Astros Winter League Cumulative Stats

The cumulative stats for all Astros (minor league and major league) players who either are participating or have participated in fall and winter league ball follow. Free agents are noted with an asterisk. Stats are through Sunday's games. Following the charts, I have included a quick look at the Astros standouts in the Liga Paralela and the Liga de Beisbol Dominicano, both of whom have concluded their regular seasons.

LIDOM

In the Liga de Beisbol Dominicano, no one stood out quite like LHP Rudy Owens. Owens led the LIDOM in WHIP and in strikeouts and was fifth in ERA. He held batters to a .191 batting average in his 10 starts. Owens needed the extra work as a foot injury (and subsequent surgery) derailed the bulk of his 2013 season. He appears to be fully healed and ready to compete for a job in Spring Training.

Another lefty, the recently acquired Raul Valdes, also shone in the regular season and figures to play a big role for the Toros del Este in the round robin playoffs which begin on Friday. Valdes was 7th in both ERA and WHIP in the LIDOM. The 36-year old Cuban was picked off the waiver wire from the Phillies in October.

Righties Jose Cisnero, Rhiner Cruz and Jorge de Leon all pitched in a handful of relief appearances, but none of them really stood out in their very limited work.

OF Domingo Santana and OF/IF Jonathan Villar both played a limited number of games early in the season and had decent winter numbers. Villar, in particular, came on strong toward the end of his playing time, putting up a .310/.429/.379 batting line in his final 10 games. Villar was also tied for third in stolen bases in the league despite not having played since November 20th.

OF Teoscar Hernandez and IF/OF Ruben Sosa were frequently used as pinch runners and defensive replacements and did not get regular playing time.

LIGA PARALELA

It was an adventure attempting to follow the Liga Paralela online between delayed and incorrect boxscores. Nonetheless, after reading the boxscores day in and day out, a couple of lesser known players emerged in my conciousness because of their skills at the plate. IF Alex Gonzalez, a minor league free agent picked up from the Rangers after the 2012 season, always seemed to be in the middle of the action with his great on-base skills and decent speed and power. He was tied for second in triples and was first in walks in the league. It is worth noting that Gonzalez is on the older side for the level at which he has played, having turned 22 in July and spending last season with the GCL Astros.

Another standout at the plate was the 20-year old C Marlon Avea. Avea hit for average, got on base at a good clip and showed some power. He was 10th in batting average and 4th in RBI in the Liga Paralela. Unfortunately, his work behind the plate needs a little help (he led the league in stolen bases allowed and was one of the leaders in passed balls).

OF Brett Phillips was just getting in a groove and was being considered for a chance to play on one of the Venezuelan big league clubs before he had to come home for a family matter. IF Carlos Perdomo and C/DH Luis Alvarez (currently a free agent) had very good winters as well.

On the pitching side of things, I'm going to single out two pitchers that Jeff Luhnow talked about in our interview from last month, RHP Jamaine Cotton and LHP Junior Garcia. Cotton definitely set himself apart in his 15 relief outings, walking only five batters and striking out 22 in his 18 innings. Other than Garcia's minuscule ERA, his numbers may not blow your socks off, but considering that he only turned 18 in October and he managed to get Luhnow's attention on his trip to Venezuela, I definitely think he will bear watching in 2014. RHP Gerardo Juarez also had a good winter campaign, building on his standout 2013 regular season with the DSL and GCL teams.