but still good to see.
Appy Astros report on Greeneville's game last night: Read More Also, Greeneville's Jean Carlos Batista is the subject of a documentary being executive-produced by Bobby Valentine. He's starring alongside Twins mega-prospect Miguel Sano. The film, Pelotero (Ballplayer), will premiere tomorrow. It'll be playing here in Houston at Sundance Cinemas. Trailer: <iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/44070317" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe> <p><a href="http://vimeo.com/44070317">Pelotero Trailer [US Theatrical Premiere at the Maysles Cinema, July 13th - 19th]</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/maysles">Maysles Cinema</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p> Film website Appy Stros Bobby Valentine interview on WEEI in Boston
Yeah and I wonder if a slow improvement at 2B would open a more realistic possibility of him moving back to CF. If you look at farm depth at this point, 2B is deeper than CF. Springer at CF while Altuve, Paredes, possibly Fontana at 2B. It seems like at the time when DDJ got moved it was because 2B was an extremely lacking position.
Baseball America put up a nice mid-season report on position players by position. A couple Astros prospects pop up as top or bottom of their position. Top: DDJ, Springer, Santana, Singleton (#1) Bottom: Mike Kvasnicka, JB Shuck, Matt Dominguez The really interesting part to me is the discussion on differences in league quality: This is why I'm begging to get a FSL team for Folty. There was a more in depth look into league differences from last year that is simply fantastic.
DDJ wasn't moved because we needed 2B'ers. He was moved because a player with his skills is more valuable at a more premium defensive position: SS > 2B > CF Although the depth ahead of him is ridiculous and almost crushing, I think it gives him a unique opportunity to develop appropriately and work on his defensive skills at second base. He does not need to fast-track by moving to CF because the Astros won't be playing meaningful games soon AND there's depth ahead of him. If he's ready to take over 2B in 2015/2016 when Altuve is in his arbitration years, that gives us a lot of options. And I wouldn't downplay the depth in CF. Springer may be the only top prospect in CF right now, but we have several promising young players manning the position at different levels in the minor. E.g. Barnes in AAA, Aplin in NYPL, Brett Philips in Greeneville. My opinion is don't move anyone off a position until you've proven they can't stick there or you need his bat in the majors. Bryce Harper is a great example of a team fast-tracking due to need. He's an "all-star" talent in the outfield, but he would have been a HOF-level talent at catcher.
Can someone with ESPN insider post the new Keith Law top 50 with Astros descriptions? I've heard Singleton was 23 and Correa was 20. Also can someone with ESPN insider post the Kevin Goldstein 'Next Future Gamers' article? Thanks
20. Carlos Correa, SS, Houston Astros (age 17) Current level: Rookie (Gulf Coast League) Preseason ranking: N/A A future power-hitting infielder who probably will end up at third base as his 6-foot-4, 190-pound frame fills out. Correa turns 18 in September, and, although I preferred Buxton in the draft, I think Houston did the right thing, saving $1.2 million by taking Correa and spending that money on players such as Lance McCullers and Rio Ruiz. 23. Jonathan Singleton, 1B, Houston Astros (age 20) Current level: Double-A (Corpus Christi) Preseason ranking: 46 He has an advanced approach at the plate for his age, at least against right-handers, but he still shows a pronounced platoon split. He is still young for his level and is able to provide above-average defense at first.
Lots of Astros reference in the Baseball America Draft And Prospects Chat Draft And Prospects Chat With Jim Callis It covered some questions that've been asked here before:
Wowsers <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Marwin Gonzales had flight issues and Jimmy Paredes is away for the birth of his child. Brett Wallace forced into the shortstop role tonight</p>— NewsOKRedHawks (@NewsOKRedHawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/NewsOKRedHawks/status/223542161327652865" data-datetime="2012-07-12T22:19:39+00:00">July 12, 2012</a></blockquote> <script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Brett Wallace is still in OKC. Batting fifth and playing shortstop tonight. Still no Houston call up.</p>— NewsOKRedHawks (@NewsOKRedHawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/NewsOKRedHawks/status/223537322057150464" data-datetime="2012-07-12T22:00:25+00:00">July 12, 2012</a></blockquote> <script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Matt Dominguez, acquired in the Carlos Lee trade, is in the RedHawks lineup batting sixth and playing third.</p>— NewsOKRedHawks (@NewsOKRedHawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/NewsOKRedHawks/status/223536644266016768" data-datetime="2012-07-12T21:57:43+00:00">July 12, 2012</a></blockquote> <script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
