Greeneville Astros: 2015 Season in Review

Greeneville squeaked through to the playoffs, winning their spot on the final day of the season as they went 34-33 for the season. They then went on to beat Kingsport in the semifinals and advance to the League Championship series. After getting trounced in Game 1 of the LCS, Greeneville came back to beat Princeton on their own turf in the final two games of the series to claim the Appalachian League crown. Let's take a look at the team performance within the league and some of the individual standouts.

Connor Goedert - July 2014

Photo by Jayne Hansen

Note all rankings are out of 10 total teams

GREENEVILLE ASTROS TEAM BATTING
Batting average: .249 (9th)
On-base percentage: .325 (9th)
Slugging percentage: .359 (9th)
Doubles: 116 (5th)
Triples: 18 (T7th)
Home runs: 31 (9th)
Walks: 232 (3rd)
Strikeouts: 562 (2nd)
Stolen bases: 73 (1st)

GREENEVILLE ASTROS TEAM PITCHING
ERA: 3.18 (2nd)
WHIP: 1.235 (1st)
Walks: 199 (9th)
Strikeouts: 515 (T6th)

It's pretty obvious that pitching, overall, helped to carry this team, but there were some very strong offensive performances as well.

GREENEVILLE ASTROS BATTING LEADERS (minimum 40 games for BA, OBP and SLG)
Batting Average: Connor Goedert (.286)
On-Base Percentage: Myles Straw (.355)
Slugging Percentage: Connor Goedert (.449)
Doubles: Connor Goedert (20 - T3rd in the league)
Triples: Osvaldo Duarte (4 - T10th in the league)
Home Runs: Hector Roa and Connor Goedert (Tied with 6)
RBI: Connor Goedert (43 - 6th in the league)
Stolen Bases: Myles Straw (22 - 1st in the league)
Walks: Myles Straw (29 - T10th in the league)
Runs: Myles Straw (47 - T3rd in the league)

As you can see a couple of names stand out.

1B Connor Goedert (21)
Goedert, the 15th round 2014 draft pick, did not have a very good first season, but he more than made up for it in his sophomore campaign, earning the Team MVP. He ended the season with a .286/.349/.449 slashline in 63 games, and hit .333 in the postseason with two home runs.

OF Myles Straw (20)
Straw, the 12th round 2015 draft pick, had a very solid freshman season, hitting .268/.355/.344 in 58 games and leading the league with 22 stolen bases.

20-year old OF Brauly Mejia also did well at the level, hitting .283/.335/.428 in 42 games. Up and coming outfielders Daz Cameron and Kyle Tucker spent limited time at Greeneville after their August 1st promotion to the level and both had more success in Greeneville than they had with the Gulf Coast League Astros. Cameron hit .272/.372/.350 and stole 11 bases (24 for the season) over 30 games, and Tucker hit .286/.322/.393 with 14 stolen bases (18 for the season) in his 30 games.

Others of note include 2B Rodrigo Ayarza who hit .292/.286/.438 in 16 regular season games for Greeneville and who also contributed a crucial grand slam during the LCS; OF Aaron Mizell who hit a robust .325/.373/.416 prior to his mid-July promotion to Tri-City; and OF Hector Roa who hit .315/.333/.574 in 27 games for Greeneville before returning to Tri-City on August 1st.

GREENEVILLE ASTROS TEAM PITCHING LEADERS (minimum 30IP for ERA and WHIP)
ERA: Andrew Thome (0.87 in 31IP)
WHIP: Erasmo Pinales (0.980 in 32.2IP)
Strikeouts: Yhoan Acosta (56 - T5th in the league
Saves: Samil de los Santos (4 - T9th in the league)

RHP Erasmo Pinales (20)
Pinales did a fantastic job in his first season of domestic ball, putting up a 1.93 ERA and a 0.980 WHIP over 32.2 innings in nine games (five starts) for Greeneville.

RHP Andrew Thome (22)
Thome, a non-drafted free agent, shone in his debut season. He had a 0.87 ERA and a 1.032 WHIP in 31 innings (11 games/4 starts) for Greeneville before making one final regular season appearance with Quad Cities and ending the season with a 0.77 ERA and a 1.029 WHIP over 35 innings.

RHP Albert Abreu (19)
In 13 games (7 starts), Abreu had a 2.51 ERA and a 1.200 WHIP in 46.2 innings. Abreu will turn 20 later this month.

RHP Ryan Deemes (22)
Deemes, the 36th round 2015 draft pick, split his season between Greeneville and Tri-City. He was lights out in the Appy League, recording a 0.75 ERA and a 0.708 WHIP with the team prior to his promotion to Tri-City in early August. He finished the season with a 2.01 ERA and a 0.912 WHIP in 14 games (5 starts). He walked 9 batters and struck out 40 in 49.1 innings of work.

RHP Diogenes Almengo (20)
Almengo started the season with the DSL, receieved a late June promotion to the GCL and a late July promotion to Greeneville. He did well at all three levels and ended the season with a combined 1.98 ERA and a 1.068 WHIP in 63.2 innings over 17 games (12 starts). For Greeneville, he had a 2.31 ERA and a 1.029 WHIP in 23.1 innings (6 games/5 starts).

There were actually quite a number of noteworthy pitching performances at the level, including LHP Matt Bower (2.84 ERA/0.947 WHIP in 19.1IP); RHP Samil de los Santos (0.913 WHIP in 19.1IP); RHP Jacob Dorris (0.84 ERA/0.938 in 10.2IP); RHP Jose Hernandez (2.11 ERA/0.938 WHIP in 21.1IP); RHP Lachlan Madden (2.13 ERA in 12.2IP); Chris Murphy (2.25 ERA/1.000 WHIP in 20IP); RHP Joselo Pinales (2.29 ERA in 19.1IP); and LHP Cristhopher Santamaria (0.900 WHIP in 23.1IP. Phew! In all, 32 pitchers spent at least part of their seasons with the Appy Astros.

Also of note was was RHP Edgardo Sandoval (see GCL review for more) who had a 1.12 ERA and 1.062 WHIP in 16 innings following his mid-August promotion to Greeneville. Sandoval had a 1.13 ERA and a 0.625 WHIP with two saves in his two postseason appearances as well.

Previous Season Reviews:
Dominican Summer League
Gulf Coast League