The Astros were off last night and start a three-game series in Oakland tonight. They're still 11-5.
*Since the beginning of 2015, the Astros are 23-15 at Oakland. They're 27-14 against Oakland in general since the beginning of 2017.
*Other notable stats during this 9-game winning streak:
-The Astros are 4-0 in one-run games.
-Six of the nine wins have been decided by 1-2 runs.
-Astros pitchers have walked 4+ batters in five of these wins, including an 8BB game on April 7 (the Altuve Walk-Off Walk game). The last time the Astros won a game in which they walked 8+ batters was on June 9, 2018 against the Rangers. They're 4-6 when they walk 8+ batters since the beginning of 2015. I thought that number would be more drastic than it is. How the hell do you win four out of ten when you issue eight walks? This team is witchcraft.
-The last time that Ryan Pressly allowed a run in the regular season: August 10, 2018. That's a 27-record 27 regular season appearances without allowing a run. That's 25.2IP, 11H/0ER, 35K:3BB.
*Richard Justice notes that Altuve and Correa are healthy and happy.
*The Astros don't use an opener, but SI's Tom Verducci writes about Houston's ultra-modern pitching staff. Verducci:
Some people may still need reminding, but the 1990s are over. Starting pitching no longer requires the volume it did two decades ago. The latest example: Baseball's best team is doing quite well after losing three pitchers who started more than half their games last year.
*Buster Olney and Tim Kurkjian talked about the Astros' winning streak on yesterday's Baseball Tonight podcast.
*Aledmys Diaz and Yuli Gurriel talked to Chandler Rome about the Cuba/MLB deal that was recently scuttled by the White House.
*Five years ago the Dodgers acquired Former Astros Great Enrique Hernandez. Here's The Athletic's Pedro Moura on how Hernandez went from $327 paychecks to sleeping in closets to the Dodgers' starting 2B.
*Jonah Keri has the Astros at #2 in his excellent Power Rankings rundown, and Collin McHugh is the reason.
*On the centennial celebration of Jackie Robinson, MLB is trying to figure out how to appeal to more African-Americans.
Check out some of Sports Illustrated's best stories on Jackie Robinson:
"The Breakthrough" by William Nack.
"A Home Run For the Ages" by Brad Herzog
"Recalling Jackie Robinson Through the Eyes of a Teammate" by Nicholas Dawidoff.
"And Then the Barrier Broke" by Jay Jaffe.
"Robinson Was Safe" - 1955.
"What Jackie Robinson Means To Me" by Jimmy Rollins
*Literally no one asked for this #OnHere but here's how things shake out in the race for the 2nd Automatic Promotion race in the Championship, with my beloved Leeds United:
2. Leeds (82 points)
Friday: vs. #21 Wigan (Leeds won 2-1, previous matchup)
April 22: @ #14 Brentford (1-1 draw, previous matchup)
April 28: vs. #5 Aston Villa (Leeds won 3-2, previous matchup)
3. Sheffield United (79 points)
Friday: vs. #11 Nottingham Forest (Forest won 1-0, previous matchup)
April 22: @ #9 Hull City (Sheffield won 1-0, previous matchup)
April 27: vs. #24 Ipswich Town (1-1 draw, previous matchup)
You get three points for a win and one point for a draw. If Sheffield United slips up in one of the next two games, that huge matchup between Leeds United and Aston Villa might not matter. I'm going to die.
*Fire gutted Notre Dame de Paris yesterday, but some of it was saved.
*BBC: The Footballer, the Saudi Prince, and the Proposition.
*A Musical Selection:
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
Showing posts with label Enrique Hernandez. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Enrique Hernandez. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 16, 2019
Monday, February 5, 2018
Monday Morning Hot Links
And now that football season is over, it is time for baseball. Nothing happened yesterday.
*Richard Justice has the five reasons the Astros will (and won't) win the 2018 World Series.
*Bartolo Colon, Texas Ranger
*Coming off a 4-1 home defeat to Cardiff City, Leeds United fired their manager after 35 games in charge. Whomever takes over next will be the 10th manager since April 2013.
I bet. https://t.co/S7jk83vHqa— Lance McCullers Jr. (@LMcCullers43) February 5, 2018
*Richard Justice has the five reasons the Astros will (and won't) win the 2018 World Series.
*Bartolo Colon, Texas Ranger
*Coming off a 4-1 home defeat to Cardiff City, Leeds United fired their manager after 35 games in charge. Whomever takes over next will be the 10th manager since April 2013.
Thursday, March 23, 2017
Thursday Morning Hot Links
*George Springer hit a homer on the first pitch of the game and Yulieski Gurriel followed suit in the first inning in an 8-4 Astros win over the Twins. Both had two hits in the game. J.D. Davis was 3x4. Dallas Keuchel threw 5IP, 5H/2ER, 3K:1BB; James Hoyt allowed 2H/1ER in 1IP.
*Be sure to check out this chat at FiveThirtyEight - "Sorry, Mike Trout: The AL West Belongs to the Astros." I mean, when has FiveThirtyEight ever not projected a major contest correctly?
*Collin McHugh threw 41 pitches in a minor-league game as he builds his pitch count to try to avoid starting the season on the DL.
Also in that link we find that David Paulino will begin the season on the DL with a bone bruise on his elbow.
*Nolan Ryan is in camp to talk to the starting pitchers about their preparation, mentality, and pitching deep into games.
*George Springer is ready for his WBC buddies to come back.
*Kate Morrison wonders what the Astros should do with A.J. Reed.
*Catcher Juan Centeno is a "very good insurance policy" for the Astros.
*Brian Radziewski, the Astros 9th Round pick in the 2014 draft, signed with the independent Sioux City Explorers. Radziewski didn't pitch last year due to injury.
*Beyond the Box Score looks at the old Melancon-for-Lowrie-and-Weiland trade.
*Reminder that Enrique Hernandez is a national treasure and I miss him greatly.
*The Angels' Luis Valbuena left the game yesterday with tightness in the hamstring on which he had surgery last year.
*The surprisingly wild storyof the Cubs' 2006 signing of Ted Lilly...
*Be sure to check out this chat at FiveThirtyEight - "Sorry, Mike Trout: The AL West Belongs to the Astros." I mean, when has FiveThirtyEight ever not projected a major contest correctly?
*Collin McHugh threw 41 pitches in a minor-league game as he builds his pitch count to try to avoid starting the season on the DL.
Also in that link we find that David Paulino will begin the season on the DL with a bone bruise on his elbow.
*Nolan Ryan is in camp to talk to the starting pitchers about their preparation, mentality, and pitching deep into games.
*George Springer is ready for his WBC buddies to come back.
*Kate Morrison wonders what the Astros should do with A.J. Reed.
*Catcher Juan Centeno is a "very good insurance policy" for the Astros.
*Brian Radziewski, the Astros 9th Round pick in the 2014 draft, signed with the independent Sioux City Explorers. Radziewski didn't pitch last year due to injury.
*Beyond the Box Score looks at the old Melancon-for-Lowrie-and-Weiland trade.
*Reminder that Enrique Hernandez is a national treasure and I miss him greatly.
*The Angels' Luis Valbuena left the game yesterday with tightness in the hamstring on which he had surgery last year.
*The surprisingly wild storyof the Cubs' 2006 signing of Ted Lilly...
Monday, March 21, 2016
Monday Morning Hot Links
I had Xavier beating Seton Hall to get in my national championship game. Jeremy Hellickson held the Astros hitless through five innings while Ken Giles had yet another rough outing - allowing two runs - as the Phillies beat the Astros 5-4.
*But Ken Giles thinks it was his best outing of the Spring.
*Your "Battle For Closer" right now is Ken Giles' 10.80 ERA vs. Luke Gregerson's lack of Spring Training. Giles: 5IP, 8H/6ER, 4K:3BB.
*There are too many questions about Gattis' health for him to be a reliable backup catcher, writes Evan Drellich.
*The Astros will get one more look at Wandy before he can opt out, and a decision on Neal Cotts is needed soon. Wandy, Spring: 8IP, 5H/2ER, 6K:0BB. Cotts: 5.1IP, 3H/2ER, 3K:2BB.
*The Astros optioned Asher Wojciechowski, Nolan Fontana and Andrew Aplin, and reassigned Tony Kemp to minor-league camp.
*The Astros are using minor-league Spring Training games as a way to experiment, like working on different pitches and making sure relievers are getting used to throwing on back-to-back days.
*From TCB a couple of days ago...Enrique Hernandez, or "the one that hurts the most."
*Luis Tiant is returning to Cuba for just the second time since 1961.
*Hardball Times: 10 Things To Look Forward To In 2016.
*The Pirates are re-thinking everything!
*Sports Illustrated's MLB Media Roundtable: The challenges of reporting, interviews, etc.
*Brewers outfielder Rymer Liriano was hospitalized with multiple facial fractures after taking a pitch under the brim of his helmet.
*Re: A&M's comeback: Bill James' 2008 formula for determining when a college basketball lead is safe.
*But Ken Giles thinks it was his best outing of the Spring.
*Your "Battle For Closer" right now is Ken Giles' 10.80 ERA vs. Luke Gregerson's lack of Spring Training. Giles: 5IP, 8H/6ER, 4K:3BB.
*There are too many questions about Gattis' health for him to be a reliable backup catcher, writes Evan Drellich.
*The Astros will get one more look at Wandy before he can opt out, and a decision on Neal Cotts is needed soon. Wandy, Spring: 8IP, 5H/2ER, 6K:0BB. Cotts: 5.1IP, 3H/2ER, 3K:2BB.
*The Astros optioned Asher Wojciechowski, Nolan Fontana and Andrew Aplin, and reassigned Tony Kemp to minor-league camp.
*The Astros are using minor-league Spring Training games as a way to experiment, like working on different pitches and making sure relievers are getting used to throwing on back-to-back days.
*From TCB a couple of days ago...Enrique Hernandez, or "the one that hurts the most."
*Luis Tiant is returning to Cuba for just the second time since 1961.
*Hardball Times: 10 Things To Look Forward To In 2016.
*The Pirates are re-thinking everything!
*Sports Illustrated's MLB Media Roundtable: The challenges of reporting, interviews, etc.
*Brewers outfielder Rymer Liriano was hospitalized with multiple facial fractures after taking a pitch under the brim of his helmet.
*Re: A&M's comeback: Bill James' 2008 formula for determining when a college basketball lead is safe.
Thursday, December 11, 2014
What the fudge are the Marlins thinking?
Just a quick mention that the very likeable Kiké Hernandez is now a little less likeable - especially in this part of the world.
The Marlins get a second baseman who is probably not as good as Kiké, a SP who will probably retire, and a minor-league waiver-bait SS.
And for this privilege, they gave up their #1 prospect who is also a LH SP with 6 years control, super-utility-starting-second-baseman-in-waiting Kiké Hernandez, a reliever with a 5:1 K:BB ratio in 2014, and a sounds-suspiciously-like-Craig-Biggio-clone C/2B who has walked more than he has struck out in his minor-league career.
Goodness.
But as always - and in keeping with the Astros-centricity in this blog - best of luck to Kiké. And just in case you think that you might have a shot at the starting 2B gig in LA... no dice!! The Dodgers flipped Heaney to the Angels for one year of Howie Kendrick. Who then traded for Josh Rutledge of the Rockies. So, Kiké, perhaps when the second-base carousel stops, you may be on a team that has a vacancy there.*
* - Assuming, of course, that Kiké continues to profile best as a second-baseman.
And, like any questionable move that the Marlins make, this priceless tweet from 2012 gets dusted off and re-tweeted (and apologies to the readers, the Marlins and Cosart for earlier mistaking the date on the tweet):
The Marlins get a second baseman who is probably not as good as Kiké, a SP who will probably retire, and a minor-league waiver-bait SS.
And for this privilege, they gave up their #1 prospect who is also a LH SP with 6 years control, super-utility-starting-second-baseman-in-waiting Kiké Hernandez, a reliever with a 5:1 K:BB ratio in 2014, and a sounds-suspiciously-like-Craig-Biggio-clone C/2B who has walked more than he has struck out in his minor-league career.
Goodness.
But as always - and in keeping with the Astros-centricity in this blog - best of luck to Kiké. And just in case you think that you might have a shot at the starting 2B gig in LA... no dice!! The Dodgers flipped Heaney to the Angels for one year of Howie Kendrick. Who then traded for Josh Rutledge of the Rockies. So, Kiké, perhaps when the second-base carousel stops, you may be on a team that has a vacancy there.*
* - Assuming, of course, that Kiké continues to profile best as a second-baseman.
And, like any questionable move that the Marlins make, this priceless tweet from 2012 gets dusted off and re-tweeted (and apologies to the readers, the Marlins and Cosart for earlier mistaking the date on the tweet):
Are the marlins drunk?
— Jarred Cosart (@JarredCosart) November 13, 2012
Sunday, August 3, 2014
Cosart is apparently a Marlin, Pt III
The AC office stalwarts are very busy at the moment, hence the poor immediate analysis of the Jarred Cosart trade, then my 24-hour-late thoughts on that trade. The Constable also put some thoughts together, so we have kind of covered the trade, but one thing we haven't done is talk much about the prospects coming in. Hence this post.
Francis Martes will be dealt with first, only because I know absolutely nothing about him aside from the basics. He is an 18 year old live-arm from the Dominican Republic. At the time of the trade, he was in the Gulf Coast League where the Marlins are based in Jupiter, so I imagine that he rolled a couple of hours up the road to Kissimmee, where he will be based if he remains in the GCL. He is young for that level (a couple of years), and has recorded a WHIP of nearly 1.5, and an ERA of 5.18 in a pitchers park. This screams lottery ticket, and the Astros may not know what they have with him for three or four years.
Jake Marisnick is a 23 year-old RH hitting CF. He has been rated somewhere on most preseason top prospects lists: from 2012 to 2014, he rated 67, 64 and 79 on Baseball America's top 100; 58, 70, 65 on MLB.com's top 100; and 28 (in 2012) and 71 (in 2013) on Baseball Prospectus' top 100. This year, he has batted .277/.326/.434 at AAA New Orleans, with 10 home runs and 64 strikeouts versus 17 walks.
The brief narrative that came with him was that he was a speed-power guy who may not make enough contact to stick. His glove and arm apparently play well in CF, and he has great speed in the outfield and on the base paths. He has had parts of two seasons in the majors (2012 and 2013), and put up a largely unremarkable (in fact, terrible) batting line whilst losing his prospect status: .175/.222/.219 including his first game in Houston, where he did not get on base.
When I first heard that profile, my first reaction was "golly, heard that before", and I immediately thought of Dexter Fowler. And sure enough, Fowler appears as #7 on Marisnick's list of PECOTA comparisons. But looking at Fowler's minor-league stats, the point needs to be made that Fowler spent two more years in the minors than Marisnick (and I am assuming that Marisnick's minor league career is all-but-done). That said, Fowler raked at AAA Colorado Springs - a waaay different hitting environment to New Orleans so I will choose to discount Fowlers AAA stats because they were collected when he was older than Marisnick is now, and were collected at altitude in a hitter's paradise.
Marisnicks best line in the minors is a .294/.358/.502 effort at AA Jacksonville (Southern League) in 2013 (as a 22 year old). Fowler's best non-AAA line was .335/.431/.515 at Tulsa in the Texas League in 2008, also as a 22 year old. (Fowler also played three games at AA in 2009 and had a better triple-slash, but we ain't counting three games). If you squint hard, and account for the offence-friendly Texas League, you can nearly see Marisnick a notch or two below Fowler, with the big difference being in OBP.
Fowler certainly seemed like the better prospect looking at their respective minor-league careers, and his rankings on various top-100's seem to confirm that. On Baseball America from 2007 to 2009, Fowler went 48, 74 15 and on Baseball Prospectus from 2007 to 2009, he went 39, 92, 12. But rankings really mean nothing - Jose Altuve, after all, never had any top 100 rankings - so read into them what you want, but the point needs to be made that Marisnick has had an inferior career to this point than Fowler.
Also on Marisnicks' top PECOTA comparables, are some good players (Austin Jackson, Chris Young, Peter Bourjos) and some not-so-good players (Aaron Cunningham, Felix Pie, Trayvon Robinson). The three listed not-so-good names are Marisnick's top three on PECOTA. Marisnick's top comparable is Aaron Cunningham who is current hitting .249/.333/.345 at Reno as a 28 year old. Trayvon Robinson is at Albuquerque hitting .239/.299/.356. Which I guess is another way of saying that the lustre has fallen off Marisnick with his slow start in the Majors, but he will certainly get a chance to hit, and it is way too early to write him off 170-something plate appearances.
But you get the impression. Marisnick is one of a collection of speedy outfielders with not a lot of hit-tool, and many of them with enough power to knock it out, who will steal a few bases, and will carry a good glove to a hopefully long career. Ironically, if Marisnick does well for the remainder of 2014, this may allow the Astros to trade his #7 comparable in the offseason.
Speaking of lustre coming off prospect sheen, Colin Moran was arguably the big piece coming across in this trade. He went #6 in the 2013 draft, and the Astros apparently heavily scouted him at the time - giving some consideration to taking him at 1-1. So they know what they were getting with Moran, and they should be familiar with plenty of his characteristics and traits.
As an aside, I cannot believe that a team would trade the #6 pick within 14 months of drafting him without there being some potentially serious issue of some description. Moran has drawn criticism as a low energy, disinterested player in this scouting report that I linked to a few months ago with a sarcastic comment. Others have pointed out that he seems to have a hit tool, but not much power for a corner infielder, and certainly not a whole heap of pull power. Others got even more excited about him prior to this season, anticipating a quick run through the minors, whereas others see some room for projection, with perhaps the power coming later. The opinions seem mixed, and it would be interesting to see what the inside of the Marlins organisation actually thought about Moran.
This year, Moran played in the offence suppressing Florida league, with his home games also at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter. That is known to be a park that his hard on LHB's, especially in the power department, so his .294/.342/.393 line could look better with some upward league adjustments. Moran was also more than a year younger than the average Florida League participant, but he is in the Texas League now, and it will be really interesting to see how his numbers hold up.
So perhaps Moran has a future and a pretty bright one... and this is where PECOTA comes in and potentially rains on our parade. Taylor Green is his #1 comparable - he is 27 years of age, and is currently batting .167/.231/.167 at AA. Kyle Bellows (#2) is 25 and already in independent ball, after washing out of the Indians system with a .221/.250/.301 line at AA Akron. Jake Smolinski and Jefry Marte are #3 and #4, and both of them are pretty decent prospects, the former with the Texas Rangers. Tony Cruz (now with the Cardinals in the Majors) and Mat Gamel (out of baseball) are #5 and #6 respectively. The guys that we want Moran compared to are still in the minors, and none of the others have had much of a Major League career.
So Moran is absolutely no sure thing, and I think it is telling that the Marlins were happy to trade him in some ways. It probably is a little too early to put Matt Dominguez on notice at this stage. And Rio Ruiz doesn't need to be worried quite yet.
What is really reinforces to me is that it will be 2017 before we really start to see the shape of this trade. Both Marisnick and Moran have warts, but both could also turn into solid talents at the major league level, with some chance of them becoming impact players. The potential is what makes this trade interesting for both parties.
Francis Martes will be dealt with first, only because I know absolutely nothing about him aside from the basics. He is an 18 year old live-arm from the Dominican Republic. At the time of the trade, he was in the Gulf Coast League where the Marlins are based in Jupiter, so I imagine that he rolled a couple of hours up the road to Kissimmee, where he will be based if he remains in the GCL. He is young for that level (a couple of years), and has recorded a WHIP of nearly 1.5, and an ERA of 5.18 in a pitchers park. This screams lottery ticket, and the Astros may not know what they have with him for three or four years.
Jake Marisnick is a 23 year-old RH hitting CF. He has been rated somewhere on most preseason top prospects lists: from 2012 to 2014, he rated 67, 64 and 79 on Baseball America's top 100; 58, 70, 65 on MLB.com's top 100; and 28 (in 2012) and 71 (in 2013) on Baseball Prospectus' top 100. This year, he has batted .277/.326/.434 at AAA New Orleans, with 10 home runs and 64 strikeouts versus 17 walks.
The brief narrative that came with him was that he was a speed-power guy who may not make enough contact to stick. His glove and arm apparently play well in CF, and he has great speed in the outfield and on the base paths. He has had parts of two seasons in the majors (2012 and 2013), and put up a largely unremarkable (in fact, terrible) batting line whilst losing his prospect status: .175/.222/.219 including his first game in Houston, where he did not get on base.
When I first heard that profile, my first reaction was "golly, heard that before", and I immediately thought of Dexter Fowler. And sure enough, Fowler appears as #7 on Marisnick's list of PECOTA comparisons. But looking at Fowler's minor-league stats, the point needs to be made that Fowler spent two more years in the minors than Marisnick (and I am assuming that Marisnick's minor league career is all-but-done). That said, Fowler raked at AAA Colorado Springs - a waaay different hitting environment to New Orleans so I will choose to discount Fowlers AAA stats because they were collected when he was older than Marisnick is now, and were collected at altitude in a hitter's paradise.
Marisnicks best line in the minors is a .294/.358/.502 effort at AA Jacksonville (Southern League) in 2013 (as a 22 year old). Fowler's best non-AAA line was .335/.431/.515 at Tulsa in the Texas League in 2008, also as a 22 year old. (Fowler also played three games at AA in 2009 and had a better triple-slash, but we ain't counting three games). If you squint hard, and account for the offence-friendly Texas League, you can nearly see Marisnick a notch or two below Fowler, with the big difference being in OBP.
Fowler certainly seemed like the better prospect looking at their respective minor-league careers, and his rankings on various top-100's seem to confirm that. On Baseball America from 2007 to 2009, Fowler went 48, 74 15 and on Baseball Prospectus from 2007 to 2009, he went 39, 92, 12. But rankings really mean nothing - Jose Altuve, after all, never had any top 100 rankings - so read into them what you want, but the point needs to be made that Marisnick has had an inferior career to this point than Fowler.
Also on Marisnicks' top PECOTA comparables, are some good players (Austin Jackson, Chris Young, Peter Bourjos) and some not-so-good players (Aaron Cunningham, Felix Pie, Trayvon Robinson). The three listed not-so-good names are Marisnick's top three on PECOTA. Marisnick's top comparable is Aaron Cunningham who is current hitting .249/.333/.345 at Reno as a 28 year old. Trayvon Robinson is at Albuquerque hitting .239/.299/.356. Which I guess is another way of saying that the lustre has fallen off Marisnick with his slow start in the Majors, but he will certainly get a chance to hit, and it is way too early to write him off 170-something plate appearances.
But you get the impression. Marisnick is one of a collection of speedy outfielders with not a lot of hit-tool, and many of them with enough power to knock it out, who will steal a few bases, and will carry a good glove to a hopefully long career. Ironically, if Marisnick does well for the remainder of 2014, this may allow the Astros to trade his #7 comparable in the offseason.
Speaking of lustre coming off prospect sheen, Colin Moran was arguably the big piece coming across in this trade. He went #6 in the 2013 draft, and the Astros apparently heavily scouted him at the time - giving some consideration to taking him at 1-1. So they know what they were getting with Moran, and they should be familiar with plenty of his characteristics and traits.
As an aside, I cannot believe that a team would trade the #6 pick within 14 months of drafting him without there being some potentially serious issue of some description. Moran has drawn criticism as a low energy, disinterested player in this scouting report that I linked to a few months ago with a sarcastic comment. Others have pointed out that he seems to have a hit tool, but not much power for a corner infielder, and certainly not a whole heap of pull power. Others got even more excited about him prior to this season, anticipating a quick run through the minors, whereas others see some room for projection, with perhaps the power coming later. The opinions seem mixed, and it would be interesting to see what the inside of the Marlins organisation actually thought about Moran.
This year, Moran played in the offence suppressing Florida league, with his home games also at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter. That is known to be a park that his hard on LHB's, especially in the power department, so his .294/.342/.393 line could look better with some upward league adjustments. Moran was also more than a year younger than the average Florida League participant, but he is in the Texas League now, and it will be really interesting to see how his numbers hold up.
So perhaps Moran has a future and a pretty bright one... and this is where PECOTA comes in and potentially rains on our parade. Taylor Green is his #1 comparable - he is 27 years of age, and is currently batting .167/.231/.167 at AA. Kyle Bellows (#2) is 25 and already in independent ball, after washing out of the Indians system with a .221/.250/.301 line at AA Akron. Jake Smolinski and Jefry Marte are #3 and #4, and both of them are pretty decent prospects, the former with the Texas Rangers. Tony Cruz (now with the Cardinals in the Majors) and Mat Gamel (out of baseball) are #5 and #6 respectively. The guys that we want Moran compared to are still in the minors, and none of the others have had much of a Major League career.
So Moran is absolutely no sure thing, and I think it is telling that the Marlins were happy to trade him in some ways. It probably is a little too early to put Matt Dominguez on notice at this stage. And Rio Ruiz doesn't need to be worried quite yet.
What is really reinforces to me is that it will be 2017 before we really start to see the shape of this trade. Both Marisnick and Moran have warts, but both could also turn into solid talents at the major league level, with some chance of them becoming impact players. The potential is what makes this trade interesting for both parties.
Friday, August 1, 2014
Friday Morning Hot Links!
News, notes, and HOT TAKES regarding yesterday's events:
Dallas Keuchel was sad about Cosart's trade:
It hurts a lot just based on the fact that he's a hometown boy. Also he had a chance to do a lot of special things here. He's only 24 years old and shows a lot of promise. I was kind of shocked by it, but it's a business.
Hernandez:
I don't even know how I feel right now. I'm just shocked, surprised, happy, bummed I'm going to have to say bye to all those guys...It hurts, but at the same time it's a good feeling that another team wants me.
Marlins president of baseball operations:
We all recognize the cost of starting pitching, but you're talking about two, if not two close-to-Major-League-ready bats in those two players (Marisnick and Moran). We wanted to make sure we got value back.
Sports Illustrated:
Overall, Houston appears to have done exceptionally well in this trade. Moran and Marisnick aren't slam-dunk prospects, but they have high upsides, and given that the team is still deep in its rebuilding phase, the compensation pick it received only adds to the value of the club's return here.
Keith Law (Insider-Only):
If we still consider Marisnick a prospect even though he's lost his rookie status, the Astros got two of the five best such prospects to change hands this week. Moran in particular feels like a tremendous return for Cosart, like getting an extra top-10 draft pick, which the Astros could use this year.
Jake Marisnick might be the best defensive outfielder of Springer, Fowler, and himself. Luhnow:
We're going to have three center fielders playing in the outfield. That means not a lot of balls are going to drop and we're going to catch most everything that's hit out there.
Luhnow, on Colin Moran:
If you would have asked me how would you like to have Appel and Moran, I would have thought there was no way to pull that off.
Moran is now the Astros' #5 prospect.
Here's an interesting article in the Visalia paper about how major league teams approach the California League.
Something happened yesterday with CSN Houston, but nobody is saying exactly what.
Dallas Keuchel was sad about Cosart's trade:
It hurts a lot just based on the fact that he's a hometown boy. Also he had a chance to do a lot of special things here. He's only 24 years old and shows a lot of promise. I was kind of shocked by it, but it's a business.
Hernandez:
I don't even know how I feel right now. I'm just shocked, surprised, happy, bummed I'm going to have to say bye to all those guys...It hurts, but at the same time it's a good feeling that another team wants me.
Marlins president of baseball operations:
We all recognize the cost of starting pitching, but you're talking about two, if not two close-to-Major-League-ready bats in those two players (Marisnick and Moran). We wanted to make sure we got value back.
Sports Illustrated:
Overall, Houston appears to have done exceptionally well in this trade. Moran and Marisnick aren't slam-dunk prospects, but they have high upsides, and given that the team is still deep in its rebuilding phase, the compensation pick it received only adds to the value of the club's return here.
Keith Law (Insider-Only):
If we still consider Marisnick a prospect even though he's lost his rookie status, the Astros got two of the five best such prospects to change hands this week. Moran in particular feels like a tremendous return for Cosart, like getting an extra top-10 draft pick, which the Astros could use this year.
Jake Marisnick might be the best defensive outfielder of Springer, Fowler, and himself. Luhnow:
We're going to have three center fielders playing in the outfield. That means not a lot of balls are going to drop and we're going to catch most everything that's hit out there.
Luhnow, on Colin Moran:
If you would have asked me how would you like to have Appel and Moran, I would have thought there was no way to pull that off.
Moran is now the Astros' #5 prospect.
Here's an interesting article in the Visalia paper about how major league teams approach the California League.
Something happened yesterday with CSN Houston, but nobody is saying exactly what.
Cosart is apparently a Marlin, Pt II.
Yesterday, I indicated somewhat prematurely that the 2014 edition was not an exciting trade deadline. Then things went kind of crazy, and lots of deals went down in the last few hours. The BoSox traded in their veteran goodness for an interesting mix of players, the Rays got surprisingly little for David Price, and a flurry of other moves involved both contenders and non-contenders, including a stunning Astros-Marlins trade.
As the Constable has already indicated, the most buzzer-beating trade deadline deal involved the Astros sending three players to the Marlins, who sent three players and a draft pick back in return. As this trade was going down, I was on my way out of the door, so I only managed to scramble a quick post up before the details even got finalised.
The comments in that post were interesting. AC readers (and commentators) are generally fairly sharp, I think, compared to what else is out there in the comments section. (I believe AC readers are 37% more handsome, and smell 56% better than the average internet reader, too). There was an interesting mix of comments, with some shock and horror to start with, then more objective looks and acknowledgements of the potential players coming back. In general, most the comments were positive.
Now that I have had a few hours to digest the trade myself, here is my thoughts on the players going to Miami:
Austin Wates (and no disrespect in saying this) is probably a non-piece here. When you are the AAA CF, and when the three CF-capable ML pieces all head to the DL at once due to an unfortunate series of circumstances, and you aren't called up, I think that says something about the organisation's plan for you. Also, at 26, his time is now, and I think that if the Astros wanted to drop him in at the ML level and see what happens for a couple of months, they had all the opportunities they needed. I hope he has a nice career, but the FO clearly weren't in his corner, so this trade may be the best thing that ever happens to him. 'Nuff said.
Jarred Cosart is a very interesting pitcher. I would describe him as having couple of plus pitches - both fastballs - with enough of an off speed arsenal to get by. His lack of strikeouts are concerning, but perhaps speak to the lack of velocity difference between his two best pitches. The only other thing that I would find concerning is the fact that he always - and the radio guys mention this a lot - seems to be fiddling with his mechanics. He seems to struggle with control (perhaps as a result of inconsistent mechanics, or inconsistent thoughts about mechanics), but 90% of the time his stuff is good enough that he can throw one of his ridiculous 95mph cutters down the heart of the plate and get away with it. When he doesn't get away with it, he can be hit hard, as he was a couple of times earlier in the year.
So Cosart is plenty good - a legit ML piece somewhere in the rotation - which is phenomenal for a 38 round pick. But I want to get away from that for a minute, and think about who else the Astros have in the system. At AAA, the Astros have Nick Tropeano, Mike Foltynewicz and Asher Wojciechowski who have not yet seen ML action, and all need a look in the next 12-18 months or so. That is without talking about Tommy Shirley, David Martinez and Rudy Owens, who probably don't have the stuff, but may warrant a look. Alex White is on his way back from TJS. And Jake Buchanan and Brad Peacock are with or have been with the ML team recently, and have pitched with some success at times in the bigs. Peacock, in particular, could put it all back together as quickly as he lost it - and he has been quite good for stretches at times this season.
At AA, things start to get more interesting. Mark Appel, Luis Cruz, Kyle Smith and Kyle Weiland seem to be the cream of the crop there. Some of the guys at this level may be ready for a look at this time next year, but they will probably be as ready as they ever will be in 2.5 years. At Lancaster, Josh Hader, Vincent Velasquez and a handful of others have impressive ceilings. Hader may be ready in 12-18 months as well. The Astros have a lot of pitchers they need to cycle through the rotation prior to 2016, which is when I would expect that they want to really have a rip at contenting.
So it isn't that Cosart isn't good, or useful, or uncoachable, or too familiar with Twitter. It is more that he is replaceable. One of the guys mentioned in the two paragraphs above will be at least as good as Cosart, and the chances are that 3-4 or them will be. That said, I was very impressed with Cosart's season, and thought that he made significant gains over last year, despite the worsening in ERA (but not in FIP/SIERA and other advanced measures). I sincerely wish him the best of luck, and I will always be interested in how his career progresses.
Kiké Hernandez's loss could sting a bit. There is a lot of value in a super-utility guy with occasional power, who doesn't strike out a lot, who can take a walk, and who runs the bases fairly well. Which is what we saw in Houston and OKC this year. Plus, he seemed like a popular, high-energy guy, and there seemed to be a sense of magic in much of what he did (but not when trying to throw runners out at home). I liked his timing at the plate - he often seemed to make hard contact even on foul balls - and without checking the numbers (small sample size alert if we were to check the numbers, too) didn't seem to swing and miss a lot. He seemed able to hit breaking stuff, and appeared difficult to overpower. In short, I like him a lot.
However, it has to be said that Hernandez is relatively unheralded - which means nothing in itself - but he has also has only one half-season of great baseball under his belt. This could well be the best that he ever plays the game, or he could stay at this level and have a solid career. He could also be waiver-bait in 2 years or so if he is playing above his talent-level at the moment. Marlins Stadium is unlikely to be kind to him - it is unkind to anyone not named Stanton after all - and so his pull-power may not play there as well as the Juice Box, or that other stadium in Arlington (for example).
(Addit: I missed a couple of points that I wanted to make about Hernandez in this article. Firstly, he is blocked in Houston, unless you play him at third, and I think that the Astros are committed to giving Dominguez another 12 months before doing that. Secondly, there is a very real possibility that Hernandez is the best player changing teams in this trade. There is also a possibility that he is the worst of the 4 main players changing hands too. His volatility is fairly extreme at this point in his career, and he will get an opportunity to play every day at the keystone in Miami).
So here is my take on the players that the Astros are trading away. Unlike the Constable, I don't think that the Astros have decided to put "success" (whatever that is) on hold for a year. Hernandez might be great, but is also volatile, and this could be a good time to sell high. Cosart is eminently replaceable, but perhaps not immediately. Whomever starts in the rotation in Cosart's place in 2015 will most likely perform at a similar level. Wates' departure from OKC may allow Andrew Aplin to be promoted, and he clearly wasn't getting a look anyhow. This trade has the potential to hurt, but I think any modern baseball trade involving prospects does. And this trade isn't the Hunter-Pence-to-the-Phillies kind of haul for the Marlins, but both Cosart and Hernandez could develop quickly, and it seems to me that the Marlins are gearing up for a serious run this and next year.
Tomorrow, I will have a lash at looking what is coming the Astros' way.
As the Constable has already indicated, the most buzzer-beating trade deadline deal involved the Astros sending three players to the Marlins, who sent three players and a draft pick back in return. As this trade was going down, I was on my way out of the door, so I only managed to scramble a quick post up before the details even got finalised.
The comments in that post were interesting. AC readers (and commentators) are generally fairly sharp, I think, compared to what else is out there in the comments section. (I believe AC readers are 37% more handsome, and smell 56% better than the average internet reader, too). There was an interesting mix of comments, with some shock and horror to start with, then more objective looks and acknowledgements of the potential players coming back. In general, most the comments were positive.
Now that I have had a few hours to digest the trade myself, here is my thoughts on the players going to Miami:
Austin Wates (and no disrespect in saying this) is probably a non-piece here. When you are the AAA CF, and when the three CF-capable ML pieces all head to the DL at once due to an unfortunate series of circumstances, and you aren't called up, I think that says something about the organisation's plan for you. Also, at 26, his time is now, and I think that if the Astros wanted to drop him in at the ML level and see what happens for a couple of months, they had all the opportunities they needed. I hope he has a nice career, but the FO clearly weren't in his corner, so this trade may be the best thing that ever happens to him. 'Nuff said.
Jarred Cosart is a very interesting pitcher. I would describe him as having couple of plus pitches - both fastballs - with enough of an off speed arsenal to get by. His lack of strikeouts are concerning, but perhaps speak to the lack of velocity difference between his two best pitches. The only other thing that I would find concerning is the fact that he always - and the radio guys mention this a lot - seems to be fiddling with his mechanics. He seems to struggle with control (perhaps as a result of inconsistent mechanics, or inconsistent thoughts about mechanics), but 90% of the time his stuff is good enough that he can throw one of his ridiculous 95mph cutters down the heart of the plate and get away with it. When he doesn't get away with it, he can be hit hard, as he was a couple of times earlier in the year.
So Cosart is plenty good - a legit ML piece somewhere in the rotation - which is phenomenal for a 38 round pick. But I want to get away from that for a minute, and think about who else the Astros have in the system. At AAA, the Astros have Nick Tropeano, Mike Foltynewicz and Asher Wojciechowski who have not yet seen ML action, and all need a look in the next 12-18 months or so. That is without talking about Tommy Shirley, David Martinez and Rudy Owens, who probably don't have the stuff, but may warrant a look. Alex White is on his way back from TJS. And Jake Buchanan and Brad Peacock are with or have been with the ML team recently, and have pitched with some success at times in the bigs. Peacock, in particular, could put it all back together as quickly as he lost it - and he has been quite good for stretches at times this season.
At AA, things start to get more interesting. Mark Appel, Luis Cruz, Kyle Smith and Kyle Weiland seem to be the cream of the crop there. Some of the guys at this level may be ready for a look at this time next year, but they will probably be as ready as they ever will be in 2.5 years. At Lancaster, Josh Hader, Vincent Velasquez and a handful of others have impressive ceilings. Hader may be ready in 12-18 months as well. The Astros have a lot of pitchers they need to cycle through the rotation prior to 2016, which is when I would expect that they want to really have a rip at contenting.
So it isn't that Cosart isn't good, or useful, or uncoachable, or too familiar with Twitter. It is more that he is replaceable. One of the guys mentioned in the two paragraphs above will be at least as good as Cosart, and the chances are that 3-4 or them will be. That said, I was very impressed with Cosart's season, and thought that he made significant gains over last year, despite the worsening in ERA (but not in FIP/SIERA and other advanced measures). I sincerely wish him the best of luck, and I will always be interested in how his career progresses.
Kiké Hernandez's loss could sting a bit. There is a lot of value in a super-utility guy with occasional power, who doesn't strike out a lot, who can take a walk, and who runs the bases fairly well. Which is what we saw in Houston and OKC this year. Plus, he seemed like a popular, high-energy guy, and there seemed to be a sense of magic in much of what he did (but not when trying to throw runners out at home). I liked his timing at the plate - he often seemed to make hard contact even on foul balls - and without checking the numbers (small sample size alert if we were to check the numbers, too) didn't seem to swing and miss a lot. He seemed able to hit breaking stuff, and appeared difficult to overpower. In short, I like him a lot.
However, it has to be said that Hernandez is relatively unheralded - which means nothing in itself - but he has also has only one half-season of great baseball under his belt. This could well be the best that he ever plays the game, or he could stay at this level and have a solid career. He could also be waiver-bait in 2 years or so if he is playing above his talent-level at the moment. Marlins Stadium is unlikely to be kind to him - it is unkind to anyone not named Stanton after all - and so his pull-power may not play there as well as the Juice Box, or that other stadium in Arlington (for example).
(Addit: I missed a couple of points that I wanted to make about Hernandez in this article. Firstly, he is blocked in Houston, unless you play him at third, and I think that the Astros are committed to giving Dominguez another 12 months before doing that. Secondly, there is a very real possibility that Hernandez is the best player changing teams in this trade. There is also a possibility that he is the worst of the 4 main players changing hands too. His volatility is fairly extreme at this point in his career, and he will get an opportunity to play every day at the keystone in Miami).
So here is my take on the players that the Astros are trading away. Unlike the Constable, I don't think that the Astros have decided to put "success" (whatever that is) on hold for a year. Hernandez might be great, but is also volatile, and this could be a good time to sell high. Cosart is eminently replaceable, but perhaps not immediately. Whomever starts in the rotation in Cosart's place in 2015 will most likely perform at a similar level. Wates' departure from OKC may allow Andrew Aplin to be promoted, and he clearly wasn't getting a look anyhow. This trade has the potential to hurt, but I think any modern baseball trade involving prospects does. And this trade isn't the Hunter-Pence-to-the-Phillies kind of haul for the Marlins, but both Cosart and Hernandez could develop quickly, and it seems to me that the Marlins are gearing up for a serious run this and next year.
Tomorrow, I will have a lash at looking what is coming the Astros' way.
Thursday, July 31, 2014
Future put on hold for one more year
Here's what the Astros did today:
Less than 45 seconds before the deadline, the Astros sent:
Jarred Cosart
Enrique Hernandez
Austin Wates
to the Marlins for:
Jake Marisnick
Colin Moran
Frances Martes
2015 Competitive Balance draft pick
How do you feel about that? I'm genuinely curious, because I'm not sure. Let's recap exactly what the Astros gave up:
Jarred Cosart: 38th Round pick in the 2008 draft by the Phillies. Acquired in the Hunter Pence trade. MLB.com's #89 prospect heading into the 2013 season. 30 starts, 176.1IP, 10-8, 3.57 ERA/1.42 WHIP (4.13 FIP), 108K:86BB (1.26 K:BB ratio). It's not as though that K:BB ratio is surprising, either. Cosart hasn't posted a K:BB ratio over 2.00 since 2010 against any competition. In the same regard, Cosart always had a knack of pitching out of trouble: With the exception of 2011, when he struggled in his first pass at Double-A, he hasn't had a full season with an ERA over 4.00. I know that ERA doesn't tell the whole story, but - to me - it shows #Grit and #BucklingDown. I like Jarred Cosart.
Enrique Hernandez: Drafted 2009, 6th Round, by the Astros. In 24 games for the Astros this season, he hit .284/.348/.420 with 11K:8BB in 89 PAs. In six minor-league seasons (he began his career at Age 17), he hit .274/.327/.401 but really took off in 2014. Having never posted an OPS over .740 in a season, he hit .337/.380/.508 in 67 games for Triple-A Oklahoma City this season before getting called up. And, man, he was a sweetheart. Not to get all Kirk Gibson on you, but that dude is/was a #grinder. I loved watching him play.
Austin Wates: 2010 3rd Round draft pick by the Astros. Recipient of the first Astros County Man Crush. Wates is in his Age 25 season, and would have to be put on the 40-Man roster this season, which likely would not have happened. As we have seen with a few other 2010 draft picks, the Astros traded him in order to get *something* in return. In five seasons, Wates has a career .303/.381/.415 slash line with 98 stolen bases in 121 attempts. That's a bit misleading, because since the beginning of 2013, Wates has successfully stolen 46 of his last 51 bases. But injuries have been a concern. He has played in 100+ games in a season just once - in 2011. But I really like Austin Wates.
And so there it is. The Astros traded two players on the Major League roster - one who has been on a 25-man roster prior to June 2014 - and Austin Wates, whom the Astros feel is a good player, but not as high on the depth chart.
What did the Astros get in return?
Jake Marisnick: Drafted by the Blue Jays as their 2009 3rd Round pick, Marisnick was acquired by the Marlins in their BS firesale in mid-2013. Prior to 2014, Marisnick was Baseball America's #79 prospect, and MLB.com's #65 prospect. Marisnick turned 23 last March, and is 6'4" 225lbs. Marisnick has spent most of this season with Triple-A New Orleans - his first stint at Triple-A - and in 377 PAs, has hit .277/.326/.434 with 64K:17BB and 24 stolen bases in 30 attempts. But his impending debut in Houston will not be his first ML action. In 2013 he and Christian Yelich were called up from Double-A and, in 40 games for the Marlins, hit .183/.231/.248. In 14 games in 2014, Marisnick hit .167/.216/.167. Yes, small sample sizes. Marisnick will likely play CF until Dexter Fowler returns from the DL and will play a role in the Astros OF in the future. Unless he doesn't, and gets traded next year.
Colin Moran: Moran was the 6th overall pick in the 2013 draft, and was in the mix - at least on the surface - for the Astros pick in 2013. Coming into this season, Moran was BA's #61 prospect, MLB.com's #51 prospect, and BP's #74 prospect. He's a 3B by trade, so Matt Dominguez has approximately two years to figure his crap out. Moran has spent 2014 at High-A Jupiter in the Florida State League, where he has hit .294/.342/.393 with 53K:28BB in 392 PAs, meaning that he can make contact. This season he has 21 doubles and five homers, and 80 singles. His uncle is B.J. Surhoff, though.
Francis Martes: Martes, a 6'0" 170lb RHP, will be 19 at the end of November. His first taste of pro ball came last season, when in 50.1IP in the Dominican Summer League, he allowed 51H/17ER, 33K:14BB. In the GCL this season, he has thrown 29IP, allowing just 24H/16ER, 31K:18BB. Walks are up, but so are strikeouts. Lottery ticket.
Competitive Balance pick: This is where it gets interesting, because for the second year in a row, the Astros receive an extra pick in the next year's draft. Last year, the Bud Norris trade resulted in L.J. Hoes, Josh Hader, and - ultimately - Derek Fisher. Now, did the Astros get the pick because it provides extra value to the trade, or do the Astros think there's a chance they could be forced to uphold the Nix deal, which would cost them not only the 1-2 pick (for Aiken) but the other 1st Round pick (wherever that may fall due to their overall standing)?
Recap: At best, the Astros get a CF prospect, a 3B prospect, a lottery ticket pitcher and three of the 1st 40 picks in return for a potentially good starter with projection, a super-utility player, and the recipient of my Man Crush. At worst, the Astros get those prospects and a supplemental pick. I mean, obviously the worst-case is that Cosart figures out his command issues, Hernandez turns into David Eckstein, and Austin Wates is Vince Coleman while Marisnick is Jordan Schafer, Moran is no one in particular, Martes doesn't do anything, and the Astros actually do lose their 1st two picks in 2015.
But who's counting? Tune in tomorrow for a different version of The Future.
Friday, July 4, 2014
Friday Morning Hot Links
Here's what you need to know while you stand outside around a smoker (meat, or cigarette):
*The Declaration of Independence wasn't actually signed on July 4th. (Note: Don't tell people this.)
*George Springer and Collin McHugh made a Baseball America mid-season All-Star team.
*Jon Heyman: "There's no absolute certainty" the Astros will sign Brady Aiken.
*Bo Porter hit Jason Castro 2nd to try to get him going.
*Carlos Corporan rented a bigger house than he needed because he promised Kike Hernandez - who is Corporan's daughter's godfather - he would save him some room when he got called up.
*While this trade deadline will be less active, bullpen pieces could be moved.
*Gregorio Petit, Max Stassi, and Nick Tropeano are your OKC reps for the PCL All-Star Team
*The Declaration of Independence wasn't actually signed on July 4th. (Note: Don't tell people this.)
*George Springer and Collin McHugh made a Baseball America mid-season All-Star team.
*Jon Heyman: "There's no absolute certainty" the Astros will sign Brady Aiken.
*Bo Porter hit Jason Castro 2nd to try to get him going.
*Carlos Corporan rented a bigger house than he needed because he promised Kike Hernandez - who is Corporan's daughter's godfather - he would save him some room when he got called up.
*While this trade deadline will be less active, bullpen pieces could be moved.
*Gregorio Petit, Max Stassi, and Nick Tropeano are your OKC reps for the PCL All-Star Team
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
Moar Tranzactionz!
Our fearless Masked Marvel was correct in one prediction, that Enrique Hernandez is being promoted from OKC to take Jonathan Villar's spot. But joining him on the flight to Houston will be LHP Kevin Chapman, and the biggest surprise: 21-year-old outfielder Domingo Santana.
Hernandez, 22, is a righty-hitting super-utility guy who will be making his first trip to the big leagues. This season for the RedHawks, he's been hitting a robust .337/.380/.508, with 8 HR and 31 RBI in 264 AB. He has played all four infield positions and all three outfield positions for OKC this year, but he's spent the majority of his time in the minors at 2B (357 games total), followed by SS (46 games) and LF (40 games). He was the Astros' 6th-round draft pick in 2009 out of American Military Academy in Toa Baja, Puerto Rico.
Chapman, 26, we know from his 3.2 IP of 12.27 ERA with Houston back in April this year, following a 1.77 ERA in 20.1 IP last August/September. But he's been pretty darn solid since the Astros sent him down after April 16, to the tune of a 0.94 ERA in 28.2 IP, with 37:21 K:BB, good for a sweet 11.6 K/9, and a less sweet 6.6 BB/9.
Santana is a surprise because Jeff Luhnow said two days ago that he "still has some developing in Triple A." But he is Houston's #7 prospect, according to MLB.com, and he's acquitted himself quite nicely at OKC so far, putting up a .304/.383/.502 slash line with 13 HR and 52 RBI in 319 AB, while only 5.7 years below the league average age (!). The strikeouts are a problem - 99 this year, and 714 in 2079 Minor League AB, good for a 34.3% career K rate - but Astros fans really ought to be used to that by now. Santana, of course, is the last remaining piece of the 2011 Hunter Pence trade to reach the majors, alongside fellow current Astros Jarred Cosart, Josh Zeid, and Jonathan Singleton. So we can conclude from this that Ruben Amaro, Jr. was clearly responsible for the Ground Control hack (with some Ed Wade assistance), and this is Luhnow exacting revenge by making Amaro cry in his oatmeal again.
So Anthony Bass replaces Jerome Williams (as expected), and Hernandez replaces Villar. But no word yet on corresponding moves for Chapman or Santana. With Dexter Fowler already having missed the last four games due to back issues, Santana's rushed promotion could be a sign that Fowler is DL-bound. Chapman could be replacing most anybody, though possibly Dallas Keuchel is also DL-bound and Brett Oberholtzer is still around to take Keuchel's rotation spot. We shall see.
UPDATE: The Astros have made the promotions official, as well as placing Fowler on the DL. No official word on Anthony Bass yet, interestingly, though he also just said he's back in Houston. So for now it's just Hernandez/Santana/Chapman in, and Williams/Villar/Fowler out.
UPDATE #2: Evan Drellich says Bass is still "a day or two away."
Hernandez, 22, is a righty-hitting super-utility guy who will be making his first trip to the big leagues. This season for the RedHawks, he's been hitting a robust .337/.380/.508, with 8 HR and 31 RBI in 264 AB. He has played all four infield positions and all three outfield positions for OKC this year, but he's spent the majority of his time in the minors at 2B (357 games total), followed by SS (46 games) and LF (40 games). He was the Astros' 6th-round draft pick in 2009 out of American Military Academy in Toa Baja, Puerto Rico.
Chapman, 26, we know from his 3.2 IP of 12.27 ERA with Houston back in April this year, following a 1.77 ERA in 20.1 IP last August/September. But he's been pretty darn solid since the Astros sent him down after April 16, to the tune of a 0.94 ERA in 28.2 IP, with 37:21 K:BB, good for a sweet 11.6 K/9, and a less sweet 6.6 BB/9.
Santana is a surprise because Jeff Luhnow said two days ago that he "still has some developing in Triple A." But he is Houston's #7 prospect, according to MLB.com, and he's acquitted himself quite nicely at OKC so far, putting up a .304/.383/.502 slash line with 13 HR and 52 RBI in 319 AB, while only 5.7 years below the league average age (!). The strikeouts are a problem - 99 this year, and 714 in 2079 Minor League AB, good for a 34.3% career K rate - but Astros fans really ought to be used to that by now. Santana, of course, is the last remaining piece of the 2011 Hunter Pence trade to reach the majors, alongside fellow current Astros Jarred Cosart, Josh Zeid, and Jonathan Singleton. So we can conclude from this that Ruben Amaro, Jr. was clearly responsible for the Ground Control hack (with some Ed Wade assistance), and this is Luhnow exacting revenge by making Amaro cry in his oatmeal again.
So Anthony Bass replaces Jerome Williams (as expected), and Hernandez replaces Villar. But no word yet on corresponding moves for Chapman or Santana. With Dexter Fowler already having missed the last four games due to back issues, Santana's rushed promotion could be a sign that Fowler is DL-bound. Chapman could be replacing most anybody, though possibly Dallas Keuchel is also DL-bound and Brett Oberholtzer is still around to take Keuchel's rotation spot. We shall see.
UPDATE: The Astros have made the promotions official, as well as placing Fowler on the DL. No official word on Anthony Bass yet, interestingly, though he also just said he's back in Houston. So for now it's just Hernandez/Santana/Chapman in, and Williams/Villar/Fowler out.
UPDATE #2: Evan Drellich says Bass is still "a day or two away."
Monday, June 16, 2014
PreStros Morning Report: June 15
TL;DR
*Affiliates go 4-1 on the day for a composite 153-128 record.
*OKC makes many hits and scores lotso points in win over Las Vegas
*David Rollins allows three hits in a 7-2 win over San Antonio
*Lancaster gets run by Rancho Cucamonga, 9-3.
*Chase McDonald hit a three-run homer and drew two walks in a 13-2 Quad Cities win.
*3rd Round pick J.D. Davis hit a game-tying homer in the 7th and Ariel Ovando provided a walkoff in a 3-2 Tri-City win.
Oklahoma City (38-33, 2GB)
OKC built up an 11-1 lead and were able to withstand a late Las Vegas charge to carry a 13-9 win in which Las Vegas hitters only managed eight hits (three fielding errors - two by NewHawk Preston Tucker). Jake Buchanan threw 7IP, allowing 5H/5R (4ER), 4K:1BB. Ross Seaton allowed 3H/4R (1ER), 1K:2BB in 0.2IP and Andrew Robinson got his first save at OKC with four perfect outs.
L.J. Hoes was 3x4 with a double and an RBI; Austin Wates (3B, BB, SB), Enrique Hernandez (HR, 3RBI), and Marc Krauss (2B, 3RBI) had two hits each. Gregorio Petit added a three-run homer. Domingo Santana was 1x3 with a double, two walks, and four runs scored. Preston Tucker was 1x4 with a walk.
Man of the Match: Tough one. Enrique Hernandez
Corpus (34-35, 6.5 GB)
Corpus scored seven unanswered runs in a 7-2 win at San Antonio. David Rollins threw 6IP, 3H/2ER, 4K:1BB (52 of 78 pitches for strikes) and Tyson Perez recorded his first save for Corpus with 3IP, 0H/0ER, 1K:1BB.
Nolan Fontana (BB, SB) and Telvin Nash (2B, HR, 2RBI) had two hits each; Leo Heras was 1x3 with a walk, Delino DeShields was 1x3 with 3RBI.
Man of the Match: David Rollins
Lancaster (44-26, 4.0 games up)
A pair of three-run innings by Rancho Cucamonga aided a 9-3 win over Lancaster. Kyle Westwood gave up 7H/4ER, 1K:1BB in 3IP; Matt Heidenreich allowed 2H/0ER, 2K:0BB in 1IP; Kent Emanuel threw 2IP, 1H/1ER; J.D. Osborne allowed two hits and three unearned runs in 1IP; Daniel Minor gave up 3H/1ER, 1K:0BB.
The Jethawks managed just five hits on the day, but drew five walks, as well. Carlos Correa was 1x3 with a walk; Jack Mayfield was 1x2 with 2BB, Jobduan Morales also had a hit, walk, and two runs scored.
Man of the Match: Jack Mayfield
UPDATE: As the commenter notes below, this game was from two days ago, and the JetHawks are on their All-Star Break. I am leaving this in as full disclosure that sometimes I am a ninny.
Quad Cities (35-34, 9.5 GB)
Quad Cities absolutely railroaded Wisconsin in a 13-2 win. Michael Feliz allowed 6H/2R (0ER), 4K:0BB in 5IP and Jandel Gustave gave up 4H/0ER, 3K:1BB in the final 4IP.
Chase McDonald went off, going 2x3 with a three-run homer and two walks. Tyler White hit two solo homers. James Ramsay (2B, BB, SB, 2RBI), Brian Holberton (2B, HR, RBI), and Jake Rodriguez (2B, RBI) had three hits each. Brett Phillips added two hits and an RBI. Chan Moon was 1x4 with a double, walk, and 2RBI.
Man of the Match: Chase McDonald
Tri-City (2-1)
3rd Round pick J.D. Davis hit a two-run homer in the 7th to tie it up, and then Ariel Ovando drove in Ravel Santana for the walkoff 3-2 win over Connecticut. Blaine Sims threw 4IP, allowing 5H/2ER, 2K:2BB and Luis Ordosgoitti got the win with 2H/0ER, 5K:1BB in 5IP.
J.D. Davis had the aforementioned two-run homer; Alex Hernandez, Mott Hyde, Marc Wik, Ariel Ovando, and Alfredo Gonzalez added hits.
Man of the Match: Luis Ordosgoitti
Greeneville
Season begins June 19.
GCL Astros
Season begins June 20.
*Affiliates go 4-1 on the day for a composite 153-128 record.
*OKC makes many hits and scores lotso points in win over Las Vegas
*David Rollins allows three hits in a 7-2 win over San Antonio
*Lancaster gets run by Rancho Cucamonga, 9-3.
*Chase McDonald hit a three-run homer and drew two walks in a 13-2 Quad Cities win.
*3rd Round pick J.D. Davis hit a game-tying homer in the 7th and Ariel Ovando provided a walkoff in a 3-2 Tri-City win.
Oklahoma City (38-33, 2GB)
OKC built up an 11-1 lead and were able to withstand a late Las Vegas charge to carry a 13-9 win in which Las Vegas hitters only managed eight hits (three fielding errors - two by NewHawk Preston Tucker). Jake Buchanan threw 7IP, allowing 5H/5R (4ER), 4K:1BB. Ross Seaton allowed 3H/4R (1ER), 1K:2BB in 0.2IP and Andrew Robinson got his first save at OKC with four perfect outs.
L.J. Hoes was 3x4 with a double and an RBI; Austin Wates (3B, BB, SB), Enrique Hernandez (HR, 3RBI), and Marc Krauss (2B, 3RBI) had two hits each. Gregorio Petit added a three-run homer. Domingo Santana was 1x3 with a double, two walks, and four runs scored. Preston Tucker was 1x4 with a walk.
Man of the Match: Tough one. Enrique Hernandez
Corpus (34-35, 6.5 GB)
Corpus scored seven unanswered runs in a 7-2 win at San Antonio. David Rollins threw 6IP, 3H/2ER, 4K:1BB (52 of 78 pitches for strikes) and Tyson Perez recorded his first save for Corpus with 3IP, 0H/0ER, 1K:1BB.
Nolan Fontana (BB, SB) and Telvin Nash (2B, HR, 2RBI) had two hits each; Leo Heras was 1x3 with a walk, Delino DeShields was 1x3 with 3RBI.
Man of the Match: David Rollins
Lancaster (44-26, 4.0 games up)
UPDATE: As the commenter notes below, this game was from two days ago, and the JetHawks are on their All-Star Break. I am leaving this in as full disclosure that sometimes I am a ninny.
Quad Cities (35-34, 9.5 GB)
Quad Cities absolutely railroaded Wisconsin in a 13-2 win. Michael Feliz allowed 6H/2R (0ER), 4K:0BB in 5IP and Jandel Gustave gave up 4H/0ER, 3K:1BB in the final 4IP.
Chase McDonald went off, going 2x3 with a three-run homer and two walks. Tyler White hit two solo homers. James Ramsay (2B, BB, SB, 2RBI), Brian Holberton (2B, HR, RBI), and Jake Rodriguez (2B, RBI) had three hits each. Brett Phillips added two hits and an RBI. Chan Moon was 1x4 with a double, walk, and 2RBI.
Man of the Match: Chase McDonald
Tri-City (2-1)
3rd Round pick J.D. Davis hit a two-run homer in the 7th to tie it up, and then Ariel Ovando drove in Ravel Santana for the walkoff 3-2 win over Connecticut. Blaine Sims threw 4IP, allowing 5H/2ER, 2K:2BB and Luis Ordosgoitti got the win with 2H/0ER, 5K:1BB in 5IP.
J.D. Davis had the aforementioned two-run homer; Alex Hernandez, Mott Hyde, Marc Wik, Ariel Ovando, and Alfredo Gonzalez added hits.
Man of the Match: Luis Ordosgoitti
Greeneville
Season begins June 19.
GCL Astros
Season begins June 20.
Saturday, April 26, 2014
PreStros Morning Report: April 25
TL;DR
*Astros affiliates go 2-2 on the day (Composite 49-36 record)
*OKC falls to Nashville 5-3, Enrique Hernandez hit his first homer at Triple-A.
*Troy Scribner gets his first win of the season as Corpus downs Frisco.
*Carlos Perdomo hit a homer off rehabbing Clayton Kershaw and Lancaster pounced on the Rancho Cucamonga bullpen in a 6-3 win.
*Conrad Gregor went 3x5 but Peoria beat Quad Cities 8-4.
Oklahoma City (13-9)
Nashville hit a three-run homer in the 3rd and got out to a 5-1 lead by the bottom of the 9th, when an OKC rally fell short in a 5-3 loss. Jake Buchanan allowed 6H/3ER, 2K:0BB in 4IP and the bullpen got their piggyback work in, with five relievers going an inning each to close the game. Darin Downs struck out the side but allowed 2H/1ER, Kevin Chapman allowed 2H/1ER and Josh Zeid turned in a clean 9th.
Andy Simunic was 3x4, Gregorio Petit (2B) and Enrique Hernandez (HR, RBI) had two hits each. Jon Singleton was 0x3 with a walk and Jonathan Meyer was 1x3 with a walk.
Man of the Match: Enrique Hernandez
Corpus (13-8)
Corpus jumped out to a 4-1 lead after two, and held on for a 6-4 win over Frisco. Jordan Jankowski allowed 3H/1ER, 2K:1BB in 3IP; newly-promoted Troy Scribner allowed 1H/0ER, 1K:2BB in 2IP and got his first win of the season; Michael Dimock (2IP/0ER), Pat Urckfitz (0.2IP, two unearned runs) and Jorge De Leon (1.1IP, one unearned run) finished out the game.
Preston Tucker (2 2B) and Chris Epps (SB) had two hits each; Nolan Fontana was 1x5 with 2RBI, Leo Heras (2B, 2BB, SB), Tyler Heineman (BB, RBI) and Jio Mier (2B, 2RBI) also contributed hits.
Man of the Match: Let's go with Preston Tucker
Lancaster (14-8)
Clayton Kershaw rehabbed for Rancho Cucamonga and Carlos Perdomo took him deep in an otherwise smooth outing - 5IP, 2H/1ER, 6K:1BB. But the Quakes' bullpen couldn't keep Lancaster off the board, with the JetHawks rallying for six runs from the 5th-7th innings. JetHawks win, 6-3. Kyle Smith threw 5IP, 3H/2ER, 5K:1BB; Lance McCullers allowed 2H/1ER, 3K:3BB in 4IP.
Carlos Perdomo's homer got things started while Rio Ruiz (2B, BB) and Brandon Meredith (BB) drove in two runs each. Tony Kemp drew a walk and stole two bases. Roberto Pena had a hit and a walk.
Man of the Match: Gotta give it to Perdomo for taking Kershaw deep.
Quad Cities (9-11)
Peoria put up a pair of four-run innings in an 8-4 win over Quad Cities. Kent Emanuel allowed 5H/4R - none of them earned - 3K:2BB in 4IP; Chris Cotton allowed 4H/4ER, 2K:0BB in 1IP; Jandel Gustave threw 2IP, 2H/0ER, 3K:0BB and Tyler Brunnemann struck out the side and lowered his ERA to 0.73 (his last three outings: 6IP, 0H/0ER, 8K:1BB).
Conrad Gregor was 3x5 with a double and an RBI; Brian Holberton was 2x4 with a double and 2RBI; Chan Moon, Tyler White, and Brett Phillips added a hit and a walk each.
Man of the Match: Conrad Gregor
*Astros affiliates go 2-2 on the day (Composite 49-36 record)
*OKC falls to Nashville 5-3, Enrique Hernandez hit his first homer at Triple-A.
*Troy Scribner gets his first win of the season as Corpus downs Frisco.
*Carlos Perdomo hit a homer off rehabbing Clayton Kershaw and Lancaster pounced on the Rancho Cucamonga bullpen in a 6-3 win.
*Conrad Gregor went 3x5 but Peoria beat Quad Cities 8-4.
Oklahoma City (13-9)
Nashville hit a three-run homer in the 3rd and got out to a 5-1 lead by the bottom of the 9th, when an OKC rally fell short in a 5-3 loss. Jake Buchanan allowed 6H/3ER, 2K:0BB in 4IP and the bullpen got their piggyback work in, with five relievers going an inning each to close the game. Darin Downs struck out the side but allowed 2H/1ER, Kevin Chapman allowed 2H/1ER and Josh Zeid turned in a clean 9th.
Andy Simunic was 3x4, Gregorio Petit (2B) and Enrique Hernandez (HR, RBI) had two hits each. Jon Singleton was 0x3 with a walk and Jonathan Meyer was 1x3 with a walk.
Man of the Match: Enrique Hernandez
Corpus (13-8)
Corpus jumped out to a 4-1 lead after two, and held on for a 6-4 win over Frisco. Jordan Jankowski allowed 3H/1ER, 2K:1BB in 3IP; newly-promoted Troy Scribner allowed 1H/0ER, 1K:2BB in 2IP and got his first win of the season; Michael Dimock (2IP/0ER), Pat Urckfitz (0.2IP, two unearned runs) and Jorge De Leon (1.1IP, one unearned run) finished out the game.
Preston Tucker (2 2B) and Chris Epps (SB) had two hits each; Nolan Fontana was 1x5 with 2RBI, Leo Heras (2B, 2BB, SB), Tyler Heineman (BB, RBI) and Jio Mier (2B, 2RBI) also contributed hits.
Man of the Match: Let's go with Preston Tucker
Lancaster (14-8)
Clayton Kershaw rehabbed for Rancho Cucamonga and Carlos Perdomo took him deep in an otherwise smooth outing - 5IP, 2H/1ER, 6K:1BB. But the Quakes' bullpen couldn't keep Lancaster off the board, with the JetHawks rallying for six runs from the 5th-7th innings. JetHawks win, 6-3. Kyle Smith threw 5IP, 3H/2ER, 5K:1BB; Lance McCullers allowed 2H/1ER, 3K:3BB in 4IP.
Carlos Perdomo's homer got things started while Rio Ruiz (2B, BB) and Brandon Meredith (BB) drove in two runs each. Tony Kemp drew a walk and stole two bases. Roberto Pena had a hit and a walk.
Man of the Match: Gotta give it to Perdomo for taking Kershaw deep.
Quad Cities (9-11)
Peoria put up a pair of four-run innings in an 8-4 win over Quad Cities. Kent Emanuel allowed 5H/4R - none of them earned - 3K:2BB in 4IP; Chris Cotton allowed 4H/4ER, 2K:0BB in 1IP; Jandel Gustave threw 2IP, 2H/0ER, 3K:0BB and Tyler Brunnemann struck out the side and lowered his ERA to 0.73 (his last three outings: 6IP, 0H/0ER, 8K:1BB).
Conrad Gregor was 3x5 with a double and an RBI; Brian Holberton was 2x4 with a double and 2RBI; Chan Moon, Tyler White, and Brett Phillips added a hit and a walk each.
Man of the Match: Conrad Gregor
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
PreStros Morning Report: April 8
TL;DR
*Affiliates go 3-1 on the day
*Max Stassi hit a three-run homer in the first and Paul Clemens needed 53 pitches to get through 5IP in an 8-1 OKC win over New Orleans.
*Corpus scores five runs in the top of the 9th and wins on Jio Mier's pinch-hit 11th inning homer for their fifth straight road win.
*Lancaster wins 4-2 as McCullers cruises and Correa gets his first 0fer of the year.
*Andrew Thurman gets shelled and Dickie Joe Thon provides the walkoff in a Lansing win over Quad Cities.
Oklahoma City (4-2)
OKC was up 3-0 by the time New Orleans came to bat, straight dominating the Zephyrs in an 8-1 win. Paul Clemens threw his five IPs in a very efficient manner, giving up 3H/0ER, 6K:0BB and throwing 42 of his 53 pitches for strikes. Jake Buchanan allowed 3H/1ER, 2K:0BB in 3IP, and Chia-Jen Lo gave up two hits, striking out two, in the 9th.
1-through-4 in the lineup went for a combined 8x17 with 4K:3BB, three extra-base hits, and 6RBI. Austin Wates (2B, BB, RBI), Gregorio Petit (BB, RBI), George Springer (2B, RBI), and Max Stassi (BB, HR, 3RBI) led the charge. Ronald Torreyes was also 2x3.
Man of the Match: Max Stassi
Corpus (5-1)
Corpus opened the season with a six-game road trip and return home with a 5-1 record after a dramatic win on Tuesday. Down 5-1 heading into the 9th, Andrew Aplin drew a lead-off walk and doubles by Preston Tucker and Enrique Hernandez made it 5-3 with nobody out. MP Cokinos knocked in Hernandez, and Joe Sclafani singled in Leo Heras to make it 5-5 with one out. With runners on the corners, a Delino DeShields suicide squeeze scored the go-ahead run, while allowing DeShields to reach 1st. With the bases loaded and two outs, Preston Tucker struck out to end the inning. But wait! Springfield tied the game up in the bottom of the 9th, and Tyler Heineman threw out Aledmys Diaz at 2nd to end the inning. Jio Mier led off the 11th with a pinch-hit solo homer to left-center, providing the Hooks with their 5th straight road win.
Aaron West threw 3.2IP, 6H/4ER, 1K:2BB; Alex Sogard threw a scoreless outing; David Rollins allowed 3H/2R (1ER), 4K:1BB in 3IP while Jorge De Leon (2IP, 1H/0ER) and Travis Ballew (1IP, 1H) closed out the game.
Enrique Hernandez was 3x5 with a double and 2RBI; Delino DeShields (2B, RBI) and MP Cokinos (BB, RBI) had two hits each.
Man of the Match: Enrique Hernandez
Lancaster (4-2)
Lancaster scored the final four runs of the game for their 3rd straight win in a 4-2 victory over San Jose. Kyle Smith allowed just 1H/2ER, but with 1K:5BB in 3IP; Mitchell Lambson threw 2IP, 2H/0ER; Lance McCullers allowed 3H/0ER, 4K:1BB, HBP in 3IP, and Jamaine Cotton gave up a hit in the 9th.
Tony Kemp was 3x4 in the leadoff spot; Brandon Meredith (HR, RBI), Dan Gulbransen (BB, RBI), and Jordan Scott had two hits each. Carlos Correa was 0x4 with his first two strikeouts of the year.
Man of the Match: Brandon Meredith
Quad Cities (2-3)
Quad Cities had a 2-0 lead heading into the bottom of the 6th before Lansing broke out for four runs in the inning. The River Bandits tied it up in the 8th, but it was only fitting that - on the 30th anniversary of Dickie Thon's beaning - his son Dickie Joe Thon got the walkoff for Lansing in a 5-4 Quad Cities loss. I ain't even mad about it. Chris Lee threw 4.1IP, allowing 4H/0ER, 3K:1BB and Chris Cotton got the final two outs in the 5th. Andrew Thurman had a rough one, giving up 4H/4ER, 2K:1BB in 0.2IP; Tyler Brunnemann throws 2.1 perfect IP, and Andrew Walter took the loss after walking two batters before the walkoff by Thon.
James Ramsay (2SB), Jack Mayfield (2B, 2BB, RBI), and Jobduan Morales (BB, RBI) had two hits each. Tyler White had a hit and a walk.
Man of the Match: Jack Mayfield
*Affiliates go 3-1 on the day
*Max Stassi hit a three-run homer in the first and Paul Clemens needed 53 pitches to get through 5IP in an 8-1 OKC win over New Orleans.
*Corpus scores five runs in the top of the 9th and wins on Jio Mier's pinch-hit 11th inning homer for their fifth straight road win.
*Lancaster wins 4-2 as McCullers cruises and Correa gets his first 0fer of the year.
*Andrew Thurman gets shelled and Dickie Joe Thon provides the walkoff in a Lansing win over Quad Cities.
Oklahoma City (4-2)
OKC was up 3-0 by the time New Orleans came to bat, straight dominating the Zephyrs in an 8-1 win. Paul Clemens threw his five IPs in a very efficient manner, giving up 3H/0ER, 6K:0BB and throwing 42 of his 53 pitches for strikes. Jake Buchanan allowed 3H/1ER, 2K:0BB in 3IP, and Chia-Jen Lo gave up two hits, striking out two, in the 9th.
1-through-4 in the lineup went for a combined 8x17 with 4K:3BB, three extra-base hits, and 6RBI. Austin Wates (2B, BB, RBI), Gregorio Petit (BB, RBI), George Springer (2B, RBI), and Max Stassi (BB, HR, 3RBI) led the charge. Ronald Torreyes was also 2x3.
Man of the Match: Max Stassi
Corpus (5-1)
Corpus opened the season with a six-game road trip and return home with a 5-1 record after a dramatic win on Tuesday. Down 5-1 heading into the 9th, Andrew Aplin drew a lead-off walk and doubles by Preston Tucker and Enrique Hernandez made it 5-3 with nobody out. MP Cokinos knocked in Hernandez, and Joe Sclafani singled in Leo Heras to make it 5-5 with one out. With runners on the corners, a Delino DeShields suicide squeeze scored the go-ahead run, while allowing DeShields to reach 1st. With the bases loaded and two outs, Preston Tucker struck out to end the inning. But wait! Springfield tied the game up in the bottom of the 9th, and Tyler Heineman threw out Aledmys Diaz at 2nd to end the inning. Jio Mier led off the 11th with a pinch-hit solo homer to left-center, providing the Hooks with their 5th straight road win.
Aaron West threw 3.2IP, 6H/4ER, 1K:2BB; Alex Sogard threw a scoreless outing; David Rollins allowed 3H/2R (1ER), 4K:1BB in 3IP while Jorge De Leon (2IP, 1H/0ER) and Travis Ballew (1IP, 1H) closed out the game.
Enrique Hernandez was 3x5 with a double and 2RBI; Delino DeShields (2B, RBI) and MP Cokinos (BB, RBI) had two hits each.
Man of the Match: Enrique Hernandez
Lancaster (4-2)
Lancaster scored the final four runs of the game for their 3rd straight win in a 4-2 victory over San Jose. Kyle Smith allowed just 1H/2ER, but with 1K:5BB in 3IP; Mitchell Lambson threw 2IP, 2H/0ER; Lance McCullers allowed 3H/0ER, 4K:1BB, HBP in 3IP, and Jamaine Cotton gave up a hit in the 9th.
Tony Kemp was 3x4 in the leadoff spot; Brandon Meredith (HR, RBI), Dan Gulbransen (BB, RBI), and Jordan Scott had two hits each. Carlos Correa was 0x4 with his first two strikeouts of the year.
Man of the Match: Brandon Meredith
Quad Cities (2-3)
Quad Cities had a 2-0 lead heading into the bottom of the 6th before Lansing broke out for four runs in the inning. The River Bandits tied it up in the 8th, but it was only fitting that - on the 30th anniversary of Dickie Thon's beaning - his son Dickie Joe Thon got the walkoff for Lansing in a 5-4 Quad Cities loss. I ain't even mad about it. Chris Lee threw 4.1IP, allowing 4H/0ER, 3K:1BB and Chris Cotton got the final two outs in the 5th. Andrew Thurman had a rough one, giving up 4H/4ER, 2K:1BB in 0.2IP; Tyler Brunnemann throws 2.1 perfect IP, and Andrew Walter took the loss after walking two batters before the walkoff by Thon.
James Ramsay (2SB), Jack Mayfield (2B, 2BB, RBI), and Jobduan Morales (BB, RBI) had two hits each. Tyler White had a hit and a walk.
Man of the Match: Jack Mayfield
Thursday, August 8, 2013
PreStros Morning Report: August 7
Oklahoma City (68-50), 4.0 up
Off
Corpus (28-18), 0.0 GB
Enrique Hernandez got to play the heroes role as the Hooks beat the Naturals 4-2. Mike Foltynewicz threw 5.1 IP and allowed 2H/2R with 3K:4BB. Kyle Hallock, Carlos Quevedo, and Jonas Dufek finished up the game without allowing another run.
Hernandez, who pinch hit in the eighth inning, was 1x1 with a 3 run HR. Domingo Santana went 1x4 with 1 HR and 2 R. Raoul Torrez was 2x4 with 2 2B.
Man of the Match: Enrique Hernandez
Lancaster (29-17), 5.0 up
The JetHawks held off a late rally to beat Modesto 8-6. Aaron West went 7 IP, giving up 5H/2R with 5 K. Blair Walters threw 1 IP and gave up 3H/3R with 1K:2BB. Tyson Perez gave up 2H/1R in .1 IP. Kenny Long finished up the last .2 IP with 2 K.
Carlos Perdomo was 1x4 with 1 R and 2 RBI. Joe Sclafani went 3x4 with 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 R, and 2 RBI.
Man of the Match: Joe Sclafani
Quad Cities (27-17), 0.5 GB
The River Bandits bullpen gave up 5 runs in the 7th as QC lost 7-5 to Clinton. Lance McCullers threw 6 IP and allowed 5H/2R (0 ER) with 7K:1BB. Gerardo Sanchez went 2 IP and gave up 6H/5R with 3K:1BB. Daniel Minor went the last 1 IP with 2 H and 1 K.
Tony Kemp was 2x4 with 1 BB, 1 SB, 1 R, and 1 RBI. Carlos Correa went 2x4 with 2 2B, 1 R, and 1 RBI. Danry Vasquez was 2x4 with 1 R and 1 RBI. Bobby Borchering went 2x4 with 1 2B, 1 R, and 1 RBI.
Man of the Match: Tony Kemp
Tri-City (29-21) 0.0 up
In a well fought game that saw the score tied in the 4th, 7th, and 8th innings the ValleyCats came out on top with an 8-7 win over the CrossCutters on a walk-off, 2 run homer by Conrad Gregor. Adrian Houser threw 4.2 IP and allowed 5H/2R with 8 K. Alber Minnis threw .1 IP. Tanner Bushue pitched 2.1 IP and gave up 4H/4R with 2 K. JD Osborne went the last 1.2 IP and gave up 2H/1R with 4K:2BB.
Conrad Gregor was 2x5 with 1 2B, 1 HR, 1 R, and 3 RBI. Michael Martinez went 2x3 with 1 BB, 1 HR, 1 R, and 1 RBI. Jack Mayfield went 2x3 with 1 RBI.
Man of the Match: Conrad Gregor
Greeneville (30-15), 4.0 up
Despite giving up 8 runs in the bottom of the ninth, the Astros beat the White Sox 11-10. Frederick Tiburcio threw 5 IP and allowed 3H/2R with 5K:2BB. Ryan Connelly threw 2 scoreless innings with 1 H and 1 K. Christian Garcia went 1.1 IP and gave up 0H/3R with 3K:5BB. Kevin Ferguson threw .1 IP and allowed 3H/5R with 1K:3BB. Krishawn Holley got the last .1 IP with 2 BB.
Juan Santana went 2x6 with 2 R and 1 RBI. Ariel Ovando was 2x4 with 1 BB and 2 R. Chase McDonald was 2x5 with 1 R and 2 RBI. Brian Holberton went 2x5 with 1 HR, 2 R, and 3 RBI. Darwin Rivera was 2x5 with 1 2B and 3 RBI. Alfredo Gonzalez went 2x5 with 1 2B and 1 R. Thomas Lindauer went 3x4 with 1 BB, 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 R, and 1 RBI.
Man of the Match: Thomas Lindauer
GCL Astros (20-20), 4.0 GB
The Astros were beat by the Blue Jays 10-3. Austin Nicely threw 4 IP and gave up 7H/4R (2 ER) with 2K:1BB. Reymin Guduan went 2 IP and gave up 2H/2R with 2K:1BB. Samil De Los Santos threw 1.1 IP and gave up 4H/4R with 2K:1BB. Javier Lozano and Devonte German each added .1 IP.
Mesac Laguno went 2x4 with 1 2B and 3 RBI.
Man of the Match: Mesac Laguno
DSL Astros (30-26) 6.0 GB
The Astros gave up 3 unearned runs in the ninth to lose 4-3 to the Mariners. Edwin Villarroel threw 5 IP and gave up 5H/1R with 5K:2BB. Cristhopher Santamaria went 1.2 IP with 2 H and 2 K. Yonquelys Martinez threw 1.1 IP with 2K:1BB. Angel Heredia took the final 1 IP and allowed 2H/3R (0 ER) with 1 BB.
Brian Pena was 2x3 with 1 BB, 1 R, and 1 RBI.
Man of the Match: Edwin Villarroel
Off
Corpus (28-18), 0.0 GB
Enrique Hernandez got to play the heroes role as the Hooks beat the Naturals 4-2. Mike Foltynewicz threw 5.1 IP and allowed 2H/2R with 3K:4BB. Kyle Hallock, Carlos Quevedo, and Jonas Dufek finished up the game without allowing another run.
Hernandez, who pinch hit in the eighth inning, was 1x1 with a 3 run HR. Domingo Santana went 1x4 with 1 HR and 2 R. Raoul Torrez was 2x4 with 2 2B.
Man of the Match: Enrique Hernandez
Lancaster (29-17), 5.0 up
The JetHawks held off a late rally to beat Modesto 8-6. Aaron West went 7 IP, giving up 5H/2R with 5 K. Blair Walters threw 1 IP and gave up 3H/3R with 1K:2BB. Tyson Perez gave up 2H/1R in .1 IP. Kenny Long finished up the last .2 IP with 2 K.
Carlos Perdomo was 1x4 with 1 R and 2 RBI. Joe Sclafani went 3x4 with 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 R, and 2 RBI.
Man of the Match: Joe Sclafani
Quad Cities (27-17), 0.5 GB
The River Bandits bullpen gave up 5 runs in the 7th as QC lost 7-5 to Clinton. Lance McCullers threw 6 IP and allowed 5H/2R (0 ER) with 7K:1BB. Gerardo Sanchez went 2 IP and gave up 6H/5R with 3K:1BB. Daniel Minor went the last 1 IP with 2 H and 1 K.
Tony Kemp was 2x4 with 1 BB, 1 SB, 1 R, and 1 RBI. Carlos Correa went 2x4 with 2 2B, 1 R, and 1 RBI. Danry Vasquez was 2x4 with 1 R and 1 RBI. Bobby Borchering went 2x4 with 1 2B, 1 R, and 1 RBI.
Man of the Match: Tony Kemp
Tri-City (29-21) 0.0 up
In a well fought game that saw the score tied in the 4th, 7th, and 8th innings the ValleyCats came out on top with an 8-7 win over the CrossCutters on a walk-off, 2 run homer by Conrad Gregor. Adrian Houser threw 4.2 IP and allowed 5H/2R with 8 K. Alber Minnis threw .1 IP. Tanner Bushue pitched 2.1 IP and gave up 4H/4R with 2 K. JD Osborne went the last 1.2 IP and gave up 2H/1R with 4K:2BB.
Conrad Gregor was 2x5 with 1 2B, 1 HR, 1 R, and 3 RBI. Michael Martinez went 2x3 with 1 BB, 1 HR, 1 R, and 1 RBI. Jack Mayfield went 2x3 with 1 RBI.
Man of the Match: Conrad Gregor
Greeneville (30-15), 4.0 up
Despite giving up 8 runs in the bottom of the ninth, the Astros beat the White Sox 11-10. Frederick Tiburcio threw 5 IP and allowed 3H/2R with 5K:2BB. Ryan Connelly threw 2 scoreless innings with 1 H and 1 K. Christian Garcia went 1.1 IP and gave up 0H/3R with 3K:5BB. Kevin Ferguson threw .1 IP and allowed 3H/5R with 1K:3BB. Krishawn Holley got the last .1 IP with 2 BB.
Juan Santana went 2x6 with 2 R and 1 RBI. Ariel Ovando was 2x4 with 1 BB and 2 R. Chase McDonald was 2x5 with 1 R and 2 RBI. Brian Holberton went 2x5 with 1 HR, 2 R, and 3 RBI. Darwin Rivera was 2x5 with 1 2B and 3 RBI. Alfredo Gonzalez went 2x5 with 1 2B and 1 R. Thomas Lindauer went 3x4 with 1 BB, 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 R, and 1 RBI.
Man of the Match: Thomas Lindauer
GCL Astros (20-20), 4.0 GB
The Astros were beat by the Blue Jays 10-3. Austin Nicely threw 4 IP and gave up 7H/4R (2 ER) with 2K:1BB. Reymin Guduan went 2 IP and gave up 2H/2R with 2K:1BB. Samil De Los Santos threw 1.1 IP and gave up 4H/4R with 2K:1BB. Javier Lozano and Devonte German each added .1 IP.
Mesac Laguno went 2x4 with 1 2B and 3 RBI.
Man of the Match: Mesac Laguno
DSL Astros (30-26) 6.0 GB
The Astros gave up 3 unearned runs in the ninth to lose 4-3 to the Mariners. Edwin Villarroel threw 5 IP and gave up 5H/1R with 5K:2BB. Cristhopher Santamaria went 1.2 IP with 2 H and 2 K. Yonquelys Martinez threw 1.1 IP with 2K:1BB. Angel Heredia took the final 1 IP and allowed 2H/3R (0 ER) with 1 BB.
Brian Pena was 2x3 with 1 BB, 1 R, and 1 RBI.
Man of the Match: Edwin Villarroel
Monday, July 15, 2013
PreStros Morning Report: July 14
Oklahoma City (51-46), 4.5 GB
Missing the services of George Springer, who was busy going 1x3 with a HBP in the Futures Game, OKC blew a lead in the ninth to lose to New Orleans 7-6. Wade LeBlanc turned in what, sadly, is one of his best performances of the year, going 6 IP and giving up 9H/3R with 5K. Brad Peacock went .1 IP and gave up 3H/1R with 1 BB. Jason Stoffel threw 1.2 scoreless IP with 2 H and 2 K. Josh Zeid took the loss in 1 IP, allowing 3H/3R with 2K:2BB.
Ronnie Grossman was 1x3 with a solo HR and 2 BB. Jon Singleton went 1x3 with a solo HR, 2 BB, and 2 R.
Man of the Match: Jon Singleton
Corpus (11-12), 4.0 GB
The Hooks couldn't string together any offense, going 0x12 with RISP, as they fell 5-0 to Midland. Nick Tropeano threw 5 IP and gave up 7H/4R with 6K:2BB. Carlos Quevedo went 3 IP, allowing 2H/1R with 3K:1BB.
Enrique Hernandez and Max Stassi were each 2x4 with 1 2B, with Hernandez adding 1 BB
Man of the Match: Enrique Hernandez
Lancaster (17-8), 2.0 up
Lancaster got rocked 12-3 by the Nuts. Mike Hauschild lasted just 3.2 IP, giving up 8H/5R with 1K:1BB. Cameron Lamb got one uneventful out. Kyle Hallock (who, for some reason, has blocked me on twitter) threw 2 IP and gave up 8H/6R with 3K:2BB. Blair Walters went the final 3 IP and allowed 2H/1R with 2 K.
Nolan Fontana was 1x2 with 3 BB and 1 R. Tyler Heineman was 1x1 with 1 3B, 1 R, and 1 RBI. Matt Duffy went 1x3 with 2 RBI.
Man of the Match: Tyler Heineman
Quad Cities (13-9), 2.5 GB
Mark Appel continues to impress as he helped lead the River Bandits to a 9-3 win over Dayton. Appel threw 4 scoreless innings, allowing 2 H with 3K:1BB. Daniel Minor went 3.1 IP and gave up 2H/2R (1 ER) with 3K:2BB. Mitchell Lambson finished out the final 1.2 IP with 1 H and 2 K.
Austin Elkins went 2x5. Jordan Scott was 0x3 with 2 BB and 2 R. Jesse Wierzbicki was 2x4 with 1 BB and 1 RBI. Roberto Pena was 2x5 with 1 R. Dan Gulbransen went 2x3 with 1 BB, 1 2B, and 2 R. Luis Alvarez went 3x4 with 1 2B, 2 R, and 2 RBI. Bobby Borchering was 3x4 with 2 2B, 1 R, and 3 RBI.
Man of the Match: Appel/Borchering
Tri-City (19-9) 3.0 up
The ValleyCats flirted with a no-hitter on their way to a 7-0 win over Batavia. Zach Morton went 6 no-hit innings, with 3K:1BB. Randall Fant got the next two batters out before allowing a base hit in the seventh as he finished with 3 IP, allowing 3 H with 4 K.
Tony Kemp was 2x5 with 3 R. James Ramsay went 2x3 with 1 R. Michael Martinez was 2x4 with 1 BB and 2 RBI. Ernesto Genoves was 1x5 with 1 HR and 2 R. Chan Moon was 2x3 with 1 SB and 1 RBI.
Man of the Match: Zach Morton
Greeneville (14-10), 0.5 GB
The Astros continued their climb towards the top of the standings with a 5-3 win over the Twins. Chris Lee threw 5.1 innings, allowing 3H/1R with 8 K. Christian Garcia went .2 IP and gave up 3H/2R. Jordan Mills went 2 scoreless IP with 2 H and 4 K. Tyler Brunneman got the save with 1 scoreless IP with 1 H and 1 K.
Jack Mayfield was 3x4 with 1 2B, 2 R, and 1 RBI. Brett Phillips went 2x3 with 1 BB, 1 SB, and 2 RBI.
Man of the Match: Chris Lee
GCL Astros (10-8), 2.0 GB
Off
DSL Astros (19-14) 2.5 GB
Off
Missing the services of George Springer, who was busy going 1x3 with a HBP in the Futures Game, OKC blew a lead in the ninth to lose to New Orleans 7-6. Wade LeBlanc turned in what, sadly, is one of his best performances of the year, going 6 IP and giving up 9H/3R with 5K. Brad Peacock went .1 IP and gave up 3H/1R with 1 BB. Jason Stoffel threw 1.2 scoreless IP with 2 H and 2 K. Josh Zeid took the loss in 1 IP, allowing 3H/3R with 2K:2BB.
Ronnie Grossman was 1x3 with a solo HR and 2 BB. Jon Singleton went 1x3 with a solo HR, 2 BB, and 2 R.
Man of the Match: Jon Singleton
Corpus (11-12), 4.0 GB
The Hooks couldn't string together any offense, going 0x12 with RISP, as they fell 5-0 to Midland. Nick Tropeano threw 5 IP and gave up 7H/4R with 6K:2BB. Carlos Quevedo went 3 IP, allowing 2H/1R with 3K:1BB.
Enrique Hernandez and Max Stassi were each 2x4 with 1 2B, with Hernandez adding 1 BB
Man of the Match: Enrique Hernandez
Lancaster (17-8), 2.0 up
Lancaster got rocked 12-3 by the Nuts. Mike Hauschild lasted just 3.2 IP, giving up 8H/5R with 1K:1BB. Cameron Lamb got one uneventful out. Kyle Hallock (who, for some reason, has blocked me on twitter) threw 2 IP and gave up 8H/6R with 3K:2BB. Blair Walters went the final 3 IP and allowed 2H/1R with 2 K.
Nolan Fontana was 1x2 with 3 BB and 1 R. Tyler Heineman was 1x1 with 1 3B, 1 R, and 1 RBI. Matt Duffy went 1x3 with 2 RBI.
Man of the Match: Tyler Heineman
Quad Cities (13-9), 2.5 GB
Mark Appel continues to impress as he helped lead the River Bandits to a 9-3 win over Dayton. Appel threw 4 scoreless innings, allowing 2 H with 3K:1BB. Daniel Minor went 3.1 IP and gave up 2H/2R (1 ER) with 3K:2BB. Mitchell Lambson finished out the final 1.2 IP with 1 H and 2 K.
Austin Elkins went 2x5. Jordan Scott was 0x3 with 2 BB and 2 R. Jesse Wierzbicki was 2x4 with 1 BB and 1 RBI. Roberto Pena was 2x5 with 1 R. Dan Gulbransen went 2x3 with 1 BB, 1 2B, and 2 R. Luis Alvarez went 3x4 with 1 2B, 2 R, and 2 RBI. Bobby Borchering was 3x4 with 2 2B, 1 R, and 3 RBI.
Man of the Match: Appel/Borchering
Tri-City (19-9) 3.0 up
The ValleyCats flirted with a no-hitter on their way to a 7-0 win over Batavia. Zach Morton went 6 no-hit innings, with 3K:1BB. Randall Fant got the next two batters out before allowing a base hit in the seventh as he finished with 3 IP, allowing 3 H with 4 K.
Tony Kemp was 2x5 with 3 R. James Ramsay went 2x3 with 1 R. Michael Martinez was 2x4 with 1 BB and 2 RBI. Ernesto Genoves was 1x5 with 1 HR and 2 R. Chan Moon was 2x3 with 1 SB and 1 RBI.
Man of the Match: Zach Morton
Greeneville (14-10), 0.5 GB
The Astros continued their climb towards the top of the standings with a 5-3 win over the Twins. Chris Lee threw 5.1 innings, allowing 3H/1R with 8 K. Christian Garcia went .2 IP and gave up 3H/2R. Jordan Mills went 2 scoreless IP with 2 H and 4 K. Tyler Brunneman got the save with 1 scoreless IP with 1 H and 1 K.
Jack Mayfield was 3x4 with 1 2B, 2 R, and 1 RBI. Brett Phillips went 2x3 with 1 BB, 1 SB, and 2 RBI.
Man of the Match: Chris Lee
GCL Astros (10-8), 2.0 GB
Off
DSL Astros (19-14) 2.5 GB
Off
Monday, April 8, 2013
Pre Stros Report April 7th
AAA
It took the Redhawks (3-1) 11 innings to put away Memphis (1-3) 14-10 in a back and forth affair.Brett Oberholtzer got the start for OKC and surrendered 7 runs, 3 of them earned. Oberholtzer struck out two and walked none in 4.1 IP. OKC would commit 3 errors in the game, with Oberholtzer responsible for 2 of them. Memphis put was up 7-2 after 5 innings but the Redhawks would put up 3 runs in the top of the 6th to make the score 7-5. In the eighth Brandon Laird singled to drive in two and tie the game, and then Jimmy Paredes continued his hot start to the season with an RBI single to put the Redhawks ahead. Memphis would regain the lead the following frame. Ruben Sosa would score the tying run in the 9th on a fielders choice off the bat of Che-Hsuan Lin. Robbie Grossman, Jake Elmore, and Trevor Crowe would drive in the final 5 runs of the game with Crowe knocking in 3 on a homerun ball, the 4th homerun of the game. Mark Krauss and Jake Elmore each hit a homerun. Jimmy Paredes was 3 for 6 and is hitting .533 on the young season. Brandon Laird finished the evening with 2 RBI, giving him 6 for the season.
Kevin Chapman pitched 1.2 scoreless innings with a K.
Jose Valdez gave up the save and vultured the win allowing 2 hits in 2.2 IP. 1BB 1K.
Man of the match: Robbie Grossman. 3BB to go along with 3 runs scored, 2 hits, and a steak.
AA
Corpus Christi (3-1) won their 3rd game thanks to a 3 hit day for Enrique Hernandez, who finished a triple shy of the cycle. George Springer scored the first run for Corpus on two consecutive wild pitches by Tulsa Drillers (1-3) pitcher Tim Gustafson. Enrique Hernandez had the other two RBI, the last coming in the 8th via a double that scored Jonathan Meyer from 2nd base. Starter Ruben Alaniz went 3.2 innings and gave up 2 runs and a walk and struck out one. Matthew Heidenreich K'd 3 over 3 scoreless innings, walking none and surrendering only 2 hits. Jason Stoffel pitched a scoreless 9th, earning his 2nd save of the season.
Man of the match: Enrique Hernandez.
A
Lancaster (3=1) put up 10 runs and took the game 10-4 over High Desert. Preston Tucker, Drew Muren, and Rafael Valenzuela each homered. The Jetwaks scored in 4 consecutive innings, and would match that total in the 8th with a 5 run frame capped by Valenzuela's 2 run homerun. Andrew Aplin was 3 for 5 with 2 RBI. Preston Tucker hit his 2nd home run of the season. Delino DeShields walked and was caught trying to steal 2nd. Nolan Fontana had two hits, walked twice, and scored 3 runs. Fontana is hitting .462 so far this season.
Aaron West got the start and pitched 4.1 innings, surrendering 8 hits and all 4 runs to High Desert (1-3). He
walked one batter and K'd 5.
Luis Cruz got the save after pitching 4 scoreless innings, striking out 6 and walking 2.
Man of the match: Since there were multiple big games at the plate, Luis Cruz for pitching 4 scoreless innings in the California League.
Low A
Quad City (4-0) completed the sweep of the Kane County Cougars (0-4) tonight with a 3-1 victory in extras. The River Bandits could only muster 2 hit through nine innings. Teoscar Hernandez lead off the 13th with a triple and would score on a wild pitch. Carlos Correa was intentionally walked and would score on a single by Jesse Wierzbicki. Teoscar Hernandez (3B), Jobduan Morales (2B), and Chase Davidson had the only extra base hits of the evening.
Brian Holmes was on the mound for Quad City and pitch 5 scoreless innings, allowing 2 hits and striking out 1. Jordan Jankowski allowed the only Kane County run of the game in 3.2 innings pitched. He walked one and struck out one, earning his first blown save of the season.
Man of the match: Quad City pitchers not named Jankowski. 9 scoreless innings, 3 hits, 4 K's and 3 walks.
It took the Redhawks (3-1) 11 innings to put away Memphis (1-3) 14-10 in a back and forth affair.Brett Oberholtzer got the start for OKC and surrendered 7 runs, 3 of them earned. Oberholtzer struck out two and walked none in 4.1 IP. OKC would commit 3 errors in the game, with Oberholtzer responsible for 2 of them. Memphis put was up 7-2 after 5 innings but the Redhawks would put up 3 runs in the top of the 6th to make the score 7-5. In the eighth Brandon Laird singled to drive in two and tie the game, and then Jimmy Paredes continued his hot start to the season with an RBI single to put the Redhawks ahead. Memphis would regain the lead the following frame. Ruben Sosa would score the tying run in the 9th on a fielders choice off the bat of Che-Hsuan Lin. Robbie Grossman, Jake Elmore, and Trevor Crowe would drive in the final 5 runs of the game with Crowe knocking in 3 on a homerun ball, the 4th homerun of the game. Mark Krauss and Jake Elmore each hit a homerun. Jimmy Paredes was 3 for 6 and is hitting .533 on the young season. Brandon Laird finished the evening with 2 RBI, giving him 6 for the season.
Kevin Chapman pitched 1.2 scoreless innings with a K.
Jose Valdez gave up the save and vultured the win allowing 2 hits in 2.2 IP. 1BB 1K.
Man of the match: Robbie Grossman. 3BB to go along with 3 runs scored, 2 hits, and a steak.
AA
Corpus Christi (3-1) won their 3rd game thanks to a 3 hit day for Enrique Hernandez, who finished a triple shy of the cycle. George Springer scored the first run for Corpus on two consecutive wild pitches by Tulsa Drillers (1-3) pitcher Tim Gustafson. Enrique Hernandez had the other two RBI, the last coming in the 8th via a double that scored Jonathan Meyer from 2nd base. Starter Ruben Alaniz went 3.2 innings and gave up 2 runs and a walk and struck out one. Matthew Heidenreich K'd 3 over 3 scoreless innings, walking none and surrendering only 2 hits. Jason Stoffel pitched a scoreless 9th, earning his 2nd save of the season.
Man of the match: Enrique Hernandez.
A
Lancaster (3=1) put up 10 runs and took the game 10-4 over High Desert. Preston Tucker, Drew Muren, and Rafael Valenzuela each homered. The Jetwaks scored in 4 consecutive innings, and would match that total in the 8th with a 5 run frame capped by Valenzuela's 2 run homerun. Andrew Aplin was 3 for 5 with 2 RBI. Preston Tucker hit his 2nd home run of the season. Delino DeShields walked and was caught trying to steal 2nd. Nolan Fontana had two hits, walked twice, and scored 3 runs. Fontana is hitting .462 so far this season.
Aaron West got the start and pitched 4.1 innings, surrendering 8 hits and all 4 runs to High Desert (1-3). He
walked one batter and K'd 5.
Luis Cruz got the save after pitching 4 scoreless innings, striking out 6 and walking 2.
Man of the match: Since there were multiple big games at the plate, Luis Cruz for pitching 4 scoreless innings in the California League.
Low A
Quad City (4-0) completed the sweep of the Kane County Cougars (0-4) tonight with a 3-1 victory in extras. The River Bandits could only muster 2 hit through nine innings. Teoscar Hernandez lead off the 13th with a triple and would score on a wild pitch. Carlos Correa was intentionally walked and would score on a single by Jesse Wierzbicki. Teoscar Hernandez (3B), Jobduan Morales (2B), and Chase Davidson had the only extra base hits of the evening.
Brian Holmes was on the mound for Quad City and pitch 5 scoreless innings, allowing 2 hits and striking out 1. Jordan Jankowski allowed the only Kane County run of the game in 3.2 innings pitched. He walked one and struck out one, earning his first blown save of the season.
Man of the match: Quad City pitchers not named Jankowski. 9 scoreless innings, 3 hits, 4 K's and 3 walks.
Friday, August 10, 2012
Catching you up on the Tranzactionz
Here's a recap of the Tranzactionz that have gone down in the last 15 hours:
George Springer from Lancaster to Corpus.
Delino DeShields from Lexington to Corpus (Wait. It's Lancaster.).
J.D. Martinez from Houston to Oklahoma City.
Matt Downs to Oklahoma City.
Via What the Heck, Bobby:
2B Jose Fernandez from Corpus to OKC
2B Kike Hernandez from Lancaster to Corpus
RP Kenny Long from Tri-City to Lancaster
OF Andrew Aplin from Tri-City to Lancaster
Obviously this is a much-needed shuffle at the major-league level. During this epic time of losing (June 28-present), Martinez hit .231/.277/.314 with 25K:8BB and seven extra-base hits in 130 plate appearances. Downs has hit .259/.306/.379 in the same span, with three extra-base hits and two walks in 63 plate appearances.
Moves have to be made, and it's not like the Astros are trying to find out any more about 2012.
Meanwhile, the prospects move up. DeShields, in a repeat year at Lexington (where he'll be just 20 years old next week), was hitting .298/.401/.439 with 83 steals. George Springer, who reaches Double-A in 533 career plate appearances, was hitting .316/.398/.557 for Lancaster - with 131 strikeouts in 500 plate appearances, in addition to 28 stolen bases.
Get used to it, Astros fans. There's a lot of losing left this season - though with an eye toward winning on the horizon.
George Springer from Lancaster to Corpus.
Delino DeShields from Lexington to Corpus (Wait. It's Lancaster.).
J.D. Martinez from Houston to Oklahoma City.
Matt Downs to Oklahoma City.
Via What the Heck, Bobby:
2B Jose Fernandez from Corpus to OKC
2B Kike Hernandez from Lancaster to Corpus
RP Kenny Long from Tri-City to Lancaster
OF Andrew Aplin from Tri-City to Lancaster
Obviously this is a much-needed shuffle at the major-league level. During this epic time of losing (June 28-present), Martinez hit .231/.277/.314 with 25K:8BB and seven extra-base hits in 130 plate appearances. Downs has hit .259/.306/.379 in the same span, with three extra-base hits and two walks in 63 plate appearances.
Moves have to be made, and it's not like the Astros are trying to find out any more about 2012.
Meanwhile, the prospects move up. DeShields, in a repeat year at Lexington (where he'll be just 20 years old next week), was hitting .298/.401/.439 with 83 steals. George Springer, who reaches Double-A in 533 career plate appearances, was hitting .316/.398/.557 for Lancaster - with 131 strikeouts in 500 plate appearances, in addition to 28 stolen bases.
Get used to it, Astros fans. There's a lot of losing left this season - though with an eye toward winning on the horizon.
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
PreStros Farm Report: May 29
PreStros: May 29
Dallas Keuchel threw a complete game shutout…okay the game was shortened to five innings due to a hail storm, but the RedHawks still beat Nashville (MIL) 2-0.
Keuchel threw all 5 innings and allowed just 4 H with 3 K.
RF-Brad Snyder was 1x2 with 1 BB, 1 2B, and 1 RBI. 2B-Jimmy
Paredes was 1x2 with 1 2B and 1 RBI. C-Carlos Corporan went 1x1 with 1 2B, 1 R,
picked a runner off first base and
caught another stealing.
Man of the Match: Dallas
*Notes: David Carpenter has been promoted back to Houston Houston
OFF
*Notes: Jon Singleton was named Texas League player of the week
for the week of May 21-27. He hit .500 with four home runs and 12 runs batted
in for the week. T.J. Steele was released over the weekend. Brandon Wikoff has
been added to the CC roster.
Excessive wildness by JetHawks starter Jorge De Leon led to an early six run deficit for
De Leon
SS-Ben Orloff was 1x4 with 1 BB and 2 RBI. RF-Adam Bailey was 1x5
with 1 2B, 1 RBI, and 1 outfield assist on a play at the plate. DH-Domingo
Santana was 2x4. 2B-Kike Hernandez went 1x3 with 1 BB and 1 HR.
Man of the Match: Enrique Hernandez
*Notes: Adam Bailey was promoted to Corpus following this game.
Grant Hogue will take his roster spot. Hogue broke a bone in his hand during
spring training and has played yet this season.
Another night, another extra inning game in Lexington
Mike Foltynewicz pitched a gem, going 7 innings and allowing just
1 R on 5 H and 1 BB with 5 K. Dayan Diaz threw 2 scoreless innings with 1 BB
and 3 K. Murilo Gouvea took the loss with 2 innings and 1 R on 2 H with 1 K.
2B-Delino DeShields went 1x5 with 1 HR.
3B-Matt Duffy was 1x4 with 1 BB and 1 2B.
Man of the Match: Mike Foltynewicz
*Notes: Chris Epps has a thirteen game
hitting streak, raising his average from .111 to .258 over that stretch. Mike
Foltynewicz is dominating the Sally League so far. He’s 6-1 with a 2.27 ERA in
11 starts.
Tri-City (0-0)
Season begins June 18.
Season begins June 18.
Greeneville (0-0)
Season begins June 19.
Season begins June 19.
GCL Astros (0-0)
Season begins June 18.
Season begins June 18.
Season begins June 2nd.
Friday, May 11, 2012
PreStros Farm Report: May 10
PreStros: May 10
The RedHawks came away with a rare one run victory against Las Vegas (TOR), beating them 1-0. Former Astro Tim Redding was the starting pitcher for the 51s.
Jordan Lyles went the first 6.2 innings of the shutout, allowing 8
H and 1 BB with 6 K. Xavier Cedeno continued the shutout with 1.2 innings,
giving up 1 BB with 1 K. Jose Valdez
2B-Brian Bixler went 2x4. 3B-Brett Wallace was 1x3 with 1 HR. OKC
didn’t have a hit after the third inning.
Man of the Match: Jordan Lyles
*Notes: The RedHawks are second in the PCL with eight one-run
losses this season.
Corpus continues to struggle, dropping last night’s game against Frisco (TEX) 10-2. They’ve now lost 10 of their last 11 games.
Jose Cisnero threw 79 pitches in just 3.1 innings and gave up 3 R
on 6 H and 2 BB with 2 K. Arcenio Leon
DH-Austin Wates was 2x4. 2B-Jose Martinez
Man of the Match: Jose Martinez
After keeping the game close most of the way, a three run ninth by Lake Elsinore (SD) put the game out of reach as the JetHawks lost 5-1.
Bobby Doran threw 5 innings and gave up 2 R on 7H and 1 BB with 5
K. Andrew Robinson went 3 scoreless innings, allowing 1 H and 1 BB with 4 K.
Kirk Clark pitched the final inning and gave up 3 R (2 earned) on 2 H and 1 BB
with 2 K.
3B-Ben Orloff was 2x3. CF-George Springer went 1x3 with 1 BB and 1
3B. 2B-Kike Hernandez was 2x4 with 1 2B and 1 RBI.
Man of the Match: Enrique Hernandez
The Legends used a four run outburst in
the seventh inning to beat Hagerstown (WSH) 6-3.
Jonas Dufek went 5.2 innings, allowing 3 R
on 7 H, 3 BB, and 1 HBP with 3 K. Murilo Gouvea gave 2.1 scoreless innings with
5 K. Dayan Diaz earned his 4th save with a scoreless 9th, giving up 1 BB with 2
K. Diaz has an outstanding 0.81 ERA and 0.90 WHIP through 22.1 innings this
season with 25 strikeouts.
1B-Zach Johnson was 2x3 with 1 HR and 3
RBI. RF-Drew Muren was 2x4 with 1 2B and 1 R. DH-John Hinson went 2x4 with 1 R
and 1 RBI.
Man of the Match: Zach Johnson
Tri-City (0-0)
Season begins June 18.
Season begins June 18.
Greeneville (0-0)
Season begins June 19.
Season begins June 19.
GCL Astros (0-0)
Season begins June 18.
Season begins June 18.
Season schedule not yet posted. Opening Day June 2nd.
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