Happy Birthday - 2/20

1B/LF Telvin Nash (21)
Drafted in the 3rd round in 2009 out of high school in his native Georgia, Nash took a little detour in his development as he missed almost 2 months of the 2011 season after breaking the hamate bone in his left hand early in the season.  He finished the season at Lexington with a .274/.380/.488/.867 batting line with 18 doubles and 14 home runs over 78 games.  He is currently ranked as the number 10 prospect in the Astros system on my consensus list.

RHP Livan Hernandez (37)
Born in Cuba and originally signed by the Marlins as a free agent in 1996, Hernandez signed as a free agent with the Astros on January 31, 2011.  Known as a workhorse, Hernandez has pitched at least 199 innings in 11 seasons.  In 1997, he was runner up to Scott Rolen in Rookie of the Year voting as he was 9-3 in 17 regular season starts and 2-0 in the NLCS and 2-0 in the World Series, earning him MVP honors in each series. He also won a Silver Slugger award in 2005 and All-Star honors in 2004 and 2005.

Former Astros with birthdays today ~

RHP Bill Gullickson (53)
Gullickson pitched one season for Houston in 1990, going 10-14 with a 3.82 ERA and a 1.459 WHIP in 32 starts.  In 1991, after being released by Houston, he was 20-9 for Detroit.

RHP Jason Hirsh (30)
A second round pick by Houston in 2003, Hirsh started nine games for the Astros in 2006, going 3-4 with a 6.04 ERA and a 1.567 WHIP.  He was traded, along with Taylor Buchholz and Willy Taveras, to the Rockies for Miguel Asencio and he-who-must-not-be-named in December of 2006.

We also have a birthday in the Astros blogging community ~

Deputy Jason (32)
Jason Phelps, writer for Astros County, celebrates his birthday today as well!