Farewell, Rudy and Pat. We hardly knew thee....

According to Matt Eddy of Baseball America (twitter links):

LHP Rudy Owens signed a minor-league deal with Oakland.  He was outrighted off the 40-man in the post-season purge after throwing 5-and-two-thirds in the majors with Houston.

LHP Pat Urckfitz signed a minor-league deal with Miami.  He never made it to the 40-man, but he tested my typing skills when I was doing minor-league recaps.

Best of luck, gents.  Just don't bring your best stuff should you run into Houston at some stage in the future.

Minor-League Promotions

In addition to the news that former AC Man-Crush recipient and 2009 13th Round pick Jake Goebbert has been called up to San Diego, we find...

*Pat Urckfitz has been sent from Corpus up to OKC.

*Mitchell Lambson has been sent from Lancaster to Corpus.

*Kyle Smith will replace Pat Urckfitz on the Texas League All-Star roster. And Cockroach has a pretty good point:

Of the six Hooks named Texas League All-Stars, four have now been promoted to OKC. That's cool, but Luhnow had said something about...
— Cockroach (@cockroachHOU) June 19, 2014

waiting to promote guys so they could "enjoy the All-Star experience." But that's not happening in CC, so why again is Correa still in A+?
— Cockroach (@cockroachHOU) June 19, 2014

PreStros Morning Report: July 27

Oklahoma City (58-50), 3.0 GB

A strong spot start by Henry David Rollins and the usual from George Springer led OKC to a 5-0 win over the Cubs. Rollins went 6 scoreless IP with 3 H and 8K:1BB. Philip Humber, Josh Zeid, and Kevin Chapman each added a scoreless inning, with Zeid adding 3 K for good measure.

Springer was 2x2 with 2 BB, 1 SB, 3 R, 1 RBI, and an exciting inside-the-park home run.

Marwin Gonzalez was 2x3 with 1 BB and 2 RBI. No, he has not been traded yet. 

Man of the Match: George Springer

Corpus (21-15), 1.0 GB

The Hooks pen held things down for over seven innings, giving the bats time to pull out the 7-6 come back win over Midland. Seaton got rocked in 1.2 IP, giving up 6H/6R 1K:2BB. Theron Geith and Jonas Dufek each gave 2.2 scoreless IP with 3 K. Pat Urckfitz and Chia-Jen Lo added a scoreless 1 IP each to finish things up.

Preston Tucker was 1x4 with 1 BB, 2 R ,and 1 HR. Max Stassi went 2x4 with 1 HR and 3 RBI. Domingo Santana was 2x4 with a solo HR. 

Man of the Match: Geith/Dufek/Urckfitz/Lo

Lancaster (23-14), 3.0 up

The JetHawks committed six errors (four by Carlos Perdomo) en route to a 7-5 loss to the Quakes. Kyle Hallock threw 4 IP and allowed 7H/4R (2 ER) with 3K:3BB. Michael Dimock went 3 IP, giving up 4H/3R (1 ER) with 2K:1BB. Cameron Lamb finished with 1 IP and 1 H.

DDJ went 2x5 with 1 SB, 1 2B, 1 R, and 1 RBI. Matt Duffy was 1x4 with a solo HR. Chris Epps went 2x4 with 1 BB, 1 SB, and 1 R.

Man of the Match: Delino DeShields Jr

Quad Cities (18-15), 4.5 GB

QC pitchers allowed 22 baserunners as the River Bandits lost 8-6 to Beloit. Chris Devenski threw 5 IP, allowing 10H/2R with 4K:1BB. Juri Perez went .2 IP and gave up 5H/5R with 1 BB. Gerardo Sanchez threw 2.1 IP and gave up 4H/1R with 2K:1BB.

Teoscar Hernandez was 2x5 with 1 2B and 2 R. Carlos Correa was 2x4 with 1 2B, 1 R, and 2 RBI. Rio Ruiz was 2x4 with 1 SB, 1 HR, and 3 RBI.

Man of the Match: Rio Ruiz

Tri-City (26-14) 3.5 up

The ValleyCats couldn't muster any offense as they lost 4-0 to Vermont. Adrian Houser threw 5 IP and gave up 7H/2R with 3K:1BB. Tanner Bushue went 2 IP and allowed 2H/2R with 2K:1BB. Patrick Christensen went the last 1 IP with 1 H.

Tony Kemp was 1x3 with 1 BB and 1 SB.  

Man of the Match: Tony Kemp

Greeneville (23-12), 2.0 up

In a shortened, 7 inning game, the Astros lost 2-1 to Pulaski. Chris Lee went 5.1 IP and gave up 6H/2R with 5 K. Gonzalo Sanudo threw 1.2 IP.

Thomas Lindauer was 1x2 with 1 2B and 1 RBI.

Man of the Match: Thomas Lindauer

GCL Astros (14-16), 5.5 GB

The Astros lost 3-0 to the Tigers. Jose Montero threw 5 IP and gave up 4H/3R with 3K:5BB. Samil De Los Santos, Erick Gonzalez, and Zach Dando each threw a scoreless inning in relief, with De Los Santos striking out the side in his outing.

Yonathan Mejia was 2x4

Man of the Match: Samil De Los Santos, I guess

DSL Astros (24-23) 8.0 GB

One rough inning was all it took for the Astros to lose 4-2 to the Royals. Gerardo Juarez threw 5.2 IP, allowing 6H/4R with 5K:2BB. Geronimo Franzua went 2.1 IP, allowing 2 H with 1K:1BB.

Luis Payano was 2x4. Hector Roa went 2x4 with 1 2B, 1 SB, 1 R, and 1 RBI. 

Man of the Match: Hector Roa

Tranzactionz!

Some tranzactionz for you on Eddie's Farm:

June 28: Lancaster placed Erik Castro on the 7-Day DL, Corpus sends Shane Wolf to Lancaster

June 26: OKC sends Pat Urckfitz to Corpus, brings up Brad Hennessey

Tranzactionz!

Courtesy of Zach Levine, the Astros have...

Released catcher Max Ramirez and infielder Brian Dopirak from OKC, and have promoted reliever Patrick Urckfitz from Corpus to OKC.

Lyles out, Figueroa likely in as SP5

Big news out of Kissimmee this morning, as the Astros have sent Jordan Lyles to minor-league camp, meaning that Nelson Figueroa is your de facto SP5 to open 2011.

Six other Astros were re-assigned to minor-league camp:

Patrick Urckfitz
Fernando Rodriguez
Casey Fien
Drew Locke
T.J. Steele

And Sergio Escalona was optioned to Oklahoma City (after coming to the Astros in the Albert Cartwright trade with Philadelphia), he can't just be sent down.

Some interesting things to see here: no catchers were moved today. Meaning that not only are Quintero and Towles still in major-league camp, but so are Carlos Corporan and Brian Esposito.

Also in camp are Rule 5 picks Lance Pendleton and Aneury Rodriguez, though the Astros are probably going to let it come down to the wire before making a decision to add them to the 25-Man roster or send them back to the Yankees/Rays, respectively.

Because I was a fan of The Darkness, I will not honor this request

Farmstros has a little post on what various future Astros like to be called.

You can click for yourself, but the one we will not take note of is Shuck's preference to be called "J.B." Because I liked The Darkness (and, on occasion, still do). They have a song called Black Shuck, which will melt your face, and because Jack Shuck is close enough to that to make me chuckle, Jack Shuck he shall be.

10 Non-Roster Invitees

So the Chronicle has a list of non-roster invitees who will be attending Big League Spring Training:

Those Ten are:
P Jordan Lyles
P Pat Urckfitz
C Rene Garcia
1B Koby Clemens
SS Jiovanni Mier
OF Jon Gaston
OF Drew Locke
OF J.D. Martinez
OF Jack Shuck
OF T.J. Steele

What might strike you is the presence of SS Jiovanni Mier, the Astros 1st pick in the 2009 draft. Well, don't you worry. Zach Levine says that Mier is in Big League Camp because of contract stipulations. So all you Jose Altuve enthusiasts need not worry, for the moment.

Wade:
“It gives these kids the chance to come in and see what the atmosphere is like on the big league side. And it gives Millsie and the coaches the chance to see some of the guys we talk about a lot. And frankly, it allows us to show that we’re making progress in player development.”

Exactly. Because he knows we'll be covering each Spring Training game like our lives depend on it.

The Verducci Effect - 2009 to 2010

This is something that has been examined before, by us, and just about every other baseball blog (including today at It's About the Money, Stupid). For those unfamiliar, the Verducci Effect is a way to red-flag pitchers 25 years old (and younger) whose innings total saw a jump of 30 innings from year to year. Let's have us a look at the minor-league system and see who fits for the Astros. (We won't look at players drafted in 2009. I'm not going back to everybody's college stats and adding that up. This also doesn't include AFL stats.)

Name	2009	IP	2010	IP	Diff.
Cisnero	2009	55.2	2010	133	+67.1
Trinidad	2009	21	2010	83.2	+62.2
Grimmett	2009	41.2	2010	97.2	+56
Urckfitz	2009	57.2	2010	109.2	+52
Cruz	2009	54.2	2010	99.2	+45
Arguello	2009	83	2010	127	+44
Wright	2009	63.2	2010	102.2	+39
Melancon	2009	69.1	2010	82	+29
Villar	2009	90	2010	108	+18
Alvino	2009	71.1	2010	87	+15.2
Godfrey	2009	51.1	2010	67	+15.2
Lyles	2009	144.2	2010	158.2	+14
Seaton	2009	136.2	2010	146.1	+9.2
Leon	2009	70.2	2010	77	+6.1
Pitkin	2009	68.1	2010	73	+4.2
Greenwalt	2009	139.1	2010	136.2	-2.2
Nevarez	2009	43.1	2010	38.1	-5
Del Rosario	2009	80.1	2010	74	-5.2
Wolf	2009	121.1	2010	114.1	-7
Wabick	2009	86.1	2010	74.2	-11.2
Norris	2009	175.2	2010	153.2	-18
Dydalewicz	2009	110	2010	83.2	-26.1
Abad	2009	96.2	2010	65	-31.2
S. Perez	2009	142.1	2010	107	-35.1

That's seven pitchers 25 or younger (drafted in 2008 or before) who saw a 30IP jump from 2009 to 2010. Of those pitchers:

-Jose Trinidad was placed on the DL in July 2010 and May 2009
-Doug Arguello was shut down with elbow trouble in August 2010 and put on the DL in June 2009.

As IATMS puts it:
It is, by no means, a hard and fast rule and Verducci himself is the first to admit it. But, it bears watching.

Enjoy those five C-Notes, Pat

By virtue of winning the Arizona Fall League's Rising Stars Game, Pat Urckfitz - and the rest of the team - got a $500 bonus.

Urckfitz (posting the whole paragraph):
"It definitely was different from other games out here, more fans, different atmosphere," said lefthander Patrick Urckfitz (Astros), who as a non-drafted free agent was one of the more unlikely Rising Stars roster members. "I signed for $15,000, so for me the extra $500 definitely helps."

Tranzactionz!

Lots of moves today on Eddie's Farm:

Round Rock

-Brandon Barnes and John Curtis sent to Round Rock from Lancaster

Corpus

-Ben Heath sent to Corpus from Lexington
-Pat Urckfitz sent to Corpus from Lancaster

Lancaster

-Ashton Mowdy placed on Temporarily Inactive list
-Rene Garcia assigned to Lancaster from Lexington

Lexington

-Barry Butera activated from 7-Day disabled list
-Roberto Pena assigned to Lexington from Greeneville

Tri-City

-Garrett Bullock, Ryan Cole, Telvin Nash, Brian Streilein assigned to Tri-City from Greeneville

Astros announce Arizona Fall League participants

The Astros will send seven minor leaguers to the Peoria Javelinas of the Arizona Fall League: left-hander Patrick Urckfitz, center fielder T.J. Steele, first baseman Koby Clemens, right-handers Matt Nevarez, Sergio Perez and Kyle Greenwalt and outfielder J.B. Shuck. Play will begin October 12.

With any luck the final tally will be eight players, with the eigth participant going by the last name of Loux...

Eddie's Farm: July 15

Round Rock

Albuquerque scored the final four runs in the 8th and 9th innings to send it to extras tied at 6-6, but Tommy Everidge is a large man hitting large home runs. He gets one in the 10th and the Express win 7-6. Wesley Wright threw 6.2IP, 4H/2ER, 6K:1BB, and Jonah Bayliss allowed 4H/2ER in 1.1IP. Gary Majewski gets the blown save and the win with 2H/2R (0ER), 2K:1BB with both runs coming on Matt Kata's fielding error. Edwin Maysonet was 3x4 with 2RBI, Drew Locke was 2x5 with a double, 2RBI, and two outfield assists. Edwin Bellorin hit his first homer of the year, a two-run shot, and Everidge's game-winner was his 11th of the season.

Man of the Match: Drew Locke.

Corpus

Down 4-3 going into the 9th, Corpus scored two runs in the top half and held on for the 5-4 win. Jeremy Johnson threw 6IP, 4H/2ER, 4K:1BB, Evan Englebrook allowed 1H/1ER, 1K:1BB in 1IP. Fernando Abad got the win with an unearned run-less 8th, and Danny Meszaros got his 10th save of the year. Everyone in the lineup (save for Jose Vallejo) got a hit, with David Cook (2x4, RBI), Jonathan Fixler (2x4, 3B, RBI) getting your multi-hit games. Freddy Parejo doubled in the game-winning runs in the top of the 9th.

Man of the Match: Freddy Parejo

Lancaster

Modesto got three in the top of the 1st, and that's all they needed for a 3-1 win over the JetHawks. Pat Urckfitz threw 7IP, 4H/3ER, 4K:1BB for the loss. Ashton Mowdy allowed 2H/2ER, 0K:2BB in 1IP, and Shane Wolf allowed 2H/1ER in the 9th. Barry Butera was 1x3 with a triple and an RBI, and Federico Hernandez got his own triple. Other hits came courtesy of Jay Austin (and an outfield assist), Brian Pellegrini, Brandon Barnes, and David Flores.

Man of the Match: Pat Urckfitz

Lexington

The Legends withstood a two-run 9th by Hickory to hold on for the 3-2 win. Jose Cisnero threw 6IP, 2H/0ER, 8K:3BB for the win, while Brenden Stines threw a scoreless 7th. Arcenio Leon threw 2IP, 3H/2R (0ER - on Mier's 24th error). J.D. Martinez was 2x3 with a walk, and Rene Garcia was 2x3 with a double. Jake Goebbert was 1x2 with two walks, and the RBIs came courtesy of Renzo Tello, Jonathan Meyer, and Jiovanni Mier.

Man of the Match: Jose Cisnero

Tri-City

The offense is starting to click in Tri-City as the ValleyCats scored eight runs in the final four innings for a 9-8 win over Auburn. Bobby Doran threw 3IP, 5H/5ER, 4K:1BB, and Andrew Robinson allowed 2H/1ER, 3K:0BB in 2IP. Travis Blankenship (2IP) and Chris Blazek (1IP) threw scoreless innings, while Mike Ness made things interesting, allowing two runs in the 9th, but still getting the save. Wilton Infante was 2x3 with two runs for your only multi-hit game. Ben Heath was 1x3 with 3RBI, and Enrique Hernandez and Adam Bailey had your other RBIs - taking advantage of four Auburn errors for three unearned runs.

Man of the Match: Ben Heath

Greeneville

The Gastros battled all night long, down 3-0, tied 4-4, tied 7-7, to win 13-8 over Burlington. Euris Quezada allowed 8H/7R (5ER), 0K:2BB in 4.1IP, and Garrett Bullock got the win with 1.2 scoreless IP. Ryan Cole threw a scoreless 7th of his own, and Phil Rorabaugh allowed 3H/1ER in 2IP. Big night for the offense. Chris Wallace was 3x4 (3B, HR, 5RBI), Jhonny Medrano was 3x5 (3RBI), Carlos Mojica was 3x5 (2B, RBI), Ricardo Garcia was 2x5 (2B, 2RBI), Marcus Nidiffer was 2x4 (2B, BB), and Hector Rodriguez rounded out the multi-hit games with a 2x4 game. The Gastros did commit four errors (Mojica, Garcia, Lane, Feliz) on the night.

Man of the Match: Chris Wallace

GCL Astros

And the GCL Astros round it out with a 3-0 loss, despite out-hitting the GCL Mets 10-6. Jose Perdomo threw 5IP, 2H/1R (0ER), 6K:2BB and got the loss. Jeremiah Meiners allowed 2H/2R (1ER), 2K in 1IP. Pedro Gomez and Emmanuel Cedano matched each other with 1IP, 1H/0ER outings. Jose Perdomo has allowed 1ER in 20IP, with 22K:7BB in four starts this season. Ryan Ditthardt was 3x4, Jose Vargas was 2x3, and Rafael Valenzuela was 2x4 on the night. The GCL Astros were 1x12 w/RISP.

Man of the Match: Jose Perdomo.

Eddie's Farm: July 8

Round Rock

The Express had a 6-3 lead heading into the eighth, and that didn't last as Oklahoma City got two in the 8th and one in the 9th to tie it before Jonah Bayliss allowed a single, walk, single in the 12th. Oklhaoma City wins 7-6. Josh Banks allowed 9H/3ER, 3K:0BB in 6.2IP. Polin Trinidad struck out both batters he faced. Roy Corcoran gave up 3H/2ER in 0.2IP, and Gary Majewski allowed 3H/1ER in 2IP. Jonah Bayliss took the loss with 3H/1ER, 1K:1BB in 2IP. Matt Kata was 3x6 with two doubles and two RBIs. Drew Locke (3B, RBI) and Wladimir Sutil had two hits each. Brian Bogusevic hit his 10th homer of the year, also drawing a walk.

Man of the Match: Matt Kata.

Corpus

Those Hooks can't catch a break, losing 2-1 to Tulsa, running the losing streak to 13 games. Five of those 13 games have been one-run losses. Tyler Lumsden threw 6.2IP, 6H/2ER, 3K:1BB in the loss, while Evan Englebrook threw 2.1 perfect innings. Jon Gaston and Marcos Cabral had two hits each, while Jack Shuck was 1x4 for the other hit. Koby Clemens was 0x3 with 3K:1BB.

Man of the Match: Tyler Lumsden

Lancaster

And the JetHawks get blanked by Rancho Cucamonga 7-0. Pat Urckfitz threw 6IP, 6H/3ER, 4K:2BB, but it was Edwin Walker who allowed 4H/4ER, and Kyle Godfrey threw two perfect innings. It was all singles for the JetHawks: Austin, Cruz, Flores, and Simunic.

Man of the Match: Pat Urckfitz

Lexington

Bad loss for the Legends, who were leading 8-1 in the 6th inning, and ended up losing 10-9 in 10 innings. Jose Cisnero allowed 4H/3ER, 5K:6BB in 5IP. Arcenio Leon gave up 3H/2R (1ER) without recording an out, Wander Alvino walked two in 2IP. Kirk Clark allowed 3H/3ER, 1K:1BB in 1IP and Mike Schurz took the blown save and loss with 2H/2R (1ER), 2K:2BB in 1.1IP. Overshadowed by the loss was the fact that the offense blew up. J.D. Martinez was 5x5 with a double and two homers for six RBI. Rene Garcia (2B, BB) was 3x4, and Goebbert, Bray, Mier, and Garcia added doubles.

Man of the Match: J.D. Martinez

Tri-City

Big win for the ValleyCats last night as they dominated Staten Island 9-2. Jake Buchanan threw 5IP, 4H/2R (1ER), 3K:0BB, while Alex Sogard (1.2IP, 4K), Jason Chowning (1.1IP, 2K:1BB), and Chris Blazek (1IP, 1K) held it down for the win. Ben Orloff, Ben Heath, and Tyler Burnett had two hits each, Enrique Hernandez was 1x4 with 3RBI, and Adam Bailey was 1x5 with 2RBI.

Man of the Match: Ben Heath (2x5, 2B, 3R)

Greeneville

If you were not at the Greeneville/Pulaski game last night, you not only missed 28 runs, 36 hits, and five errors, but also Martial Arts Night. Still, Greeneville was up 14-4 after four innings, and then had to withstand a Pulaski rally to hold on for a 16-12 win. Euris Quezada threw 5IP, 9H/5ER, 5K:2BB. B.J. Hagen followed it up with 2IP, 1H/1ER. Jamaine Cotton had the roughest night, allowing 5H/5ER in 0.1IP, while Ryan Cole himself allowed 3H/1ER in 0.1IP. Brian Streilein threw the only scoreless outing, with 1H/0ER in 1.1IP. Jhonny Medrano, Telvin Nash, and Chris Wallace all hit homers as Wallace went 4x5 with 3RBI, Medrano was 3x6 with 4RBI, Ricardo Garcia was 3x5 with 2RBI, and Nash was 1x3 with 2BB. Jonathan Merritt also drew two walks.

Man of the Match: Chris Wallace.

GCL Astros

And the GCL Astros beat the GCL Nationals 8-5. Luis Ordosgoitti allowed 8H/3ER in 4IP, and Mark Jones recorded the win with 2H/1ER, 2K:2BB in 3IP. Dieudone Paul allowed his first earned run of the season, with 3H/1ER, 0K:3BB in 2IP. Jose Monzon was 3x4 with a homer and two RBI, Ryan Ditthardt was 2x3 with two doubles and 3RBI, and Rafael Valenzuela was 2x4 with a two-run homer.

Man of the Match: Jose Monzon.

Eddie's Farm: June 12

Round Rock (29-33)

Bud Norris threw 66 pitches in 4IP (45 strikes - 68.2%), striking out five and walking two and allowing just two hits and no runs in his first rehab start. Then Sergio Perez kind of nutted it, and the Express lost 6-3 to New Orleans. Perez gave up seven hits and six runs (four earned) in 2IP, taking the loss. Jonah Bayliss and newest Express member Brad Thompson threw 2IP, allowing 1H/0ER, and striking out four. Matt Kata and Yordany Ramirez had two hits each, while Brian Bogusevic - in the leadoff spot - was 0x3 with two walks. Jason Castro hit a 2-run homer, while Chris Johnson added his own solo shot.

Man of the Match: Jason Castro!

Corpus Christi (30-30)

Wow. Midland scores in six of the eight innings, including a seven-run 8th inning, to whoop Corpus 16-0. Jared Wells got the start, and gave up 6H/5R (4ER) with 2K:4BB in 2.1IP. Then Brian Wabick gave up 6H/4ER with 0K:2BB in 2.2IP. Edwin Walker was effective, holding Midland scoreless over 2IP. T.J. Burton allowed 8H/5ER (7R) and got one out. Erik Stiller got the final two, merciful outs. The three errors (Santangelo, Wabick, Sutil) didn't help. Held to four hits, Jack Shuck had two, while David Cook and Jimmy Van Ostrand added the others. Jon Gaston was 0x4 with 3Ks.

Man of the Match: Jack Shuck.

Lancaster (18-44)

It took a 4-run 4th to pretty much take care of Lancaster, and Lake Elsinore wins 5-2. David Duncan returned to the scene of the crime, and gave up 4H/4ER (5R), 2K:3BB in 4.2IP for the loss. Pat Urckfitz held the Storm to 4H/0ER with seven strikeouts in 3.1IP. David Berner recorded the final three outs. Lee Cruz, Freddy Parejo, John Curtis, and Ebert Rosario had two hits each, with Rosario and Mark Ori getting the only extra-base hits, both doubles. Rosario also had the lone RBI.

Man of the Match: Pat Urckfitz

Lexington (33-30)

Back and forth game in Lexington as the Legends jumped out to a 5-0 lead, were down 6-5, jumped ahead 8-6, allowed Delmarva to tie it in the 8th at eight, and won on a walk-off single by Jake Goebbert that scored J.D. Martinez. Legends win 9-8. Brad Dydalewicz got the start, throwing 4.1IP, 3H/3R (2ER), with 4K:4BB. Zach Grimmett gave up 2H/3ER, 2K:2BB but Jose Trinidad got the blown save allowing a hit that counted against Grimmett. Colton Pitkin gave up 1H/2ER, 0K:2BB in 0.2IP, and Wander Alvino got the blown save and the win. There were four errors - two throwing errors by Miguel Arrendell, a throwing error by Rene Garcia, and a pickoff attempt by Colton Pitkin. Jose Altuve was 4x5 with 2HR/4RBI, and J.D. Martinez was 4x5 with a double and an RBI. Jake Goebbert was 2x5, Brian Kemp was 2x4 with an outfield assist, and Andy Simunic hit a three-run homer.

Martinez is leading the SAL in Avg (.375), OBP (.438), SLG (.586), Total Bases (147), Runs (58), Hits (94), and Doubles (26).

Man of the Match: Jose Altuve.

Eddie's Farm: April 28

Round Rock

Off

Corpus Christi

Errors by Duran and Clemens led to three unearned Midland runs as the Hooks lost 6-2. Fernando Abad threw 5IP, 8H/6R (3ER), 2K:1BB while Erick Abreu threw 4IP, 2H/0ER, 5K:1BB relief. The Hooks offense only had two ABs w/RISP, but Koby Clemens hit his league-leading 7th homer of the season and Michael Garciaparra was 2x3 with a double.

Man of the Match: Erick Abreu

Lancaster

High Desert put the hurt on Lancaster in a 6-0 defeat of the JetHawks. Shane Wolf threw 5.2IP, 10H/6R (5ER), 4K:2BB, while Pat Urckfitz and Kyle Godfrey combined for 3.1IP, 1H/0ER, 4K:0BB in relief. Brandon Barnes and Freddy Parejo were both 2x4, with Barnes' double being the only XBH on the night.

Man of the Match: Pat Urckfitz

Lexington

Errors by Fixler and Jonathan Meyer led to two unearned runs in a 4-1 Lexington loss at Savannah. Tanner Bushue threw 6IP, 8H/2R (1ER), 5K:2BB, and allowed nine flyouts compared to one groundout. Dan Sarisky threw 2IP, 1H/2R (1ER), 1K:3BB in relief. The 1-2-3 of Altuve, Mier, and Martinez each had a hit, with Grant Hogue getting the only multi-hit game, going 2x3, and Martinez providing the lone RBI.

Man of the Match: J.D. Martinez

Urckfitz sent to Lancaster

August 20
Pitcher Patrick Urckfitz was called up to Lancaster from Lexington yesterday.
Lancaster placed righty Casey Hudspeth on the DL yesterday, necessitating the move.
Corpus activated 3B Felix Molina from the Temporarily Inactive list

August 19
LHP Andy Van Hekken was assigned to Round Rock from Corpus Christi

August 15
Just a side note, 2009 Astro Rule V pick Gil de la Vara was placed on the 7-Day DL by NW Arkansas with a thigh contusion.

Eddie's Farm: August 18

Round Rock
The Express lost a lead twice, but still held on for a 5-4 win, despite going 2x13 with RISP. Abercrombie and Johnson had two hits and an RBI each, while John Gall checked in with an RBI double. Four of the Express' eight hits were for extra bases (double from Gall, triples from Abercrombie and Saccomanno, and a homer from Johnson). Polin Trinidad bumped his record to 5-3 with 7IP, 7H/3ER, 4K:1BB. Jason Lane was 0x2 with 1BB for the 51s.

Lancaster
Four Lake Elsinore pitchers held the JetHawks scoreless, and with three hits, in a 3-0 win over Lancaster. Those three hits - all singles - belonged to Weston, Rosario, and Cabral. Leandro Cespedes threw 7IP, 9H/3ER, 5K:1BB while Tilghman closed it out with 1IP, 1H/0ER.

Lexington
Three straight singles allowed by Pat Urckfitz gave Kannapolis a 3-2 win over Lexington in 11 innings. Jeff Hulett had two hits, but the Big Swing came from Eric Suttle, whose 2nd inning 2-run double scored all of Lexington's runs. Jordan Lyles threw 5IP, 5H/0ER, 5K:1BB, Henry Villar threw 2IP, 3H/1ER (though 2 total), Godfrey had his own 2.2IP, 3H/0ER, 0K:1BB, but Urckfitz just couldn't put Kannapolis away.

Greeneville
The Big Bat belongs to our boy Aaron Bray! 3x4 with an RBI hitting in the DH/#3 spot, as Greeneville romped to an 8-3 win over Johnson City. Miguel Arrendell had two doubles, Grant Hogue had two hits, Jonathan Meyer crack-a-lacked a triple, and Jiovanni Mier had himself a two-run homer. Jose Cisnero threw 3.2IP, 3H/3ER, 5K:3BB, while Joan Belliard and Scott Migl provided 5.1IP of relief, allowing 3H/0ER, 4K:1BB. Migl's ERA at Greeneville is 0.61.

Who does this trade affect the most?

Obviously having the C1 position open, the speculation among Astros fans is: Who the heck starts now? You can bet that Quintero will see more time behind the plate, but who is C2? Does Towles get called up? Does Coste move behind the plate to be C2?

J.R. Towles was placed on the DL on July 26, and I don't see any mention of him having been activated from the DL, so he's out for getting called up. Brian Esposito and Lou Santangelo are both on the active roster in Round Rock. Will they get called up?

Coste started 29 games behind the plate for the Phillies before getting coming to Houston. Will he take C2?

As for the minor leaguers, the 2B/SS on Corpus' roster are:
2B - Drew Meyer. In 114 games (437 ABs), Meyer has posted a .295/.367/.400 line this season, with 70K:50BB
SS - Wladimir Sutil. Another speedy, defensive SS. In 105 games (394 ABs), Sutil is hitting .289/.368/.343, with 35K:38BB.

Here is the Lexington, the League in which Navarez spent this season, bullpen (minimum 30 appearances):

Villar: 73.2IP, 63H/21ER, 2.57 ERA/1.06 WHIP, 90K:15BB
Urckfitz: 48.1IP, 41H/14ER, 2.61 ERA/1.12 WHIP, 40K:13BB
Wabick: 69.1IP, 69H/31ER, 4.02 ERA/1.27 WHIP, 52K:19BB
Leon: 61.1IP, 77H/43ER, 6.31 ERA/1.91 WHIP, 44K:40BB

But essentially, the Astros gave up a catcher who was not producing offensively and got some help in the minors. This is the first move I can think of in years where the Astros traded in a possibility of winning now for future wins. And I'm totally in favor of it. I'm not sure what happens to your brain when you get north of Huntsville, but I love the fact - if for this reason only - that the Rangers are still in the Wild Card hunt. They actually traded two prospects for an old catcher.