A lot riding on Clemens at 1B

Zach Levine - the hardest working man for the Chronicle - has a profile on Koby Clemens, who has officially moved to first base.

Koby:
“It's definitely going to be a big year for me to see how I do at that level where a lot of big-time prospect players are. If I have a good year, anything can happen. But I'm not going to put any more pressure than I need to.”

Let's take a look at minor-league first basemen from 2009:

Round Rock
Mark Saccomanno (110 games): 137x493, .278/.329/.436, 87K:34BB, 43XBH-67RBI

Corpus Christi
Mark Ori (97 games): 111x423, .262/.334/.336, 88K:41BB, 29XBH-45RBI
Jimmy Van Ostrand (48 games): 104x367, .283/.364/.469, 67K:43BB, 35XBH-71RBI

Lancaster
Koby Clemens: 146x423, .345/.419/.636, 109K:51BB, 73XBH-121RBI

Eddie's Farm: August 31

Round Rock
A 5-run 7th inning pretty much did it in as Albuquerque surged to a 6-4 win over Round Rock. Chris Johnson was 2x3, Brian Esposito was 2x4 with an RBI, and Mark Saccomanno was 2x4 with a 2-run homer. Billy Sadler, in a tune-up for joining Houston, threw 3IP, 4H/1ER, 2K:1BB. Andy Van Hekken threw 3IP, 3H/3ER, 0K:2BB, Casey Daigle had his 8th BS of the year with 1IP, 3H/2ER, and Roy Corcoran had the only scoreless outing of the staff.

Corpus
Those head-hunting, season-ending Missions were up 7-1 by the end of the 4th, and won 7-2. Six hits were scattered among six Hooks, with Van Ostrand and Moresi getting the two RBIs. Sergio Perez dropped to 10-11 with 4IP, 10H/7ER, 5K:3BB while Danny Meszaros threw 4IP, 2H/0ER, 1K:1BB.

Lexington
The Legends defeated Greenville 3-2 on the strength of Brad Dydalewicz's 8th win of the year. Jay Austin (2x4) had the only multi-hit game, but Pellegrini, Diaz, and Jackson each had RBIs. Dydalewicz (nickname? anyone? Dydo?) threw 5.2IP, 7H/2ER, 3K:1BB and Kyle Godfrey threw 3.1IP, 1H/0ER, 5K:1BB for his 3rd save of the season.

Tri-City
Tri-City did what they've done a lot of this season, losing 4-2 to Aberdeen. The ValleyCats got multi-hit games from Goebbert, Martinez, and Kemp. Dallas Keuchel got the loss with 4IP, 3H/3ER, 3K:3BB, while Kirk Clark and Mike Modica threw 5IP, 3H/1ER, 9K:1BB (7Ks from Clark).

Greeneville
6-2 loss by the Gastros at the hands of Princeton last night. Oscar Figueroa and Kyle Miller were both 2x4. Juri Perez only lasted 0.1IP, recording a strikeout before getting pulled (I'll find out why, but methinks it's injury-related. I'm a regular Sherlock.), David Martinez came in and threw 4.2IP, 7H/6ER, 2K:2BB while Travis Smink and Joan Belliard threw 4IP, 5H/0ER, 2K:2BB in relief.

Eddie's Farm: August 20

Everybody played last night - and went 2-4.

Round Rock
A 5-run 4th inning from Las Vegas pretty much did it in a 8-2 loss for the Express. Reggie Abercrombie and Lou Santangelo had two hits, and Mark Saccomanno hit his 13th homer of the year. The Express left nine on base and were 1x9 with RISP. Josh Muecke gave up 6H/5R (though 0 earned) in 5.2IP. Geary threw 1.1IP, 2H/0ER, and Chris Sampson - why is he still pitching! - gave up 3H/3ER in 1IP. This drives me crazy. Someone should do an intervention and shut him down for the year before his career blows up at the hands of Cecil Cooper and Ed Wade.

Corpus
Heartbreaker last night as the Hooks fell in 12 innings, 2-1 to Arkansas. Well, not so much of a heartbreaker. The Hooks left 17 men on base and were 1x12 with RISP. Sutil, Locke, Castro, and DeLome had two hits each, with DeLome had the only XBH with a double. Kenny Baugh threw 6IP, 3H/1ER, Danny Meszaros threw 3IP, 2H, with 6K:0BB. Charlie Weatherby III took the loss with 2IP, 4H/1ER, allowing a ground rule double and a single for the walk-off.

Lancaster
First win for the young'uns as Lancaster beat Lake Elsinore 5-2. Koby Clemens was 3x4 (homer shy of the cycle), while T.J. Steele had two hits. Brandon Barnes had a 2-run homer of his own. Chris Salamida went the distance: 9IP, 4H/2ER, 1K:2BB for his 4th win of the season (4-1).

Lexington
Kannapolis scored two runs in the bottom of the 8th, giving them the final margin in a 7-5 win over Lexington. Suttle, Wikoff, and Williams had two hits each. Jeff Hulett had a 2-run single. The limp RISP average continues, as the Legends were 2x14 with RISP. Robert Bono threw 5IP, 6H/2ER, 4K:0BB. Antonio Noguera and Kyle Godfrey combined for 2.2IP, 4H/5ER, 3K:3BB in relief.

Tri-City
The ValleyCats put the whoomp on Staten Island 7-2 last night, despite going 3x17 with RISP. What the heck is it with these teams? Erik Castro was 2x5, while Goebbert (2), Martinez, Castro, and Medrano all had RBIs. Dallas Keuchel got his first win of the season with 5IP, 5H/2ER, 3K:1BB, and his ERA is now 1.94. Sarisky and MacDonald threw 4IP, 4H/0ER in relief.

Greeneville
The Gastros and Danville were locked in a 2-2 tie for seven innings until Danville scored one in the bottom of the 8th to win 3-2. Greeneville scored two runs despite only getting two hits - from Oscar Figueroa and Ben Orloff. Our boy Aaron Bray was 0x2 with 2BB and a run scored. Luis Cruz threw 5IP, 5H/2ER, 3K:1BB, and Murillo Gouvea got his 3rd loss of the season with 3IP, 1H/1R (unearned), 4K:0BB.

Eddie's Farm: August 10

Only three games from App League through PCL play last night...

Round Rock
The Big Bats came out last night as the Express got 15 runs on 17 hits in a 15-3 win over Portland. Saccomanno and Manzella were each 3x5, Saccomanno getting 4RBI, with Manzella throwing in 2RBI. Chris Johnson was 2x5 with a 2-run homer and 3RBI total. Abercrombie, Smith, and Bogusevic all had two hits each (Abercrombie throwing in another homer). The Express were 8x13 with RISP, and only left three runners on base all night. Felipe Paulino got back on track with 5IP, 4H/1ER, 4K:3BB, and Josh Muecke threw 2IP, 3H/2ER, 2K:1BB. Geary threw two perfect innings to close it out.

Corpus
The Hooks lost their fifth straight game after a 4-3 loss to Midland. Jimmy Van Ostrand and Nick Moresi had two hits each, with Sutil, Locke, Castro, and Molina providing the other hits. Andy Van Hekken threw 7IP, 5H/3ER, 7K:0BB and gave up 2HR for a hard-luck loss. But this story is more about Aaron Boone than about Corpus' loss to Midland. Boone was 0x2 in right field last night, five months after undergoing open heart surgery.

Boone:
"For the first day, it went pretty well. I wasn't overly emotional. The crowd gave me a nice hand. It was part of the process, part of the journey I'm on to hopefully making it back in a few weeks. I think if I were to play in the Majors, it would be more emotional for me. It felt like a [Spring] Training game. I had some nerves and excitement. It felt OK, though it was a little overwhelming facing a real pitcher. I'm in shape and ready to do this, and it was very rewarding to be back out there."

Greeneville
The Gastros tied it up with Elizabethton in the 9th, but the Elizabethtons got it back in the bottom of the 9th, winning 3-2. Greeneville managed just five hits - two from Jiovanni Mier - and Wilton Infante hit a homer, but the Gastros committed three errors (none to come back and bite them with unearned runs). Gabe Garcia threw 6IP, 4H/2ER, 5K:1BB. Abraham Gonzalez threw 2IP, 0H/0ER, 3K:1BB relief, but David Martinez gave up 1H/1ER, 0K:2BB, getting just one out in the 9th, and the loss.

Eddie's Farm: August 6

Round Rock
Tacoma pieced together four one-run innings, and that was enough to beat the Express 4-1. Round Rock collected seven hits, two by Saccomanno and Esposito, with Saccomanno's double as the only XBH. McLemore got the loss, throwing 5IP, 10H/4R (3ER), 1K:4BB, but T.J. Burton, Roy Corcoran, and Chad Paronto threw 4IP of hitless relief (Corcoran did give up a walk as the only blemish in relief).

Corpus
The Hooks were held to one run on five hits in a 3-1 loss to San Antonio. Drew Locke did what Drew Locke does, and that's get hits - 2x4 with his 26th homer and 101st RBI of the season. Sutil, Van Ostrand, and DeLome got the other hits. Wilton Lopez threw 7IP, 2H/2ER, 4K:1BB.

Lancaster
A day after scoring 431 runs on High Desert, the JetHawks were held to two runs on seven hits in a 4-2 11-inning loss. Shuck and Corrado collected two hits, Marcos Cabral hit a homer, and Koby Clemens was 1x3 with two walks, though Lancaster was 0x10 with RISP. Leandro Cespedes threw 9IP, 5H/0ER (2R), 7K:1BB. The unearned runs came on a Cespedes pickoff error.

Lexington
Only win for Eddie's Farm last night was from Lexington, with a 10-5 win over Greenville. Steve Brown was 2x5 with a homer and 4 RBI. Pellegrini and Michael Diaz each had two hits, with Pellegrini providing a two-run homer in the 4th. Brad Dydalewicz got his 7th win of the season with 5IP, 5H/4ER, 5K:2BB.

Tri-City
Dallas Keuchel gave up 6H/2ER with 6K:1BB in 6IP, but still got the loss (dropping his record to 0-2 with a 2.12 ERA) in a 2-1 loss to Mahoning Valley. He also picked a Mahoning Valley-er off first. The ValleyCats only got six hits, three from Barry Butera and two from Brian Kemp - who had the lone RBI, scoring Butera. Jorge De Leon had the other hit.

Greeneville
Five Bluefield players had multi-hit games as the Gastros went down 7-4. Catcher Carlos Mojica was 4x4 (seven hits in his last 14 ABs, dating back to July 23), and Ryan Humphrey was 2x4. Our boy Aaron Bray was 0x4 with 1K. Angel Gonzalez gave up 8H/4R (3ER) in 4IP.

Eddie's Farm: July 29

Don't forget to vote for Astros County's 1st Annual Adopt-a-Player. Greeneville's Aaron Bray has a 42-vote lead over Corpus' Drew Locke. So we're pretty close to projecting a winner here in this one. Aaron Bray, expect a box o'goodies in the mail next week. I'll just send it to the team, care of you. Okay?

Eddie's Farm goes 3-2 last night, (Greeneville's game was postponed, and the GCL Astros were off). Probably in anticipation of the results of the vote.

Round Rock
Out of nowhere, Jose Capellan (remember when he was a serious candidate for SP5?) was El Hombre in a 3-1 win over Memphis. Saccomanno kept up his torrid pace with a 3x4 night, including a 2-run shot in the 1st. Brian Bogusevic was 2x4, and is now hitting .280. Capellan got two hits, and threw 6IP, 3H/1ER, 5K:1BB. Geary, Gervacio, and Daigle threw 3IP of 0H relief. Khalil Greene was 0x3 in another rehab start.

Corpus
Drew Locke had five RBI with a 2x4, 2HR night, raising his RBI total to 92 (!), while Jason Castro and Mark Ori were both 3x4 on the night in an 8-1 win over San Antonio. All five of Locke's RBI came with 2 outs. Kenny Baugh got his 2nd win of the season with 6IP, 3H/1ER, 5K:1BB (note: that's exactly the same line as Capellan. It's not a typo.), and Danny Meszaros got his first save of the season with 3IP, 0H relief.

Lancaster
Despite allowing five runs in the 8th, the JetHawks emerged victorious with a 10-7 win over High Desert. Koby Clemens was 4x5 with a homer, and Jon Gaston hit a two-run shot (his 29th of the season). Jack Shuck was 3x5. Casey Hudspeth threw 7IP, 6H/2ER, 5K:4BB, while all five runs were racked off of Ashton Mowdy, who didn't record an out. Jordan Powell and Francisco Abad mopped it up with 2IP of hitless relief.

Lexington
Lexington had a 3-1 lead, but it kind of fell apart as Hagerstown won again 5-3. Brandon Wikoff was 2x3, and is hitting .455 since being called up from Tri-City, while Brian Pellegrini was 3x4 with a three-run homer in the 5th. Robert Bono pitched 5.2IP, 7H/2ER, 1K:2BB, and Brian Wabick threw 2.1IP, 3H/1ER (though 3 total) for the loss.

Tri-City
Lowell only needed runs in the 5th and 6th - though there were eight of them, to defeat Tri-City 8-1. J.D. Martinez and Jake Goebbert were both 2x4, with Martinez providing the lone RBI. Brandt Walker threw 4.1IP, 2H/2ER, 4K:6BB for the loss, but errors led to five unearned runs, with Mike Modica getting an unearned run, and Nathan Pettus getting four of 'em. Max Fearnow and Scott Migl threw 2.1IP of scoreless relief to close the game.

Eddie's Farm - July 28

Eddie's Farm goes 1-5 last night in minor-league action. Greeneville was off. Don't forget to for Astros County's Adopt-a-Player poll. Voting now ends Friday. I'm getting impatient.

Round Rock
Perhaps distracted by Bud Norris' call-up, Memphis proceeded to kick the piss out of Round Rock, 14-5. Mark Saccomanno was 2x4 with a solo homer. But the story was the Express pitching. Or the Memphis hitting. Take your pick. Polin Trinidad gave up six (six!) homers and 9ER on 10H in 5IP. T.J. Burton had a tough time of it, as well, giving up 5ER on 8H/3BB in 1.2IP.

Corpus
Drew Meyer and Nick Moresi were 2x4 and Collin DeLome hit a 2-run homer, but it wasn't enough as San Antonio beat Corpus 5-4. Brad James dropped his record to 2-8 with 7IP, 8H/5ER, 3K:3BB. C-Lo pitched a scoreless 8th, and Charlie Weatherby III threw a scoreless 9th.

Lancaster
Lancaster scored three runs in the 4th and four runs in the 6th, but fell just short with an 8-7 loss to High Desert. TJ Steele was 3x4 with a double and a triple, and Brandon Barnes went 2x4 with 3RBI. Chris Hicks went 6IP, 10H/7ER (8 total), 5K:1BB.

Lexington
Lexington held a 2-1 lead for most of the game, but Hagerstown rallied for a 6-2 win. Brandon Wikoff and Steve Brown were both 2x4 and RBIs came from Hulett and Pestana. David Duncan threw a strong start: 7IP, 5H/2ER (3 total), 6K:1BB and Arcenio Leon gave up 3ER in 2IP. Five of Hagerstown's runs came on the long ball.

Tri-City
The ValleyCats have won three straight games with a 9-3 win over Kason Gabbard and the Lowell Spinners. J.D. Martinez was 5x5 with 2RBI and Barry Butera got himself two hits on the win. Wander Alvino threw 6IP, 6H/1ER, 3K:2BB, while Antonio Noguera gave up 2ER in 0.2IP. Robby Donovan struck out four batters in 2.1 scoreless innings for his third save of the season.

GCL Astros
The GCL Astros lost to the GCL Mets 10-4. Emilio King was 3x3 with a double and a triple. Mark Jones gave up 2ER (though 5 total) in 1.2IP. 19-year old Italian pitcher Andrea Lucati (with whom I'm hoping we can speak) gave up 4H/2ER in 3.1IP of relief.

Eddie's Farm: July 12

Eddie's Farm goes 1-5 yesterday in a brutal string of games. Lexington was off, Tri-City played a double header..

Round Rock
Round Rock got dropped 3-1 in a loss at Nashville - and I'm really happy (dripping sarcasm, in case any Cubs fans are reading) I missed all of these games this time around. All of the scoring took place in the 2nd inning, and the Express managed just five hits, only one for extra bases - a triple of Mark Saccomanno. Yorman Bazardo pitched 6IP, 6H/3ER, 1K:1BB.

Corpus
Outhit Northwest Arkansas 11-5, but lost 5-1. Sutil, DeLome, and Einertson had multi-hit games, but again, only one extra base hit - a 9th inning RBI triple from Brian Esposito. New Hooks signee Kenny Baugh threw 6IP, 4H/4ER, 1K:1BB, and Tyler Lumsden lowered his ERA to 7.94 with 2IP, 1H/0ER, 3K.

Lancaster
Inland Empire jumped on the JetHawks with six runs in the first two innings, and then held on to win 8-5. Multi-hit games from Shuck (2x2 with three walks), Suarez, Gaston, Clemens, and David Flores gave the JetHawks a chance, but the pitching just wasn't there. Flores and Matt Weston connected for homers and the 1-2-3 of Shuck-Suarez-Gaston went a combined 6x11 with 1K:4BB and three extra-base hits. Chris Hicks got the loss with 2IP, 7H/4ER (6 total), 2K:2BB. Shane Wolf picked up the next five innings and held the 66ers to 5IP, 4H/1ER, 5K:0BB.
Lexington call-up Ashton Mowdy closed out the game with 2IP, 3H/1ER, 5K:0BB and 2WP.

Tri-City
In Game 1, the ValleyCats scraped only four hits in a 3-0 loss to Oneonta. Brian Kemp, of course, got one of those hits, and is now hitting .347 - the only starter in yesterday's game with an average over .250. Colton Pitkin threw a 7IP complete game, giving up 9H/3ER, 2K:0BB.

In Game 2, same score, but this time six hits for the ValleyCats in the 3-0 loss. Kemp got another hit, as did Wikoff, Russell Dixon (hitting .306), Erik Castro, J.D. Martinez, and Pedro Gonzalez. Robby Donovan took the loss with 3IP, 3H/1ER (3R total). J.B. MacDonald got 4Ks in 3IP.

Greeneville
And we finally have a winner for Eddie's Farm as Greeneville had a 12-2 lead at the end of three innings - including a 7-run 3rd inning - to win 13-7 against Pulaski. Jose Altuve was 3x5, Miguel Arrendell was 2x4 with a 3-run homer and Jiovanni Mier, Nathan Metroka, and Aaron Bray all had 2RBI for the Gastros. Mier is now hitting .317. B.J. Hyatt continues to have a rough go of it, with 6H/6ER in 3.2IP, to go along with 3BB and 2HR - his ERA is now 10.45. Angel Gonzalez got the win with 1ER in 4IP to lower his ERA to 14.73.

Eddie's Farm: July 8

Eddie's Farm goes 3-2 last night as Corpus Christi was off. And if you can, watch SportsCenter this morning - Wladimir Sutil had #2 on Top Plays.

Round Rock
Really glad I was working late and wasn't able to make it to this game. The Express whooped up on the Nashville Sounds 10-0. Mark Saccomanno went 4x5, Yordany went 3x5, Lou Santangelo was 3x4 with a three-run homer (5RBI total), and Jason Smith also went deep for the Express. Mark McLemore got his 3rd win of the year with 5IP, 2H/0ER, 3K:1BB, while Gervacio, Daigle, and Paronto threw a combined 4IP, 3H/0ER, 3K:1BB.

Lancaster
A 5-run second inning led Rancho Cucamonga to a 6-3 win over the JetHawks last night. Lancaster scratched out three hits - two of them on homers from Koby Clemens and Marcos Cabral. Casey Hudspeth got 14 groundball outs and 7IP, 8H/5ER, 3K:2BB (still, six scoreless and one bad inning) while Jordan Powell went 1IP, 2H/1ER.

Lexington
The Legends were all over Savannah in a 7-3 win. Lexington got nine hits, two each from Pellegrini (one of those his 13th HR of the season), Brown (triple and a homer), and De Leon. Brad Dydalewicz got the win with 6.2IP, 3H/1ER, 5K:2BB.

Tri-City
Rough night for the the ValleyCats as they got rocked 9-0 vs Lowell. Tri-City only managed three hits, one from Brian Kemp, a double from Barry Butera, and one from Russell Dixson. Erik Castro got the start at 3rd base, and it's taking a bit to find his stroke - now hitting .040 - though he's hardly the only one, only two ValleyCats from last night's starting lineup are hitting over .250 (Brian Kemp - .328; Pedro Gonzalez - .278). 7th Round pick Dallas Keuchel made his professional debut, throwing 3IP, 1H/0ER, 2K. Then it all fell apart. David Berner: 0IP, 3H/4ER, 0K:3BB; Justin Harper: 1IP, 1H/3ER, 0K:3BB; Robby Donovan: 3IP, 2H/2ER, 3K:2BB. Max Fearnow bookended Keuchel's scoreless outing with an 0ER IP of his own.

Greeneville
Greeneville got five runs in the 9th inning to defeat Johnson City 8-6 last night. Jiovanni Mier was 2x5, Bubby Williams 2x4, and Altuve, Meyer, Martinez, Bray, and Hogue all contributed hits as well. Altuve hit his 2nd homer in the 8th inning. Luis Cruz threw 5IP, 8H/4ER, Jeiler Castillo 3IP, 3H/1ER and Nathan Pettus closed it out for his 4th save with a scoreless ninth.

How did the 5-run 9th happen?
Meyer: Walk
Martinez: Single
Bray: Single
Williams: RBI single
Metroka: RBI fielder's choice
Almonte: 2 wild pitches (one scores Arrendell), then he strikes out
Hogue: RBI single
Mier: RBI single - Altuve out at 3rd.

YotD: June 2

Round Rock
Jeremy Johnson threw 5.2IP of 2ER ball while Wesley Wright and Chad Paronto combined for 4.1IP of 0ER baseball as the Express beat Omaha 3-2 in 10 innings. Reggie Abercrombie, Chris Johnson, and Yordany Ramirez had two hits each, with Mark Saccomanno scoring Ramirez on a 10th inning single.

Corpus Christi
Off

Lancaster
JetHawks pitcher Dave Duncan dropped to 0-9 on the year (with some bad luck mixed in there), giving up 6ER in 5IP as Lancaster dropped to Modesto 6-3. Lancaster scored all three runs in the 9th inning. 3B David Flores had two hits and two RBI. Reliever Reid Kelly held the Nuts scoreless in four innings of relief.

Lexington
The Legends lost 5-3 to Bowling Green, but the Legends gave up three unearned runs on two errors. SP Robert Bono threw 6IP, allowing 1ER on 4H. Federico Hernandez and Brian Pellegrini had two hits and an RBI each. 2008 #1 Overall Pick Tim Beckham was 0x4 with an RBI.

YotD: May 26

Only two games in the Astros farm system last night. Let's get to it:

Round Rock
The Express spotted Yorman Bazardo six runs in the first two innings as Bazardo threw 8IP, allowing 3H/0ER with 6K:1BB against Salt Lake last night. 75 of his 112 pitches were for strikes, while Yordany Ramirez - hitting 8th - was the only Expresser (Expressite? Express?) to not get a hit. Saccomanno, Johnson, and Abercrombie each contributed 2RBI to the cause in an 8-1 win. Brian Bogusevic had three hits, while Manzella, Towles, Gall, Abercrombie and Johnson had two hits each.

Lexington
Ross Seaton (5IP) and Henry Villar (4IP) combined for a 4-1 win over Savannah, striking out seven and walking none. Lexington hitters got five doubles while Michael Diaz knocked in two runs.

Good article on Mark Saccomanno

Here's a good article on Mark Saccomanno in the Examiner.

Goff clearly believes Saccomanno is ready:

Despite developing into an All-Star Triple-A standout, the Astros' organization tends to overlook his consistent productivity. Last season, Saccomanno hit .297 with 27 home runs and 84 RBIs in 528 at-bats for Round Rock. He was named to the 2008 Pacific Coast League All-Star team and cracked the go-ahead RBI single in the eighth to lead the PCL to a 6-2 victory over the International League.

His statistics validate his readiness to play in the majors. Saccomanno has simply outgrown Triple-A and wants to take the next step in his career. However, the Astros' organization fails to recognize the 28-year-old Triple-A superstar as a top-notch prospect.

In a normal circumstance, Saccomanno would likely be the starting first or third baseman for the Houston Astros. Instead, he must compete with Berkman and Darin Erstad on the depth chart at first and Geoff Blum and Jeff Keppinger at third.

SS1 is probably his best chance at making the Astros in 2010. In any case, it's a fun retelling of Saccomanno's 1st-pitch HR last September.

Round Rock got their homer on last night

I know I promised a weekly minor-league spot, but in the absence of a major-league game last night, I do want to point out that they started the season in The Rock last nigh, and the Express put the whoop on the Iowa Cubs.

Abercrombie, (My Friend) Mark Saccomanno, Bogusevic and Towles all hit home runs - Towles' and Bogusevic's homers came off prized Cubs prospect Jeff Samardasoasiohssfzzz. Felipe Paulino struck out six Iowa batters in five innings, leading the Express to a 10-4 win over Iowa. John Gall, playing in left field went 1-for-1 with three walks.

Hensley gave up three hits, four walks and four earned runs in 1.1 for the dent to the Express' ERA. Lumsden and Johnson each threw scoreless appearances, as well.

Nice start, fellas.

More Sayonara!

Some guys were sent to minor-league camp today. So sayonara (and see you later) to:

IFs: Drew Sutton, Mark Saccomanno
Ps: Polin Trinidad, Tyler Lumsden, Sam Gervacio
OF: Yordany Ramirez

Coming from JJO, who did an excellent job in this one, reported on what Coop said about each of those players sent down...

Lumsden (who is shifting to the Bullpen)
"We like his stuff. We just need him to be more consistent and trust his stuff in the strike zone."

Trinidad
"He's going to go hopefully in the rotation and we'll give him a chance to start at Round Rock and see where he goes."

Gervacio
"It's as good as you can get at the major league level from that sidearm-type delivery. He's going to be a bullpen guy for us. It might be sooner rather than later."

Yordany
"We know he can play the outfield and we know he can run. ... There's not many guys that can defend as good as him. He needs to work on making more contact and using his legs, putting the ball on the ground and bunting more. Just work on making better contact."

Sutton (who will focus on playing 2B)
"I was impressed with his patience at the plate and his idea of the strike zone, which is what I thought coming in."

Alyson Footer makes her predictions, part two

Yesterday, Alyson Footer offered five pressing questions and predictions for the 2009 Astros and completed the series with five more today.

6. The lineup will read Matsui, Pence, Berkman, Lee, Tejada, Blum/Boone, Bourn, and then whoever is catcher.
7. Nieve gets sent to Round Rock (after clearing waivers) and will become a reliever. Paulino is essentially the #6 starter.
8. If the Astros struggle, Easy Eddie could replace Coop by the All-Star Break.
9. Chris Johnson and My Friend Mark Saccomanno can find their way to Houston at some point, but Bud Norris will be in the bullpen by season's end.
10. The Astros may sign a big-name remaining free agent by the end of Spring Training.

Same rules. What do you think?

Astros sign five to minor-league contracts

Press release from the Astros today as they invited five players to spring training with a minor league contract:

OFs Reggie Abercrombie & John Gall,
RHP Clay Hensley
INFs Mark Saccomanno & Jason Smith

Smith has spent time in the Majors here and there since 2001 with the Cubs, Rays (back when the Devil was a part of their handle), Tigers, Rockies, Blue Jays, D'm'ndback' and Royals. Smith was non-tendered by the...yep, Royals on December 12 in order to clear room for Horacio Ramirez. He was a PCL All-Star in 2008.

Just so we're clear, Ed Wade has picked up the following players this off-season whose services were no longer required by Kansas City: Gil de la Vara, Tyler Lumsden, Jeff Fulchino, now Jason Smith.

Enjoy Kissimmee, fellas!

Breaking down...Round Rock

Let's spend some time looking at our fine prospects. Here's the thing for me as an Astros fan: If the Astros are going to be cheap, that's fine. Just call it what it is and call it a rebuilding year. I don't want Run-DMc and Easy Eddie to kid themselves and kid us about this season being about competitive baseball on a budget. They backed themselves into this corner by giving out those huge contracts. And now there are too many huge contracts (Lee, Oswalt, Berkman, Tejada) to justify "rebuilding." I'm sure getting a $1 million paycheck every two weeks is nice (did you know that Derek Jeter gets paid on the 1st and the 15th every month during the season? Do you think he holds off on his car payment until the night of the 14th, just to make sure he has enough in the account for it to clear?), but you can't ask a third of your lineup to be patient until one or two years down the road - they're competitors, and they want to win. And they will have no problem saying, "So you want to save money? Trade me."

Regardless, I would like to see some of those minor league guys come up and get their shot. Remember when Luke Scott hit something like .600 in Spring Training, and they sent him back to Round Rock anyway? Screw that. Bring some guys up and see if they can play. Roy Oswalt was a 23rd round pick. If you tell the guys in the Minors that the Astros have no farm system, they're going to believe you. So reward good play with a shot once in a while.

::stepping off soapbox::

1B: Lance ain't going anywhere.

2B: Rich Paz. 30-year old infielder was hitting .287 and drawing 47 walks to 32 strikeouts in 67 games at Corpus in '08 until he got promoted. In 18 games at Round Rock, he went 10-for-46 (.217), but still drew those walks, and didn't strikeout much.

3B: Chris Johnson. Deemed the 3B of the future, it'd be nice to give him a shot (though I still have an unfounded, sneaking suspicion Easy Eddie might shift Miggy to third). 23-year old. Hit .324 in Corpus last year, and had some trouble adjusting to AAA (4 extra-base hits in 101 at-bats). Committed 23 errors in 84 games at Corpus, but just 4 errors at RR.

3B: My friend, Mark Saccomanno (Seinfeld? Anyone?). One of 12 NL players EVER to hit a home run on the first pitch they saw in the Majors. Interestingly enough, Kaz Matsui is also on that list. So is pitcher Adam Wainwright. Fared much better over a full season at Round Rock - hit .297 (33 doubles, 2 triples, 27 home runs and an .859 OPS) - but committed 24 errors at third.

SS: Tommy Manzella. Might make the club as a bench-player out of Spring Training, spelling Tejada's aching muscles from time to time. 32% of his hits in Round Rock were for extra-bases (though none were homers).

C: J.R. Towles. With Humberto likely the go-to guy in Houston and Palmisano the likely back-up unless he craps the bed (remember, if Palmisano doesn't stay on the 25-man roster all season long, he goes back to the Orioles. Rule 5 rules), Towles can expect another season in Round Rock. He had a shot to make the club, but it's funny how a sub-.200 average can derail your timeline.

OF: Drew Sutton. At Corpus, the 25-year old Sutton had 63 extra-base hits as well as a .317 average. It's hard to see where he'll fit in Houston in the outfield, because Bourn and Pence are young (though Bourn is the more expendable one) and Lee makes the GDP of Honduras. If Bourn doesn't show any improvement, you may see Sutton in the OF. He'll probably start at AAA.

OF: Brian Bogusevic. Pulled an Ankiel (though without the Prime Time wild pitches) and switched to the outfield, where he tore the cover off the ball, hitting .371 with a .556 SLG (and drew 16 walks to 24 strikeouts).

Later, the pitchers...