A Look at the GCL Astros

Yesterday, I took a little bit more of an in-depth look at the DSL Astros team. Today, let's see how the GCL Astros team is doing. Coming in to today, the GCL team is 14-12 with a 3.56 ERA, a 1.316 WHIP, a cumulative batting line of .249/.324/.366 and a run differential of +2. Their team pitching stats put them in the middle of the pack vis-à-vis the league and their offensive stats are overall slightly above average.

However, one cannot really make much out of the GCL team record, team ERA/WHIP or team batting statistics because the GCL is generally a catch-all, with Latin NDFA's in their first year or two in the States playing alongside older players who are rehabbing injuries, as well as the youngest, most inexperienced players from the recent draft and other new draftees just getting their feet wet before they head to the next level. The most you can really do is to look at some of the individual players and how they are doing. So, let's do that.

3B Tyler White is still among the leaders in the Gulf Coast League despite having been promoted to the Greeneville Astros around a week ago. Tyler's .365/.474/.556 batting line (18 games) has him ranked 4th/2nd/4th in those respective categories. In addition, C Brett Booth was among the team leaders in these categories before his reported promotion to Tri-City today with his .308/.431/.462 batting line over 16 games.

Of those remaining on the team, there are a few standouts. Other than the rehabbing Jean Batista (who hasn't played since 7/11), 1B Yonathan Mejia leads the way as far as batting average. His .311 mark over 25 games is enough to rank him in 21st place in the league as well. In addition, he ranks sixth in the league in hits (28) and is tied for 6th with eight doubles. Mejia's .433 slugging percentage ranks at 19th in the league, although his teammate 2B Jose Solano actually has a higher mark at .436, but does not have the requisite number of at bats to qualify. Solano is however tied for second in the league with four home runs and for 15th in RBI with 14. Solano has played in 17 games entering today.

C Jacob Nottingham leads the way with a .384 OBP (ranking him 20th in the league) and 13 walks (tied for seventh in the league, along with his teammate OF Jason Martin) in 19 games. Martin is also tied for third in the league with 18 runs scored in his 25 games. OF Javaris Reynolds is tied for fourth in the league with his eight stolen bases in 21 games.

RHP Troy Scribner is leading the league in ERA (1.14), WHIP (0.676) and strikeouts (36) in his seven appearances (23.2IP). He has only walked two to go with the 36 strikeouts. RHP Agapito Barrios is ninth in the league in ERA (2.42) and 14th in WHIP (1.119) and LHP Ambiorix de Leon is 14th and 20th respectively with a 2.82 ERA and a 1.209 WHIP.

LHP Kevin Ferguson has appeared in six games (8IP) with a 1.12 ERA and a 0.750 WHIP. RHP Juan Santos has appeared in eight games (11IP) with a 1.64 ERA and a 0.909 WHIP. RHP Chris Munnelly just received a promotion to Greeneville after putting up a 2.35 ERA and a 1.435 WHIP in seven appearances (7.2IP). Austin Nicely has only made one appearance since signing but did not allow a run.

The GCL Astros are currently ranked in third place (out of four team) in their division and are two and a half games behind.