2013 Astros Minor League Thread (Second Half) We're winding down the All-Star break here... the Astros have one more day off. Most of the system had Tuesday off, but they'll be back in action tonight. All times Central. AAA All-Star Game, 8:05 Jarred Cosart is expected to start for the Pacific Coast League. He'll be taking on Greg Reynolds, who was drafted by the Rockies with the 2nd overall pick in 2006. Corpus Christi (13-12, 55-40) @ Midland (10-15, 43-52), 6:30 R.J. Alaniz (5-7, 4.59) vs. Murphy Smith (7-7, 3.33) The Hooks will look to win the series before heading home to host Frisco starting on Thursday. Lancaster (17-9, 56-40) @ Inland Empire (15-11, 52-44), 9:05 Luis Cruz (6-5, 4.97) vs. Jake Boyd (0-3, 7.67 with IE) The Jethawks open up a series against the team directly behind them. They're looking to erase a really bitter taste from their mouths, when they blew a 7-1 lead to Modesto on Monday. Quad Cities (13-10, 51-41) @ Fort Wayne (9-15, 52-41), 6:05 Lance McCullers (4-5, 3.03) vs. Zach Eflin (4-5, 3.32) Probably the matchup of the night here, as we get a couple of Florida high school righties who were drafted in the supplemental 1st round last year, and they both rank among the top prospects in their organizations. This series is the only time that the River Bandits will face the TinCaps this year. Tri-City (20-9) vs. Auburn (9-18), 6:00 Adrian Houser (0-0, 1.42) & Tanner Bushue (2-1, 2.38) vs. Jake Johansen (0-0, 0.71) The NYPL's best team welcomes the NYPL's 2nd-worst team to the Capital Region. It's 90s Night at The Joe. Greeneville (15-10) vs. Princeton (6-18), 6:00 Frederick Tiburcio (1-0, 0.86) vs. Jacob Faria (0-1, 1.89) After sweeping Elizabethton, the Appy Astros are the new leaders in the Appalachian League's West division. They also hold the best record in the Appy League, which they also took over from the Twins. They now welcome the league's worst team, the Rays, to Pioneer Park. Princeton is 1-11 on the road this season.
Hey guys, if you didn't see the Master Lock over the other, much larger Minor League thread, this is just a friendly reminder that this thread will serve as the Minor League thread for the remainder of the season.
A couple of transactions to report.... J.D. Osborne is movin' on up to Tri-City, and taking his spot in Greeneville is Raul Rivera.
Jarred Cosart threw 1 2/3 innings and allowed 4 runs on 3 hits (3-run homer), walked 2, and struck out 1.
Lancaster's Luis Cruz is the first to 100 strikeouts in the organization. He's been staked to a 4-0 lead, which came courtesy of a Brandon Meredith grand slam in the 2nd. The slam gives Meredith 12 homers on the year.
Couple of things DD is running wild again 11 steals in July already, not sure if he was knicked up or just learning. Whatever it was it appears to be behind him. Is Matt Duffy forced to wait behind Meyer, because he needs to be promoted. I honestly think sending him straight to OKC might not be a terrible idea. He's older, just as good a fielder, and appears to be a more advance hitter than Meyer. I think Meyer would have more trouble in OKC than Duffy.
John Sickels: Midseason Top 75 Spoiler 62. Delino DeShields 60. Jonathan Singleton 43. Lance McCullers 36. Jarred Cosart 34. Mike Foltynewicz 15. George Springer 7. Carlos Correa
7 in the Top 75, absolutely phenomenal. By my unofficial count, the Red Sox are the only team even close with 6. Relatively speaking, it looks like our farm system is top tier. Again, this should be of no surprise, but it is still nice to see it in the national media.
Of course Keith Law would say Folty will end up as a closer. Same as Cosart & McCullers. Astros are going to have a GREAT bullpen!
thanks; I caught that this is the new thread (even without post 3). back to the question I asked: why was the old one locked?
From Keith Law chat today.... Mark (Michigan) Settle an argument between myself and my brother in-law please. Is your ranking of Springer much lower than Sano completely a reflection of his strikeout potential? Are Springers numbers inflated at all this year due to him playing in AAA? Klaw (1:57 PM) Reflection of his lack of a two-strike approach, and the chance Sano stays on the dirt while Springer is already in the outfield. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Robert (Texas) Does Cosart have a bright future or was his no-hit bid just a bit of luck? Klaw (2:02 PM) I still think he ends up a reliever - cross-body delivery, can't repeat it enough to throw strikes
On cchooks.com, there's a nice read on Rene Garcia and Max Stassi. Didn't know Garcia was a converted shortstop. But these two are probably the Texas League's best catchers at the moment.
Thursday Stories Let's play 2 in Greeneville! Highly-touted high schooler makes his debut. Another intriguing pitching matchup in Fort Wayne. Could the River Bandits come out on top again? Recap Oklahoma City and Memphis was postponed Doubleheader this evening beginning at 5:05. Brad Peacock will face Nick Additon in game 1, and Science Guy will take on Tyler Lyons in game 2. Corpus Christi and Frisco was postponed Standard operating procedure dictates that a doubleheader will be played tonight. Game 1 is at 5:30 and will feature Mike Foltynewicz as he takes on Neil Ramirez. Game 2 has David Martinez facing Carlos Pimentel. Lancaster 6, Inland Empire 3 The Jethawks won the series as they doubled up the 66ers and got a fine performance on the mound from Tom Shirley. Shirley got his first win of the season as he went 7 innings and allowed a run on 5 hits, walked 2, and struck out 3. Jonas Dufek allowed 2 on 4 hits and struck out 1 in the 8th. And coming off the worst outing of possibly his life, Travis Ballew struck out 2 in a 1-2-3 9th to earn his 16th save of the season. On offense, Lancaster got a hit from everyone in the lineup except for Tyler Heineman, who was 0-5 with 2 strikeouts, and Chris Epps, who walked in his only plate appearance. They also got 2 RBI nights from Delino DeShields, Andrew Aplin, and M.P. Cokinos. After Aplin stole 2nd (14) in the 1st inning, Cokinos brought him home with an RBI single. In the 3rd, Aplin hit a 2-out RBI double scoring Joe Sclafani. DeShields hit a 2-run single in the 4th, and he also added a steal (32). Cokinos got his 2nd of the evening on an RBI double in the 7th, which allowed Nolan Fontana to score. Aplin finished it off in the 8th with an RBI single that also scored Fontana. Speaking of Nolan Fontana, he was 1-2 with 3 walks and those 2 runs. The Jethawks will look for the sweep tonight. Good matchup too, as Aaron West will take on Mark Sappington. First pitch is at 7:05 Pacific. Fort Wayne 8, Quad Cities 3 Vince Velasquez was outdone by Max Fried last night, as the River Bandits couldn't really get much going. On the bright side, 2012's #1 was 2-4 with 2 RBI. He put QC on the board first in the 1st with an RBI single, and he added an RBI double in the 8th. Bobby Borchering led off the 2nd by taking the #7 pick from last year deep (2, 4 season). Velasquez pitched 5 innings and allowed 5 runs (3 earned) on 5 hits (2-run homer) and struck out 4. He's now moved into a tie with Luis Cruz for the lead in strikeouts, with 102. Gerardo Sanchez allowed a run on 2 hits and fanned 2 in 2 innings, and Jamaine Cotton gave up 2 runs on 4 hits and struck out 1 in the 8th. The rubber game of this series features Mark Appel, as he makes his 2nd start in a River Bandits uniform. He'll be going up against Matt Shepherd. First pitch is at 7:05 Eastern. Tri-City 9, Auburn 3 The ValleyCats jumped out to a 5-0 lead and were never seriously threatened last night. Mike Martinez finished 2-4 with an RBI double in the 1st that put TC on the board first. And then in the 2nd, the gates opened. Jake Rodriguez scored on an error that allowed Thomas Lindauer to reach. Lindauer would score on a triple from Tony Kemp, and Kemp would score himself on a D'Andre Toney triple. Toney, who finished 3-5 with 3 runs scored, came home on a Conrad Gregor single. Rodriguez was 3-4 with 2 doubles and a run scored; he hit a single in the 6th, and the ensuing error allowed Ryan Dineen to score. Lindauer hit an RBI double in the 6th. The ValleyCats tacked on 1 more in the 7th and the 8th, on RBI singles from James Ramsay and Jon Kemmer. Ramsay finished 2-4 with a run scored. Gregor also went 2-4, and Dineen went 3-5 with 2 runs scored. Andrew Thurman went 5 and allowed a run (on a solo homer hit by Brenton Allen) on 6 hits, walked 1, and struck out 6. Michael Feliz had his worst outing of the season, as he went 3 innings and allowed 2 runs (1 earned) on 5 hits and struck out 3. Andrew Walter worked around a hit to close it out, and he struck out 1. The series finale has Kyle Westwood and Chris Cotton going up against Robert Orlan. First pitch is at 7:00 Eastern. Game 1: Greeneville 10, Princeton 0 The Appy Astros kicked off this twinbill with a bang as they just ran roughshod over the Rays. Marc Wik was 0-1 with 3 walks and scored the first run of the game on an error in the 1st. Parker Hipp hit a sac fly in the 2nd. Chase McDonald had an RBI single in the 3rd, and then Ricky Gingras delivered the fatal blow: a 3-run homer (2). McDonald wasn't done yet; in the 4th, he hit a 2-run double. Also scoring on the play, thanks to an error, was Edwin Gomez. Gingras followed that up with an RBI single to bring McDonald home. McDonald and Gingras both had 2 hits and scored twice. Gomez was 2-3 with a double and 2 runs scored. Angel Ibañez went 2-4 with a double. Edison Frias threw 5 shutout innings and allowed 2 hits, walked 1, and struck out 2. Ryan Connolly finished it out, as he walked 1 and fanned 1 in 2 scoreless. Game 2: Greeneville 4, Princeton 0 Greeneville found runs a little tougher to come by in game 2, but nonetheless, they still got the doubleheader sweep. That's because Jordan Mills threw 4 perfect innings and struck out 5. I like that 4.57 groundout/airout ratio he's sporting. Krishawn Holley allowed 2 hits, walked 2, and struck out 1 over 2 scoreless to win. And in his Greeneville debut, Raul Rivera struck out 1 in a 1-2-3 7th. The Appy Astros got 2 in the 1st on RBI singles from Edwin Gomez and Angel Ibañez, and got 2 more in the 5th on a 2-run single from Brett Phillips. Tanner Mathis was 0-1 with 2 walks and 2 runs scored. He's now drawn 18 walks against 4 strikeouts. I'm thinking that Mathis will have a career arc similar to Mike O'Neill, an outfielder in the Cardinals system who's got some ridiculous BB:K ratios. The Appy Astros will go for the series sweep tonight at 7:00 Eastern. Frederick Tiburcio will take on D.J. Slaton. GCL Phillies 14, GCL Astros 2 Do I really have to? Austin Nicely walked 1 in 2 scoreless innings in his professional debut. After that, it kinda went down the toilet for everyone else. Brett Booth drove in both runs. The first came on his first pro homer in the 4th, and he added an RBI single in the 8th. Yonathan Mejia went 2-4 with 2 doubles. GCL Astros are currently playing the Yankees1 in Tampa. DSL Astros 6, DSL Athletics 4 This game started on July 2, but was suspended with the game tied at 1. The Academy seized control with a 3-run 7th. Hector Roa hit an RBI triple, then scored on a single from Randy Cesar, who scored on a Dariel Aquino single. Cesar hit an RBI double in the 8th, and Alex Melendez hit an RBI single in the 9th. Junior Garcia threw 3 scoreless after play resumed. He allowed a hit, walked 2, and struck out 1. Juan Delis allowed a hit and fanned 1 in the 6th. Victor Mesa gave up 3 runs (2 earned, all in the 9th) on 2 hits, walked 1, and fanned 3 in 3 innings. DSL Athletics 3, DSL Astros 1 In the regularly scheduled game, Arturo Michelena went 2-3 with an RBI double in the 1st. Elieser Hernandez walked 1 and struck out 2 in 2 scoreless. Javier Saucedo allowed 3 runs (all in the 5th) on 3 hits, walked 1, and struck out 3, and Yonquelys Martinez fanned 1 in a 1-2-3 6th.
