Former Astros on the move

The only moves being made this off-season so far is by players from the Astros going somewhere else. Like

Yorman Bazardo to the Twins.

Geoff Blum to the Diamondbacks.

And from the Wayback Machine, Taylor Buchholz to the Red Sox.

More minor-league free agents

Another big cap-tip to Farmstros, who found that Josh Banks, Yorman Bazardo, and Chris Sampson have filed for minor-league free agency.

Eddie's Farm: September 2

Round Rock

This is a string getting played out. Omaha went ahead and just finished off the sweep with a 6-2 win over Round Rock. Sergio Perez threw 4IP, 5H/5ER, 2K:4BB, 2WP, and Yorman Bazardo threw 4IP as well, allowing 6H/1ER, 2K:2BB. Oswaldo Navarro and Edwin Maysonet had two hits each, with Navarro hitting two doubles, and Maysonet collecting the lone RBI.

Man of the Match: Yorman Bazardo

Corpus

The Hooks had a 7-2 lead going into the 6th, which dwindled to 7-3, 7-5, 7-7, and ended up losing in 12 innings to Frisco 8-7. Pat Urckfitz had a solid start, throwing 5IP, 8H/2ER, 4K:1BB. Matt Nevarez allowed two runs charged to Jared Wells, and Jose Valdez allowed two runs charged to Matt Nevarez. Jailen Peguero took the loss. J.D. Martinez (BB), Jimmy Van Ostrand (2RBI), Wladimir Sutil (BB), and Ben Heath - in his Double-A debut - (2RBI, BB) had three hits each, while Koby Clemens hit his 25th homer of the year for a 2x6, BB night. Jon Gaston was 0x3, but drew three walks.

Man of the Match: Ben Heath

Lancaster

Lancaster battled back from a 6-1 deficit with a 5-run 4th, but Lake Elsinore was too much, winning 9-8. Leandro Cespedes allowed 8H/6R (5ER), Ashton Mowdy gave up a solo homer in 3IP, Kyle Godfrey had a rough one, allowing 3H/2ER in 0.1IP, and David Berner gave up a hit and three walks in 2.2IP. Jose Altuve hit his 2nd homer for Lancaster, while Mark Ori (3RBI), and Lee Cruz (2RBI) hit homers, as well. Brian Pellegrini was 2x4 with a walk, and Andy Simunic was 2x2 with two walks and a stolen base.

Man of the Match: Mark Ori

Lexington

Back and forth game with Hagerstown, but Lexington comes out on top 8-6. Tanner Bushue threw 5IP, 10H/5ER, 4K:3BB; Dan Sarisky threw 2IP, 2H/0ER; Brendan Stines walked two in 0.1IP, and Kirk Clark got the Blown Save and the Win. Jimmy Paredes (2BB, HR, 2RBI, SB), Kody Honze (2BB, RBI), Jonathan Meyer (2RBI), Roberto Pena (RBI), and Grant Hogue (SB) had two hits each. Jake Goebbert hit his 10th homer of the year in the 3rd and added a sac fly for a 2RBI night.

Man of the Match: Jimmy Paredes

Tri-City

Tri-City and Connecticut are battling it out for Stedler supremacy with both winning last night. Lowell was the ValleyCats' victim, 3-1. Carlos Quevedo threw 6IP, 5H/0ER, 4K:1BB; Alex Sogard allowed the lone run in 0.2IP, Murillo Gouvea gave up one hit in 1.1IP, and Mike Ness threw a perfect 9th. Austin Wates had himself a game: 3x3, 3B, BB, RBI, 2SB, and scored two of the ValleyCats' three runs. Ben Orloff, Adam Bailey, and Chris Wallace had two hits each.

Man of the Match: Austin Wates

Eddie's Farm: August 28

Round Rock

That's some dry spell there, Round Rock. After getting shutout again by Memphis, 2-0, the Express have now gone scoreless in three straight games, and managed to score just one run in the entire four-game series against the Redbirds. That's a 29-inning scoreless streak rolling for Round Rock as of last night. Sergio Perez threw 58 pitches in 3IP, 2H/0ER, 3K:3BB. Yorman Bazardo got the loss with 2H/2ER, 5K:2BB in 4IP, and Casey Daigle threw a perfect 9th. Round Rock out-hit Memphis 5-4, with Shuck, Bogusevic, Shelton, Maysonet, and Bellorin getting the lone extra-base hit.

Man of the Match: Yorman Bazardo. Lost the game on one pitch, a two-run homer.

Corpus

Corpus led this game twice, but in each inning the Hooks scored, San Antonio answered with a tying run. Then San Antonio scored an unanswered run in the 7th for a 3-2 win over Corpus. Henry Villar threw 6IP, 9H/2ER, 4K:3BB - both runs coming on solo shots - and Evan Englebrook took the loss with another solo homer in 2IP. Wladimir Sutil and Lou Santangelo had two hits each, and Albert Cartwright and Koby Clemens provided the other two hits.

Man of the Match: Lou Santangelo

Lancaster

Lancaster scored four runs in the 8th to almost erase a 5-0 deficit, but Rancho Cucamonga got two in the bottom of the inning and the JetHawks fell 7-4. Leandro Cespedes had a rough one, allowing 10H/5ER, 4K:1BB in 5IP, and a bullpen of Ashton Mowdy (2IP), Brian Wabick (0.1IP - 1H/2R (1ER) and David Carpenter (0.2IP) closed out the game. Carpenter allowed the hit scoring the two runs charged to Wabick. Lancaster got their runs on one swing of the bat - a granny by Brian Pellegrini, his 12th of the year. Brandon Wikoff got two hits, while Brandon Barnes and Jonathan Villar had the other extra-base hits.

Man of the Match: Brian Pellegrini

Lexington

Lexington nearly overcame a 6-0 deficit, scoring two runs in the 7th and three in the 8th, but just fell short 6-5 to Kannapolis. Juan Minaya allowed three earned runs (five total) on three hits, three wild pitches, and a walk in 5IP. Brad Dydalewicz allowed an unearned run in 2IP, and Yordany Ramirez struck out two in a perfect 8th to lower his ERA to 16.20. That's right. Only three earned runs, thanks to errors by Jonathan Meyer, Jimmy Paredes, and Jiovanni Mier. Ben Heath was 2x3 with a 2-run triple in the 8th, Kody Hinze was 1x2 with 2BB, and Our Boy Aaron BRay was 1x3 with a walk, RBI, and two runs scored.

Man of the Match: Ben Heath

Tri-City

Some good pitching got Tri-City a nice 2-1 win over Hudson Valley. Carlos Quevedo allowed 3H/1ER, 5K:2BB. Brandt Walker allowed two hits and a walk (responsible for Quevedo) and left a runner for Blankenship, who got out of it, walking one in 1.1IP, and left one for Jorge De Leon, who struck out three of the four batters he faced. Oscar Figueroa was 2x3, while Chris Wallace (1x3, double) and Adam Bailey got the RBIs.

Man of the Match: Carlos Quevedo.

Greeneville

Greeneville had a 4-3 lead going into the 8th, and Kingsport put up three runs in the top of the inning for a 6-4 win. Ricardo Batista threw 3.1IP, 6H/3R (2ER), 4K:1BB. Jeiler Castillo alowed 1H/0ER (but did allow one of Batista's) in 2.2IP. Paul Gerrish allowed 4H/2ER in 1IP, Ryan Cole gave up an unearned run in 1IP, and Phil Rorabaugh allowed a hit in the 9th. Jonathan Merritt was 2x3, and Telvin Nash and Chris Lovett (HR) provided two RBI each. Delino DeShields was 1x4 with a double.

Man of the Match: Chris Lovett

Bazardo headed to Round Rock...maybe

Alyson Footer is reporting that Yorman Bazardo has been reinstated from the DL, and has been outrighted to Round Rock.

Now, since he has been outrighted to Triple-A before, he can reject the assignment and become a free agent. Since he was outrighted to Round Rock, this also tells us that he cleared waivers. So he can go to Round Rock, and play out the season, or he can go play on somebody else's Triple-A team.

Ed Wade said this:

"We'd like him to stay in the organization. We like his arm. Unfortunately, he couldn't get things going in Spring Training, and now that he's healthy again, we think he has a chance to help us at some point."

The question is this: Where would you rank Bazardo as far as pitching prospects in the organization?

DL Notes

Alyson Footer is saying that the following players will be placed on the Disabled Liz-nist:

Alberto Arias
Yorman Bazardo
Lance Berkman

I'm guessing Bazardo is being placed on the DL for two reasons: (1) He's hurt. (2) It'll make that transition through waivers a whole lot easier.

We may be seeing the last of Yorman Bazardo

Within Brian McTaggart's separate blog post with updates on injuries, we are reminded that Yorman Bazardo is out of options.

So if he gets sent to Round Rock, he'll have to clear waivers first. It could happen, especially with his shoulder strain, but to avoid that he would have to make the Major League club, and that ain't happening.

We also see that Manzella ran at 60% yesterday with no problems, Bourn could get into the Major-League lineup tomorrow, and Berkman is still hopeful for Opening Day (despite not running, or hitting. Or fielding.)

Meat Wagon update

Zach Levine has some injury updates for us this morning:

-Bourn strained his oblique in the batting cage a few minutes before yesterday's game with Toronto.

Bourn:
“I don't think it's that serious at all, so it will probably be two to three days where I probably won't be doing any (hitting)."

-Norris will pitch four innings on Sunday, having recovered from the flu, in which Immodium AD was the key remedy (ewww).

-Yorman Bazardo felt "another pinch" in his throwing shoulder where he had already experienced soreness.

-Oswaldo Navarro strained his quad running out a groundball

-Alberto Arias will throw live BP after two bullpen sessions.

Catching up

We're going to act as though you've read everything in AstroWorld since the last post, as I've now returned from another travel weekend. Let's get to it.

Yorman Bazardo left yesterday's game with tightness in his rotator cuff, and will be evaluated on Tuesday.

Bazardo is a long shot to win the SP5 job, but could be in the mix if one of the rotation goes down for an extended period of time.

A lot of pitchers threw. Mills mentioned one.

In McTaggart's recap of today's Spring Training events, highlighted - of course - is the inter-squad game, which Meacham's Mashers won 16-13 over Clark's Crushers.

McTaggart mentions Yorman Bazardo having the roughest day of all the pitchers to throw, but Mills took note of Matt Lindstrom:

"It was good to see the pitchers throw the ball to live hitters. The biggest thing was to get them out there in a game situation and run through some things. Successes and failures are absolutely nothing today, especially with the weather like it was. But it was nice to get them out there in game situations and throw the ball. I thought Lindstrom threw the ball real well. He was letting it go there for a while. I know he gave up a couple of balls hit hard, but it was sure nice to see him throw the ball extremely well."
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Tomorrow kicks off the Grapefruit League season, and Brett Myers will start, throwing - hopefully - two innings.
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Towles, Quintero, and Castro will all get ABs in the DH spot as Mills tries to establish who will be C1. Mills:

"There's going to be some times we're not going to, but for Friday's game in Detroit we're going to wait to see if Berkman needs to DH or play first base. I'm waiting to see how he is [Thursday]. Most of the time, it's going to be our catchers."
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First three ST contests set

McTaggart is reporting that Brett Myers will get the start for the first Spring Training game next Thursday against Washington.

Wandy will get the second start against Detroit on Friday, and Roy will start Saturday against the Braves. Norris, Paulino, and Moehler will get the other three starts.

Mills:
"We're going to have some guys piggyback and switch back and forth as we go along. That's where we are right now the first three days."

Bazardo and Wesley Wright will get starts in B-Team games and Split Squad games.

Deelz

Alyson Footer is reporting the Astros have signed three more players to one-year deals. And they are:

Jeff Fulchino: $425,000
Yorman Bazardo: $400,000
Evan Englebrook: $400,000

McTaggart's inbox was full. Now it's empty.

Brian McTaggart posted his first mailbag today. Some highlights:

-Roy, Wandy, Norris, Player X, and Moehler is your rotation. And Player X will be either Paulino, Wright, or Bazardo.

-If (when) Valverde walks, the Astros would be comfortable letting LaHawk close.

-Re-signing Blum and publicly discussing Tejada shifting to 3B, and being willing to sign someone to platoon Blum if they don't re-sign Tejada means that things aren't looking so hot for Chris Johnson.

-Koby Clemens is "a man without a position."

-Don't be surprised if the Astros add a cheap, veteran catcher this off-season.

Recap for G161 - Astros @ Mets

Man, the Astros really know how to make a crap team look alright. Yorman Bazardo was shaky again, throwing 93 pitches in 4.2IP for a short outing that was made longer by a 2+ hour rain delay. Let's just do the thing, for the penultimate time.

Bazardo: 4.2IP, 5H/3ER, 3K:3BB, 15/23 first-pitch strikes, 19 non-contact strikes (3 16 called:3 swinging)
Gervacio: 0IP, 1H, 1BB, 1/2 FPS, 3/8 NCS (2c:1s)
Wright: 0.1IP, 1BB, 1/2 FPS, 3/5 NCS (2c:1s)
Byrdak: 1IP, 2K, 2/3 FPS, 5/8 NCS (2c:3s)
Fulchino: 1IP, 2H/1ER, 2BB, 2/6 FPS, 3/10 NCS (1c:2s)
LaHawk: 1IP, 2H, 1K, 4/5 FPS, 3/9 NCS (1c:2s)

How did Bazardo throw that many pitches and only last 4.2IP? 17 foul balls. 10 of the 23 batters faced saw 5+ pitches.

Once again, the Astros were bottled up, going 1x7 with RISP (Pence getting the only RISP knock). Only Keppinger and Matsui got 0-fers (0x3, each), and Berkman had the only multi-hit game. Tejada extended his hit streak to 20 games, the most since Willy Taveras had his 30-game hit streak back in 2006. He'll need two hits tomorrow to get his 200th hit of the season. In eight combined plate appearances, Berkman and Lee saw a combined 16 pitches. J.R. Towles saw 23 pitches in 4 PAs.

Towles' second life makes me wonder. If Castro doesn't make the club out of Spring Training in '10, Quintero and Towles may very well be your C1/C2, leaving Chris Coste...uh...some time to write another book.

Man of the Match: Lance Berkman. Two hits, raising his average to .274.

UPDATE: The Man of the Match has been given to Deputy Jason, for staying through a miserable game, one of reportedly 1,000 fans to stay through the delay.

Goat of the Game: Yorman. It's tough to stay locked in (I'm not even playing. I just sit on the couch and pass dry sarcasm with little to no accountability.) However, you're auditioning here, and the Mets aren't very good, and this was pretty bad.

David Wright sits because Manuel is afraid Bazardo has no idea what he's doing

Hey, remember when David Wright got hit in the coconut? Jerry Manuel acknowledged that David Wright was out of the G161 lineup because of Wright's "phobias" and that he didn't know whether Bazardo was "a control guy."

"Just being careful for a guy coming off a beaning such as he had. It's a different experience for him, a different test. You try to protect that going forward. I'd feel better if he gets through it without a setback."

Let's talk velocity

I got curious about the velocity of the pitching staff. When I get curious, you have something to read. All figures are courtesy of FanGraphs. In the off-season, we'll look at changes from 2008 to 2009, and what we might be able to expect in 2010. For the time being, let's just look at the velocity of pitchers based on four pitch types.

FB = Fastball
CB = Curveball
CH = Changeup
SL = Slider

Pitcher	FB Vel	CB Vel	CH Vel	SL Vel
Arias	93	81.4	80.5	82
Bazardo	92.1	-	83.1	83.4
Brocail	89.2	75.9	84.5	85.3
Byrdak	89.4	-	82.7	82.4
Fulchino	92.9	82.1	84.8	83.2
LaHawk	94.1	80.6	86	88.2
Moehler	87.6	77.6	81.2	82.9
Norris	93.5	-	86.5	87.5
Oswalt	93.1	72	83.4	84.1
Paulino	95.2	81.9	85.2	85.8
Valverde	95.8	84.1	85.3	85.8
Wandy	90.1	76.9	84	79.6
Wright	91.2	78.9	84.9	83

Biggest change in velocity from fastball to changeup goes to Alberto Arias with a -12.5mph drop.

Recap for G156 - Astros @ Phillies

Oho! I bet Phillies fans are pissed! Congratulations to Yorman Bazardo, who recorded his first win of the season in an 8-2 win at Philadelphia. Miguel Tejada had his 6th 4-hit game of the season (best in the Majors), as part of a 15-hit attack on Cole Hamels. Let's do the thing:

Bazardo: 5.2IP, 2H/2ER, 4K:4BB, 14/22 First-pitch strikes, 24/45 non-contact strikes (16 called:8 swinging)
Gervacio: 0.1IP, 0/1 FPS, 2/3 NCS (2s)
Byrdak: 2IP, 1H, 1K, 6/8 FPS, 10/19 NCS (6c:4s)
Brocail: 1IP, 1H, 1/4 FPS, 4/12 NCS (3c:1s)

Bazardo settled down after allowing a single and a stolen base for Rollins, and a sac fly to put Philly up 1-0. Walks were really the only aspect of Bazardo's outing that would qualify as "troubling." Jayson Werth led off the 2nd with a walk, but Bazardo got Ibanez to GIDP. Things got a little hairy in the bottom of the 6th, when Victorino doubled to right and Utley moved him over to third. With two outs, and the Phillies down 3-1, Bazardo balked, scoring Victorino, and then walked Howard. Gervacio came in for the final out and got Jayson Werth to fly out to right.

Offensively, it was going on. Bourn was 2x5, Tejada 4x5, Berkman was 0x1 but had three walks, Lee was 2x5, Pence was 2x4, Keppinger was 3x5. Carlos Lee added 2RBI, pushing him over the 100-RBI mark for the seventh time in the last eight seasons (2004 was the exception, and Lee had 99 RBI). The big inning came in the 7th, when the Astros got five hits - four singles - to string together five runs. But more as a relief, the Astros were 7x15 with RISP. Even little J.R. Towles got into the hit column (1x5). And still, in a late-inning blowout, Johnson and Manzella sat on the bench.

Hamels' final line was: 6.2IP, 9H/6ER, 5K:3BB to drop his record to 10-10 with a 4.25 ERA, and it was his worst start since August 2.

Man of the Match: Yorman Bazardo. He really needed to show something going into 2010, which he had not yet done, and came out and threw a gem. Third Major League win.

Goat of the Game: Everyone got a hit (except Berkman, who has reinvented himself as The Most Patient Man on Earth), and for the first time in a long time, the Astros looked like a Major League team. No Goat.

Recap for G151 - Cardinals at Astros

This is getting old. The Astros have now scored nine runs in their last five games, after getting smoked, 11-2 at the hands of St. Louis. The Astros have now lost nine straight for the first time since 2007 (10 straight). Let's just do the thing:

Bazardo: 3.2IP, 6H/6ER, 2K:2BB, 14/18 First-pitch strikes, 14/35 non-contact strikes (9c:5s)
Wright: 1.1IP, 2H/1ER, 1K:1BB, 3/6 FPS, 6/15 NCS (5c:1s)
Brocail: 1IP, 2/3 FPS, 3/8 NCS (3c)
Byrdak: 1IP, 1H/1ER, 1K:1BB, 4/5 FPS, 4/8 NCS (2c:2s)
Paronto: 1IP, 4H/2ER, 5/7 FPS, 6/16 NCS (5c:1s)
Valverde: 1IP, 2H/1ER, 4/5 FPS, 4/14 NCS (4s)

Astros pitchers threw first-pitch strikes to 32 of 44 Cardinals batters. And Bazardo actually started this game off dealing - getting the first seven Cards he saw, throwing first-pitch strikes to four of the six batters. Ahh, but then in the third, three runs scored on three hits and two walks. In the fourth, three more runs scored on four hits. It's amazing how quickly this outing imploded for Bazardo, but it's also not as if the bullpen came in and shut the Cardinals down, as St. Louis went ahead and scored five more runs in 5.1IP.

The key to this game could have been in the fourth for the Astros. St. Louis had a 6-0 lead, and if the Astros wanted to make an immediate statement, it would have been here. Miguel Tejada led off the inning with a double. Berkman worked a walk, and Carlos Lee got a single. That's bases loaded with nobody out. Blum hit a sac fly to score Tejada, Pence struck out swinging, and Keppinger grounded out to second to end the inning. Six plate appearances, one run.

Let's give some credit to Darin Erstad, who had a 10-pitch pinch-hit strikeout.

Man of the Match: Miguel Tejada, who went 3x4 with an RBI, and a run scored.

Goat of the Game: Yorman Bazardo. Started strong and completely fell apart. A living, breathing metaphor.

Lineup for G151 - Cardinals @ Astros

So I've kind of mailed it in as far as the matchups go. If there is screaming and hollering, I'll bring it back for the last 10 games of the season. If not, well, we'll do it again for G1 - Giants @ Astros in 2010.

Anyhow, McTaggart has your lineup. Matsui has himself a seat, and Towles gets the start, presumably for catching Bazardo this season in Round Rock.

Bourn CF
Tejada SS
Berkman 1B
Lee LF
Blum 3B
Pence RF
Keppinger 2B
Towles C
Bazardo P

Recap for G146 - Astros @ Reds

This couldn't have gone more poorly, no? The Astros were swept by the Reds, in what once was a home away from home, 5-4

Let's do the thing:

Bazardo: 5IP, 7H/4ER, 2K:2BB, 14/24 first-pitch strikes, 18/58 non-contact strikes (13 called:5 swinging)
Lopez: 1IP, 2H/1ER, 1K, 3/5 FPS, 6/16 NCS (3c:3s)
Wright: 0IP, 2H/1ER, 1/2 FPS, 1/4 NCS (1c), 1L
Fulchino: 2IP, 6K:1BB, 6/7 FPS, 17/20 NCS (8c:9s)

Dude. Fulchino? Lights out. 20 of his 31 pitches were for strikes, and 17 of those were non-contact strikes. He struck out all six batters he faced.

Once again, the Astros had the lead twice, and squandered it, twice. 1-6 in the lineup went 10x25, and hit five home runs in a game for the first time since Game 2 - and they lost both games. J.R. Towles got the start behind the plate, presumably to keep the Express connection alive. Keppinger was the champ, going 3x4 with two runs and two RBI. Pence rebounded with a 2x5 night, and the Rough Game award goes to Tommy Manzella, who in his first career start, went 0x3 with 3Ks. Kaz Matsui had another homer, his second in two games (the first time he's had homers in consecutive games since Aug 1-2, 2008 vs NY Mets, and the third time in his career).

Pitch Count Hero: Kaz and Pence - 23 pitches in 5 PAs

Pitch Count Punk: Tommy Manzella - 10 pitches in 3 PAs (0x3, 3Ks)

Man of the Match: Jeff Keppinger. Gets back at his old team with 2 HRs/RBIs and a 3x4 night.

Goat of the Game: I just can't bring myself to give it to Manzella, in his first start. So it goes to Wesley Wright - who retired nobody and took the loss.