Eddie's Farm: June 14

Oklahoma City (28-38)

Game 1: OKC gets a 4-hit shutout over Albuquerque to take Game 1. Wesley Wright got the start, giving up 1H/0ER, 3K:2BB in 4IP, while Danny Meszaros gave up 2H/0ER, 1K:0BB in 1.2IP for the win. Jose Valdez got his 4th save with 1H/0ER in 1.1IP.

The RedHawks gave former Astro Tim Redding his 7th loss of the season with seven hits from seven different players. Drew Locke had your only XBH - a double, and Oswaldo Navarro and Robinson Cancel both drew a walk in addition to a hit.

Man of the Match: Wesley Wright

Game 2: OKC never trailed, earning the sweep with a 5-3 win. Nelson Figueroa improved to 4-2 with 7H/3R (2ER), 7K:3BB in 5.1IP. Jeff Fulchino got hit in the hand on a comebacker after two pitches, and David Carpenter walked two in 1.1IP to close out the game and extend his scoreless streak to 14IP.

Brian Bogusevic was 2x4 with 2RBI, while Tommy Manzella was 1x2 with a walk and 2RBI. Brian Dopirak hit his 6th homer of the season. Wladimir Sutil was 1x2 with a walk, and is hitting .364/.417/.364 in six games since joining OKC.

Man of the Match: Brian Bogusevic

Corpus (23-40)

San Antonio got out to an early 5-0 lead, and just held on for a 7-3 win as Corpus loses its 40th game of the season. Ross Seaton allowed 8H/5ER, 1K:2BB, 2HR in 5IP; Arcenio Leon allowed 3H/2ER, 2K:3BB in 1.2IP. Sam Gervacio struck out two of the four batters he saw in a perfect outing.

Brandon Wikoff (RBI) and Jake Goebbert (2B, BB) had two hits each. T.J. Steele and Emerson Frostad added RBIs.

Man of the Match: Sam Gervacio

Lancaster (26-38)

Lake Elsinore answered a Lancaster three-run 3rd with four of their own, and won 6-4. Robby Donovan allowed 9H/6ER, 6K:2BB, 2HR in 5.1IP, while Mike Ness closed out the final eight outs with 2H/0ER, 0K:1BB.

Five JetHawks were responsible for five hits, with Jay Austin getting the lone XBH - a double. Jose Carlos Thompson's hit was worth 2RBI, while Austin Wates and Jonathan Meyer added a walk to their one hit. Kody Hinze was 0x3 with a walk and 3K.

Man of the Match: Uh. How about Erik Castro? 1x4 with an RBI, and the only JetHawk to not strikeout (15K for the JetHawks on the night).

Lexington (30-35)

Lexington jumped out to a 3-0 lead after four innings, and Mike Foltynewicz and the Legends beat Augusta for a 5-2 win, and Foltynewicz's 3rd win of the season. Foltynewicz allowed 8H/1ER, 0K:2BB in 6IP. David Martinez allowed 1H/1ER, 1K:0BB in 1.1IP, and Jason Chowning threw a perfect five-out outing.

Enrique Hernandez was 3x4 with a double, walk, and RBI; Mike Kvasnicka was 2x5 with two doubles, while Chris Wallace had an RBI triple. Other Legends getting on base twice: DeShields and Jordan Scott.

Man of the Match: Enrique Hernandez.

Tranzactionz!

May 24:
Brian McTaggart notes that Sam Gervacio has been activated and assigned to Double-A. Henry Villar has been placed on OKC's DL with shoulder fatigue.

May 23:
Lancaster placed Robby Donovan on the 7-Day DL

May 20:
Corpus activated J.D. Martinez from the DL.

Tranzactionz!

Some tranzactionz from Eddie's Farm to note over the weekend:

Oklahoma City
Apr 10: Placed Doug Arguello (strained calf) on the 7-Day DL
Apr 7: Assigned Sam Gervacio to Oklahoma City

Lexington
Apr 7: Placed Telvin Nash (groin) on 7-Day DL

Minor-league signings!

Brian McTaggart says that the Astros have signed IF Brian Dopirak and RHP Sammy Gervacio to minor-league contracts with invitations to Major-League Spring Training.

Dopirak will be 27 next week, and was the Cubs' 2nd Round pick in 2002. He was in Triple-A Las Vegas in part of 2009 and all of 2010, hitting .296/.331/.476 in 138 games at Triple-A.

Over the course of nine minor-league seasons, Dopirak has hit .280/.336/.484, with 770K:271BB, 371 extra-base hits, and 596 RBI.

He's a first-baseman, which is interesting, as he'll either be IF6 or in Triple-A (or cut, I suppose). And isn't Koby going to be at Triple-A? Or Brett Wallace? Still, it doesn't hurt anything to give him a shot, and see if he can replicate his 25+ HR power (as he has done in three seasons, most recently in 2009 between AA-AAA).

And you know all about Slammin' Sammy Gervacio.

Non-Tender Deadline recap

So here's the awesome part about being sick. I was asleep at 6:45 last night. So we totally missed the news about whom the Astros offered contracts, and whom they did not.

The Astros tendered offers to Wandy Rodriguez, Matt Lindstrom, Michael Bourn, Hunter Pence, Clint Barmes, and Jeff Keppinger.

Who does that leave out? Sammy Gervacio, whom the Astros would still like to bring back. Wade:

“We want Sammy to be part of our club, but we wanted the protection from having to keep him on our major league DL. We were prepared to tender everyone else on the roster.”

More Wade:
"It's really a move of economics more than anything because of the uncertainty of his status going into Spring Training. Had he been injured coming into Spring Training and unable to perform, we would have had to carry him on the Major League disabled list. While we're protecting ourselves with respect to the tender, we still want Sammy to be part of our picture going forward."

Levine says the Astros plan to offer Gervacio a deal later in the off-season, but given Gervacio's injury history - which basically started about 15 minutes after the season began - might be trying to fill his spot externally before deciding on bringing him back.

We also learn what most of you probably heard last week - but Astros County was on radio silence - Tim Byrdak and Gustavo Chacin have both opted for free agency, instead of taking the assignment back to Oklahoma City.

Bourn: Started running

Hey, so Michael Bourn has started running again, but is not close to baseball activity.

Within McTaggart's notebook, we also read that Castro is going back to Stanford, and Dave Clark is looking forward to managing Licey in the Dominican Winter League, which will feature Josh Banks, Henry Villar, Anderson Hernandez, Alberto Arias, and Sammy Gervacio.

Gervacio isn't really doing any better

Bernardo Fallas ran into Sammy Gervacio Friday, who was in town for a check-up:

His shoulder, which first landed him on the DL in April and subsequently contributed to his demotion in early May (when the Astros thought it was a matter of him not pitching up to his potential), is still bothering him, and the cortisone shots have only helped so much. He's resting the shoulder over the weekend and will test it out Tuesday.

Tranzactionz!

Got some transactions for you:

June 15

Activated Tanner Bushue from the 7-Day DL
Placed Robby Donovan on the Temporarily Inactive List

June 14

Placed Michael Garciaparra, Collin DeLome, Chris Shelton, and Sam Gervacio on the 7-Day DL. Activated Drew Meyer from the 7-Day DL. Haven't seen any corresponding moves yet...

Gervacio's DL stint is same old, same old

Zach Levine is tweeting that Gervacio's DL stint is due to a flare-up of the same shoulder injury that sent him to the DL for the first time this year.

More Tranzactionz

Captip to Farmstros for the further minor-league updates, because now we can see that, in addition to the earlier transactions...

Erick Abreu, Marcos Cabral, and Sergio Perez have been sent from Corpus to Round Rock, while Jonathan Fixler was sent to Corpus from Lexington.

This is also due to Gary Majewski, Drew Meyer and Sam Gervacio being placed on the DL at Round Rock.

Roster moves!

So Brian McTaggart has the lowdown on three roster moves made last night:

-Tim Byrdak sent to the DL with a strained hamstring. Ed Wade:
"[Head athletic trainer] Nate Lucero called me after he came out of the game tonight and said Tim said he had trouble finishing his pitches, and Nate went back and looked at video of last year compared to this year and it was apparent to him he was really having trouble coming down on his landing leg. It seemed apparent he was trying to compensate for the hamstring."

-Astros purchase Gustavo Chacin's contract from Round Rock:
"I talked to [Round Rock manager] Marc Bombard and he said he Chacin could handle the role in the bullpen and [pitching coach Brad Arnsberg] is familiar with him from Spring Training and their days together in Toronto,"

Wade also explained that Wesley Wright was a candidate to come up, but that he pitched last night, so it wouldn't have made much sense. And it also wouldn't have made any sense, as Wright is being transitioned to a starting role, and Chacin is apparently headed to the bullpen.

-Astros option Gervacio to Round Rock, recall Wilton Lopez.

Some return, some get hurt

Okay, so Sam Gervacio reinjured his right shoulder. Yeah, that one. The same one that sent him to the DL last month.

“In the bullpen, I felt it a little bit, but in the game, I felt like it really hurt."

Oh, so it hurt before you gave up the homer to Jason Heyward. Or walked David Ross. And walked Nate McLouth. Got it.

-
Rest? Lance Berkman doesn't need any rest. Especially resting that groin.

“It's still a little bit sore, but it's one of those things that I think I can manage, and I don't know that sitting out another game is going to do me any good,”
-
And Tommy Manzella gets to do what we do this weekend - sit and watch this ineptitude. Brad Mills has given Manzella some time to just observe:

“I just think it would be good for him every now and then to sit and watch certain things, and that's all. It's nothing against him or how he's been playing or anything else.”

Vague.

Gervacio up, Lopez down

You probably already know this, but just so it's in the archives after a self-imposed little break, Sam Gervacio has been activated from the DL and optioned Wilton Lopez back to Round Rock.

This is interesting, as Jeff Fulchino is the one with the team-high 7.50 ERA, while Lopez' sits at 4.50. Granted, we're talking about six innings for each, but it seemed like Lopez was feeling it, while Fulchino has struggled lately.

Sam Gervacio has some rehab to get done

Alyson Footer tells us that Sam Gervacio will head out on rehab assignments to Round Rock next Monday and Wednesday.

The question is this: who will get sent down once Gervacio is activated? Because right now, we're dealing with a bullpen of Lindstrom, Lyon, Byrdak, Fulchino, Moehler, Lopez, and Sampson. Of those, Fulchino and Lopez are the two that have struggled the most, but I'm guessing it's Lopez who gets sent down...

Gervacio update

Brian McTaggart has a little update on Sam Gervacio:

Gervacio MRI reveals inflammation of right rotator cuff. He will begin treatment and could be back pitching in 15 days. He's on the DL.

So 15-day DL, a few rehab appearances, and back on the ML roster.

Gervacio "nothing serious" and Pence thinks he's identified his problem

Within Bernardo Fallas' Notes column we see a few things:

Gervacio, on his injury:
"I felt some discomfort. It's nothing serious, I think, and I expect to be back throwing soon.”
-
Pence, who already has two Goats, thinks he may have found the problem with his first 12 ABs:
“It's back to the drawing board. It's a good thing that we can get it out of the way early; we have a day off here to regroup, and I'm going to get to the bottom of it and make the adjustment. I think my front hip has been flying open a little bit, if you want to get technical. It's a minor adjustment, but I have to make it."

Gervacio to DL

So Sammy Gervacio is on the DL with a strained right rotator cuff, and Wilton Lopez has been recalled from Round Rock.

And the Ballad of Dr. Gene Coleman continues...

Baseball America's check-in on the Astros' prospects in ST

Baseball America posted a Prospects of the NL Central article. Now, about those Astros:

Prospect Star of Camp: Sam Gervacio
In a relatively unsettled Astros' bullpen there is room for Gervacio to move into a more prominent role if he keeps pitching like he's been pitching.

Keep an Eye on: Chris Johnson
He'll have to keep hitting as the Astros will be looking for a roster spot for Lance Berkman when he returns from the disabled list in the not-too-distant future.

Rough Spring: Brian Bogusevic
Bogusevic will have to hit for more power to be a big leaguer, but a .071/.071/.143 line in 14 at-bats didn't give him a chance to make much of an impression this spring.

Johnson on the team

Bernardo Fallas is telling us that the Astros' Opening Day roster is set at 25, with Chris Johnson and Slammin' Sammy Gervacio making the team, and Jason Bourgeois getting - unsurprisingly - reassigned.

Here's your 25-man Opening Day roster (courtesy Brian McTaggart):

CATCHERS (2) -- J.R. Towles, Humberto Quintero.

INFIELDERS (6) -- Geoff Blum, Kaz Matsui, Tommy Manzella, Pedro Feliz, Jeff Keppinger, Chris Johnson.

OUTFIELDERS (5) -- Carlos Lee, Michael Bourn, Hunter Pence, Jason Michaels, Cory Sullivan.

PITCHING STAFF (12) -- Roy Oswalt, Wandy Rodriguez, Brett Myers, Bud Norris, Felipe Paulino, Brian Moehler, Jeff Fulchino, Sammy Gervacio, Chris Sampson, Tim Byrdak, Matt Lindstrom, Brandon Lyon.

Gervacio and Lopez: Front-runners?

Bernardo Fallas thinks so. And there's even a quote from Brad Mills:

“The thing about Wilton and Sammy, the way they approach each hitter, each pitch and each at-bat, how great is it to have guys like that and have them have the success they are having. It's really nice to see the demeanor and mound presence that they have out there."