Thursday, January 31, 2013

Astros Minor League Depth - Right Fielders

As Spring Training approaches, I've been looking at the Astros minor league depth, position by position. Today, we look at the right fielders in the organization who had the best seasons in 2012.

The embedded chart shows right fielders in the organization ranked from high to low in terms of OPS. I have noted their current age, the last level at which they played and, if they spent significant time at multiple positions, that information is included as well. I included Jimmy Paredes in right field simply because that's where he played most of his games for Houston after his September call-up. He played mostly in left field during his time in winter ball, though.



Domingo Santana only turned 20 in August, but he more than held his own on the Hi-A Lancaster team. He is still learning the position and he needs to cut down on the strikeouts, but I was impressed with his maturity and approach when I saw him in August. I am eager to see him again this season to see how he has progressed.

There are two other young players on this list that bear watching. Ariel Ovando improved dramatically over his first season at Greeneville, and Teoscar Hernandez is someone I've had my eye on since his 2011 season in the DSL. He made a solid transition to playing ball in the States in his time with the GCL Astros. In a late call-up to Lexington to fill a vacancy at the end of the season, he made the most of the opportunity.

Preston Tucker, the Astros 2012 seventh round pick, had a great freshman season with Tri-City. He struck out only 16 times in 42 games while walking 18 times.

There are a few players I can see having breakout seasons in 2013. Michael Burgess, a former first round draft pick by the Nationals, was picked up in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft this winter. Adam Bailey had an uneven season in 2012, but still put up solid overall numbers. [As a side note, Bailey actually played more left field than right field in 2012, but was used more in right field after his call up to Corpus, plus, as a former college pitcher, he has a great arm for right field.] Also, I included Mike Kvasnicka on this list even though his numbers may not look that great. Kvasnicka had a really dreadful start to the season that skewed his overall numbers as he transitioned back to catcher, a transition which was apparently abandoned as Kvasnicka found a home in right field for the bulk of the season. He was coming on nicely when his season was derailed early due to injury.

Jake Goebbert received an invitation to big league camp for Spring Training as the Astros look for left-handed outfield options.

Jimmy Paredes, of course, played most of the season at second base and is still a work in progress in his transition to the outfield. His winter ball season was cut short after he was involved in a car accident that reportedly banged up his left arm (details from the Dominican Republic were very sketchy). He only played in one game after the accident.

I will also be keeping my eye on Justin Gominsky, an outstanding defensive player who will need to make progress with the bat in 2013. Also Brauly Mejia showed me enough in his first year with the DSL Astros at the age of 17 that I'll be watching him as well to see how he progresses.

I think this is one of the stronger positions in the system in terms of talent and potential at all levels and ages. I can see a number of these players eventually contributing on a big league club.

Tuesday: Left Fielders
Wednesday: Center Fielders

2013 MLB Top 100 Prospects - Don't Worry, Be Happy

I first started writing about the Astros minor league system out of frustration and, dare I say, desperation back in August of 2011. The big league club was falling apart on its way to the first 100+ loss season in Astros history. I kept hearing how absolutely bereft the farm system was. I decided to look for myself and share my findings. Frankly, I'm very glad that I didn't look sooner. The farm system at the time was not without talent, but the lack of depth was startling, to say the least.

When Jonathan Mayo published what was then a Top 50 prospect list before the 2011 season, there was only one Astro on the list - Jordan Lyles at #31. Prior to the 2012 season, there were three Astros on what evolved to become the MLB Top 100 Prospect list: Jonathan Singleton (44), Jarred Cosart (61) and George Springer (84). On Tuesday the 2013 pre-season Top 100 list came out. Singleton went from #44 in 2012 to #27 in 2013. Carlos Correa debuted on the list at #30. Springer went from #84 to #57. Only Cosart actually dropped somewhat on the list from #61 in 2012 to #89 in 2013.

That makes four elite prospects on the list. Only nine teams had more top prospects on the list than the Astros did. The former head of scouting and development for one of those nine teams is currently the Astros General Manager. Things are looking up. We're not just looking at the beginnings of depth in the organization, we're looking at quality depth.

But I have seen some angst in the twitterverse over what was seen as a snub against Delino DeShields. The Astros Minor League Player of the Year had a terrific season and ended the year on Mayo's post-season 2012 Top 100 at #77 yet didn't make the 2013 pre-season Top 100. Let me explain why that is not necessarily a snub.

First of all, Mayo's list is not static. It evolves throughout the season as prospects make it to the big leagues, are no longer considered prospects and come off the list. DeShields did not start 2012 on the list at all. Mayo added him at some point during the season and DeShields moved up as others came off the list. After the season, Mayo did get some input from scouts, scouting directors, etc. to establish the post-season list, but the input he gets at the end of the season is not nearly as extensive as that he gets when he prepares the pre-season list. Comparing the post-season list to the next year's pre-season list is a bit of an apples and oranges comparison.

Secondly, the Top 100 list that came out Tuesday is absolutely loaded with close to MLB-ready talent. A total of 71 of the 100 players are projected to reach the majors in 2013 or 2014. DeShields is not projected to get to the bigs until 2015; presumably, that was a factor for some of those polled as they want to see DeShields succeed at the higher levels. If he can do that, he will undoubtedly start moving up the ranks as others fall off.

DeShields wasn't the only Astros player "snubbed," by the way. The Astros Minor League Pitcher of the Year Mike Foltynewicz wasn't on the list. Lance McCullers and Rio Ruiz were missing as well. Several players are awaiting their debut on the list. Two years ago, we couldn't say that we had many players poised to become elite prospects. But now we can. And that's a good thing.

The only "bad" news from the 2013 Top 100 list is that there are still doubts about whether or not Jarred Cosart will make it as a top of the rotation starter. He may only make it as an elite closer. Cosart will undoubtedly make his major league debut in 2013. If he spends enough time in the majors to graduate from this list, he won't be on the 2014 pre-season Top 100 list, but a very good case could be made that the Astros will have seven players or more on that 2014 list, and that doesn't even include anyone from the 2013 draft. Again, that's a good thing.

If you're still feeling a little disconsulate, I will leave you with this comment from Jonathan Mayo, "Why not focus on the fact that the Astros have four guys in the top 100, a much, much deeper farm system than they’ve had in years and a guy as GM who deserves a lot of credit for building the Cardinals’ system into what it is today."

Why not, indeed?

Happy Birthday - 1/31

Happy Birthday to ~

RHP Rayderson Chevalier (18)
One of the best names in the Astros minor league system, Chevalier signed with Houston as an amateur free agent out of the Dominican Republic in 2012. In his first professional season with the DSL Astros, he was 3-3 in 15 games (five starts) with a 6.44 ERA and a 1.638 WHIP.

One former Astro with a birthday today (you may have heard of him)

Lynn Nolan Ryan (aka the Ryan Express) was drafted in the 12th round in 1965 by the Mets and signed as a free agent with Houston in November of 1979 where he pitched from 1980 to 1988.  Despite pitching for 27 seasons with a lifetime ERA of 3.19 and WHIP of 1.247, striking out 5714 batters, throwing 7 no-hitters and appearing in 8 All-Star games, he never once won the Cy Young Award.  He was, however, elected to the Hall of Fame in 1999 in his first year of eligibility with a whopping 98.8% of the vote.

Tweet of the Day

Jeff Luhnow
Midnight flight to Caracas, Venezuela. Excited to see some future big leaguers.

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Astros Minor League Depth - Center Fielders

As Spring Training approaches, I've been looking at the Astros minor league depth, position by position. Today, we look at the center fielders in the organization who had the best seasons in 2012.

The embedded chart shows center fielders in the organization ranked from high to low in terms of OPS. I have noted their current age, the last level at which they played and, if they spent significant time at multiple positions, that information is included as well. I am including Che-Hsuan Lin more for comparison purposes than anything. Lin was claimed off waivers from the Red Sox this off-season and was later assigned to Oklahoma City. I did not include Brandon Barnes as he spent a good part of the season in Houston.



George Springer excelled in his time at Hi-A Lancaster, leading to an August promotion to Corpus Christi. He struggled in his first few games with Corpus, but was catching up as the season ended (he hit .306/.390/.722 over his last 10 games). I look for him to start the season back at AA, but to move quickly to AAA. I would like to see Springer showing more patience at the plate before he moves to the next level.

Andrew Aplin, the Astros 2012 fifth round pick, spent 44 games with the short season Tri-City team before leapfrogging directly to Hi-A Lancaster to finish the season. In contrast to Springer, Aplin only struck out 38 times in 68 games. By all accounts, Aplin is a very tough out and a plus defender in center.

Robbie Grossman had a solid season both before and after he came to the Astros organization in the Wandy Rodriguez trade. His total of 77 walks for the season would have ranked him fourth in the Astros system.

Trevor Crowe signed with Houston this off-season as a free agent. Although he has some major league experience, he spent all of 2012 in the minors, first for Cleveland and then for the Angels.

Drew Muren finished the season with Lancaster, but he started it at Lexington and spent a good chunk of the season at Corpus Christi. He showed his value and versatility everywhere he went, filling in for injured players and fielding all three outfield positions capably.

Brett Phillips, the Astros 2012 sixth round pick, hit the ground running ... literally. In his first few games, he had four triples. His production trailed off later in the season as a knee injury slowed him down, but he is going to be an exciting player to watch. He won't be 19 until May.

Another player to keep an eye on is D'Andre Toney. Toney came to the Astros organization as the PTBNL in the Humberto Quintero/Jason Bourgeois trade with Kansas City. Toney started off a little slow and ended a little slow, but in between he showed great promise. He profiles to show a good combination of power and speed. I look forward to seeing what he will do in 2013. Finally, I'll be interested to see what Javaris Reynolds does in 2013. The 7th round pick from 2011 was sidelined after playing in only 11 games in 2012.

Tuesday: Left Fielders
Coming Thursday: Right Fielders

Happy Birthday - 1/30

Happy Birthday to ~

LHP Brian Holmes (22)
Drafted by Houston in the 13th round in 2012 out of Wake Forest, Holmes had a terrific freshman season as part of the pitching-heavy Tri-City staff. In 13 games (12 starts), he was 7-2 with a 2.57 ERA and a 0.960 WHIP. Holmes flirted with no-hitters all season and came close to a perfect game as well.

Tweet of the Day

Bobby Doran
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Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Astros Minor League Depth - Left Fielders

As Spring Training approaches, I've been looking at the Astros minor league depth, position by position. Today, we look at the left fielders in the organization who had the best seasons in 2012.

Austin Wates - Corpus Christi June 2012
Photo by Jayne Hansen

The embedded chart shows left fielders in the organization ranked from high to low in terms of OPS. I have noted their current age, the last level at which they played and, if they spent significant time at multiple positions, that information is included as well. I am not including players such as J.D. Martinez and Fernando Martinez who spent substantial time on the major league roster in 2012.



Marc Krauss leads the list in terms of OPS. He simply dominated in his brief time at Corpus Christi after coming into the organization in the Chris Johnson trade with two doubles, five home runs and 16 RBI in only seven games. He was promptly promoted to Oklahoma City where he struggled at the end of a long season.

After a disappointing injury-beset first season in 2011, Brandon Meredith showed us what he can do when healthy. The power that we had hoped for when he was drafted in the sixth round in 2011 was on full display. I am eager to see what he can do in a full 140 game season in 2013.

Austin Wates just continued to do what he's always done -- hit. He inched up in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging over his 2011 numbers, erasing any doubts that his Lancaster numbers wouldn't translate to Corpus Christi. Now, he just needs to stay healthy in 2013.

Grant Hogue missed large chunks of the season due to injury but what he accomplished in 43 games, including 27 stolen bases, was remarkable. Chris Epps was one of the players to fill in for the injured when he was called up from Lexington to Lancaster and had a solid season both offensively and defensively.

Telvin Nash may have hit 29 home runs, but he also struck out 198 times and only drove in 75 runs. That is not a formula for long-term success as better and better pitchers exploit the holes in his swing. He will need to make adjustments in 2013 in order to continue his progress in the system. If he can make those adjustments, he could very well be a very effective DH.

Terrell Joyce had a good solid debut season offensively, but he will need to work on his defense in order to become a better all-around prospect.

There are a few other left fielders that I will be keeping an eye on in 2013. Dan Gulbransen showed promise in his first season, displaying some good power potential. He will simply need to be more consistent at the plate. If Wallace Gonzalez can cut down on the strikeouts in 2013, he could have a breakthrough year. Marc Wik is pretty much an unknown quantity for me, but it is my understanding that the 21st round draft pick was not even close to being 100% healthy in 2012. And finally, I am looking for Jordan Scott to regain his 2011 mojo at the plate and have a good season.

Coming Wednesday: Center Fielders

Two Astros Minor League Player Retirements

I learned that two of the Astros minor league players retired from the game during the off-season, LHP Scott Zuloaga and SS Alex Todd. Zuloaga was one of very few lefty bullpen arms available in the lower minors and he made the rounds between Lexington, Greeneville and Tri-City in 2012. Todd started the season in Lexington, but spent the bulk of the summer at Lancaster. Both players got to the finals for their teams with Zuloaga's Tri-City team falling just short. Todd went out on top, though, as part of the Cali League Championship JetHawks.

Alex Todd - Lancaster August 2012
Photo by Jayne Hansen

I never had the opportunity to meet Zuloaga, but I got the chance to get to know Alex Todd a little bit when I was at Lancaster last summer. I talked to him the day after a particularly good game and it was a pleasure. I wish both players the best of luck as they find out what comes after baseball.

Happy Birthday - 1/29

No future Astros and only one former Astro with a birthday today ~

RHP Brian Meyer (50)
Drafted by Houston in the 16th round in 1986, Meyer pitched in 34 games for the Astros from 1988 to 1990 with an ERA of 2.84 and a WHIP of 1.263. He went on to play in the minor leagues for the Seattle and Cleveland organizations in 1991, but never got back to the majors.

Tweet of the Day

mike Hauschild
New glove can only mean one thing.... baseball season is right around the corner! 
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Monday, January 28, 2013

Interview and Profile Links from 2011 and 2012

My interview and profile links are getting really lengthy on the front page so I'm going to consolidate the links from late 2011 through 2012 into one post for the front page. Here are the links in alphabetical order with the dates of the interviews/profiles indicated.

R.J. Alaniz - 8/15/12

Adam Bailey - 3/13/12

Brandon Barnes - 1/31/12

Brian Blasik - 9/14/12

Keith Bodie - 6/13/12

Erik Castro - 8/16/12

Kevin Chapman - 6/22/12

Jason Chowning - 2/21/12

Kirk Clark - 5/21/12

Ryan Cole - 12/12/11

Carlos Correa - 8/22/12

Jarred Cosart - 1/17/12

Delino DeShields - 5/23/12

Chris Devenski - 12/12/12

Bobby Doran - 6/6/12

Matt Duffy - 2/28/12

Chris Epps - 8/16/12

Mike Fast - 12/18/12

Mike Foltynewicz Interview - 5/7/12

Mike Foltynewicz Profile - 6/7/12

Jake Goebbert - 6/18/12

Kyle Hallock - 12/5/11

Mike Hauschild - 11/7/12

Bobby Heck, Pt. 1 - 7/2/12

Bobby Heck, Pt. 2 - 7/3/12

Tyler Heineman - 12/4/12

Enrique Hernandez - 8/13/12

Chris Hicks - 3/29/12

John Hinson - 2/7/12

Adrian Houser - 1/24/12

Adrian Houser - 8/23/12

Jordan Jankowski - 9/13/12

Zach Johnson Interview - 5/9/12

Zach Johnson Profile - 5/13/12

Kenny Long - 10/9/12

Jeff Luhnow - 11/29/12

Lance McCullers - 8/30/12

Chelsa Messinger - 10/30/12

Jio Mier - 2/14/12

Daniel Minor - 9/18/12

Joe Musgrove - 9/6/12

Brett Oberholtzer Interview - 7/31/12

Brett Oberholtzer Profile - 8/26/12

Rudy Owens - 10/23/12

Tyson Perez - 10/16/12

Brett Phillips - 10/2/12

Greg Rajan - 11/20/12

Andrew Robinson - 8/14/12

Brady Rodgers - 11/13/12

Rio Ruiz - 8/28/12

Jordan Scott - 5/11/12

Ross Seaton - 5/31/12

Jon Singleton Profile - 6/17/12

Jon Singleton Interview - 6/28/12

George Springer - 8/9/12

Jason Stoffel Profile - 6/25/12

Jason Stoffel Interview - 7/23/12

Alex Todd - 8/6/12

Nick Tropeano - 5/14/12

Rafy Valenzuela - 1/10/12

Austin Wates Interview - 6/20/12

Austin Wates Profile - 7/5/12

Aaron West - 9/26/12

Josh Zeid - 3/23/12

Blogger Q&A with Astros OF Justin Maxwell

Several members of the Astros blogging community went speed-dating this past weekend at Minute Maid Park. Well, not really, but it felt like that at times as Astros personnel and players dashed from table to table to grant us quick interviews. I sat with Terri of Tales from the Juice Box and Chris Perry, repping The Crawfish Boxes.

First up was Justin Maxwell. Since I write from a minor league perspective, I wanted to know about how he handled the inevitable frustrations of his slow and steady journey to the big leagues and what advice he might have for players impatient for a faster trajectory.

Justin Maxwell - Fan Fest 2013
Photo by Jayne Hansen

Maxwell, who was drafted in 2005, talked to me about expectations and realities starting with 2007 after he had been placed on the 40-man roster. "I came into Spring Training hoping to make the team. I figured if I played well, I'd make the team. I had a pretty good Spring Training that year, [but] came to find out late in Spring Training [that I was going] to AA so to me that was kind of a shock. It was my first introduction to the options process. My advice would be to always play well. Don't get frustrated with the situations that you can't control. Because that's what I did. [In 2009], I was up and down a little bit. 2010 was really frustrating. I was up and down a lot, about five times, and I kind of let that affect my play in the minor league level a little bit, but you just realize that there's a lot of teams watching you at all times so it's always in your favor to really play well. Nobody cares about what you're going through off the field. They want to see you perform on the field so if you can control what you can control at the plate or in the field, just focus on baseball. The rest will take care of itself."

I also asked Maxwell one of my standard minor league player interview questions about which pitcher on the team he would least like to face in the batter's box. He joked about Lucas Harrell and Bud Norris being "no big deal" before he singled out Rhiner Cruz as an exceptional talent. "He's got an amazing arm. If he can get those secondary pitches over for strikes, he's going to be a special player. Not many guys can throw 97 on a consistent basis, day in and day out."

We talked a little about his goals for himself in 2013; playing centerfield and hitting to centerfield in Minute Maid Park; and playing in the American League, but a major focus of the interview was team leadership. Maxwell spoke of Brett Myers and Chris Snyder establishing a veteran presence in 2012, "I liked to pick their brains and listen to them when they would talk about the game because they'd been in the game for so long." He anticipates that Carlos Pena, "one of the nicest people I've come into contact with in baseball" will provide that type of leadership in 2013.

But I wanted to know which younger players on the team were poised to evolve into leadership roles. "Hopefully, it's myself. I've been in situations like this before as one of the older players, and I was one of the older players last year. I'm usually not as vocal as I should be. Hopefully, I can take more of a leadership role this year."

On a team like the Astros, leaders will need to emerge organically from among the younger players. But leadership cannot be forced on the unwilling. Someone must be prepared to take on the mantle and Justin Maxwell appears to be more than willing. As an excellent communicator with a clear vision, I think he will succeed in establishing himself in the clubhouse.

Happy Birthday - 1/28

LHP Wesley Wright (28)
Dequam LaWesley Wright was originally drafted by the Dodgers in the seventh round in 2003 and came to Houston as a Rule 5 pick in 2007. One of the most reliable parts of a sometimes shaky bullpen for the Astros in 2012, Wesley was 2-2 with a 3.27 ERA and a 1.185 WHIP. Lefties only hit .198 off him.

LHP Kenny Long (24)
Drafted in the 22nd round in 2012 out of Illinois State, Long excelled with Tri-City in his professional debut, going 1-1 with a 1.88 ERA and a 0.628 WHIP in 17 appearances and merited a promotion to Lancaster. In 12 regular season appearances with the JetHawks, he was 1-0 with a 1.13 ERA and a 0.625 WHIP. In the post-season, he had a 1.59 ERA and a 0.529 WHIP with two saves in six appearances and recorded the final out to secure the California League Championship.

Former Astros with birthdays today ~

IF Pete Runnels (died May 20, 1991 at 63)
Runnels came to Houston in a November 1962 trade with Boston and played in 146 games for the Colt .45's in 1963 and 1964, hitting .246/.329/.287. Runnels was a three-time All-Star for Boston with a .291 career batting average and he led the American League in batting average in 1960 and 1962.

RHP Oscar Henriquez (39)
Henriquez signed with Houston as an amateur free agent out of Venezuela in 1991 and pitched in only four games for Houston in 1997 with a 4.50 ERA and a 1.250 WHIP. He was subsequently traded to the Marlins in a package for Moises Alou in November 1997.

Tweet of the Day

Mike Foltynewicz
I would like to thank  for honoring me at their 67th annual banquet tonight. It was a great time and I had a lot of fun.
>>>>>>><<<<<<<

Congratulations to Mike on being named Chicago Area Minor League Player of the Year.

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Astros GM Jeff Luhnow on Minor League Pitching Depth

During yesterday's Astros Fan Fest at Minute Maid Park, several individuals from the Astros blogging community attended and were given the opportunity to conduct short interviews with Astros General Manager Jeff Luhnow, new Manager Bo Porter, and outfielders Justin Maxwell and J.D. Martinez. I will talk more about Porter, Maxwell and Martinez later, but since Luhnow's remarks dovetailed so nicely with the minor league depth series I've been working on over the last couple of weeks, I wanted to touch on his remarks about minor league pitching depth first.

Take the starting right-handed pitchers who had good seasons on full-season league teams in 2012, add in lefties Dallas Keuchel, Brett Oberholtzer and Rudy Owens, and then add in the  new pitchers that Luhnow picked up in the off-season (Alex White, John Ely, Philip Humber and Erik Bedard), and the field starts getting very crowded between the major leagues, AAA and AA. And this isn't even counting Kyle Weiland and Wes Musick as they come back from injury.

Astros GM Jeff Luhnow - 2013 Fan Fest
Photo by Jayne Hansen

So I asked Luhnow how he was going to handle juggling 15 or more pitchers for whom a valid case could be made for a starting roster spot at AAA and AA. I shouldn't have been surprised by his response, but I was. I should know by now that Luhnow thinks outside the box.

"That's going to be one of the most challenging things. We've got our best people working on it. Quentin [McCracken, Director of Player Development] is going through every day and putting magnets in different spots. Sig's [Mejdal, Director of Decision Sciences] on it, and I'm on it. I think those roster decisions at AA and AAA are going to be as important as the big league roster decisions.

"When I was farm director at the Cardinals, I instituted the piggyback, the tandem pitching rotations which allowed you to have eight starters for the first couple months of the year so we are going to discuss whether or not that's appropriate.

"The way you do that [is] you have four groups of two. First guy comes in and goes through the fifth inning and the second guy goes sixth to the end. The pitchers have to get used to it. They're not used to coming in in the sixth inning, but sometimes it's good because then [they] get the experience of finishing a game which is a totally different experience than most of these guys have had. And then the next time, [the second pitcher is] the one that starts the game and [his] piggyback partner comes in later.

"We're going to talk about it. We'll be creative certainly in how we allocate those roster spots. We'll proably have to have a few guys a level below where they would be otherwise."

That final statement brought to mind Mike Foltynewicz. Until recently, I thought that Foltynewicz might skip Lancaster and go straight to AA Corpus Christi, but in looking at the pitching depth at the higher levels, I had come to doubt that there would be enough room for him on that roster, at least to start the season. Luhnow and I discussed that briefly and it sounds as though he isn't as likely as the last regime to spare a top prospect  like Foltynewicz the challenges of pitching in the hitter-friendly California League, "If they're going to learn to pitch here [Minute Maid Park], they're going to need to learn to pitch through some adversity."

One final thought. Knowing what Luhnow has in mind as far as the possibility of using tandem pitching duos helped me understand my findings regarding the lack of depth in the area of right-handed relief pitching at the upper levels. With two starters piggybacking in one game, the relief corps isn't likely to get much work.

The plethora of pitching is a good problem to have. And having a creative out-of-the-box thinker like Luhnow around to solve it is a very good thing as well.

Happy Birthday - 1/27

No future Astros, only former Astros with birthdays today

LF Phil Plantier (44)
An 11th round pick by the Red Sox in 1987, this is how he got to Houston (according to Baseball-Reference):
December 28, 1994: Traded by the San Diego Padres with Derek Bell, Doug Brocail, Ricky Gutierrez, Pedro Martinez and Craig Shipley to the Houston Astros for a player to be named later, Ken Caminiti, Andujar Cedeno, Steve Finley, Roberto Petagine and Brian Williams. The Houston Astros sent Sean Fesh (minors) (May 1, 1995) to the San Diego Padres to complete the trade.
Plantier played in 22 games for the Astros in 1995, hitting .250/.349/.456 before being traded to the Padres in July of that year. He became hitting coach for the Padres on June 2, 2012 replacing Randy Ready.

RHP Rusty Meacham (45)
Originally drafted by the Tigers in the 33rd round in 1987, Meacham signed with Houston as a free agent in 1999 and pitched in only five games for Houston in 2000 with less than desirable results. His best season was 1992 for Kansas City when he went 10-4 with a 2.74 ERA and a 1.072 WHIP in 64 appearances.

Tweet of the Day

Kenny Long
Taking some hacks off the tee at work. With a little work I could be a 2 way player. 

Friday, January 25, 2013

Happy Birthday - 1/25

No future Astros, only former Astros with birthdays today ~

RHP Vern Ruhle (died January 20, 2007 at 55)
A 17th round pick by the Tigers in 1972, Ruhle signed with Houston as a free agent in March 1978. In 186 games (93 starts) for the Astros from 1978 to 1984, he had a record of 39-46 with a 3.35 ERA and a 1.227 WHIP. His best season with Houston was 1980 when he was 12-4 with a 2.37 ERA and a 1.111 WHIP in 28 games (22 starts).

2B Ernie Fazio (71)
Signed by Houston as an amateur free agent in 1962, Fazio played in 114 games for the Colt .45's in 1962 and 1963, hitting .179/.270/.271.

LHP Philip Barzilla (34)
Drafted by the Astros in the fourth round in 2001, Barzilla faced two batters in one-third of an inning on June 11, 2006 and gave up a hit, leading to his major league career 0.00 ERA and 3.000 WHIP.

Tweet of the Day

John Hinson
Heard birds chirping for the first time in a while this morning. This can only mean one thing.. Baseball is just around the corner!

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Astros Minor League Depth - RH Relievers Pt. 2

As Spring Training approaches, I've been looking at the Astros minor league depth, position by position. Because of the sheer number of pitchers in the organization, I needed to break them down into groups. Today, we look at the right-handed relief pitchers who had the best seasons pitching at either A level or in the rookie league for the organization.

The embedded chart shows the pitchers ranged from low to high in terms of WHIP. I have noted their current age and the last level at which they played. I limited inclusion on the list to those who pitched a minimum of 25 innings.



As I noted before, Chia-Jen Lo will likely start the season at AA and move up quickly if he continues to show that his comeback from TJ surgery is complete. In addition, Carlos Quevedo, who started the season at Lexington, and Andrew Robinson, who dominated most of the season after a mostly dreadful April, are both good candidates for promotion.

Cameron Lamb is new to the organization after being selected in the minor league portion of the Rule 5 draft from the Giants organization. He has the lowest strikeout rate of the group, but one of the highest groundball out rates.

Mike Hauschild has Lamb beat, though, in terms of his groundball rate with an incredible 5.20 GO/AO ratio to go with a very impressive 11.6 strikeouts per nine innings. Jordan Jankowski's 14.8 strikeouts per nine is the best among right-handed relievers in the Astros minor league system. Hauschild, Jankowski, Travis Ballew, Michael Dimock and Erick Gonzalez (community college) were all drafted in 2012 out of college and were expected to do well at the lower levels. They will now need to prove that they can do so at the higher levels.

Murilo Gouvea was a workhouse for Lexington, making 50 appearances out of the bullpen. Gouvea also played for Team Brazil in the WBC Qualifiers in November and was instrumental in Brazil's upset of the host Panamanian team.

I had to draw the line somewhere on this list, but there are a few other pitchers I will be keeping my eye on in 2013. John Neely had a somewhat uneven season, but finished very strongly. Another pitcher who intrigues me is Christian Garcia due to reports that his fastball sits in the low 90's and tops out in the mid-90's. He was frequently used in longer relief outings with mixed results. Both Neely and Garcia were lower round draft picks in 2012 and will need to set themselves apart in Spring Training. Jamaine Cotton was outstanding early in his season at Tri-City, but faltered down the stretch.

The most noteworthy candidate to follow, though, will be Jack Armstrong, the Astros 2011 third round pick, as he comes back from TJ surgery.

The fact of life in the minor leagues is that a right-handed relief pitcher, particularly at the lower levels, is at the bottom of the food chain. They have the toughest time of all in establishing themselves and are given the slimmest chance to re-establish themselves if they struggle. Each and every one of them will have to continue to prove themselves time after time after time, level after level after level. This post really just reflects a moment in time as we look at the relief corps because predicting the road ahead for any of these pitchers would be difficult at best.

Monday: Starting RHP for Full Season Clubs
Tuesday: Starting RHP for Short Season Clubs
Wednesday: RH Relievers at AA and AAA

Tweets of the Day

The South Texas Winter Baseball Banquet was held in Corpus Christi last evening and three of our Astros were honored. RHP Daniel Minor, who was drafted by the Astros in the 9th round of the 2012 draft and had a terrific first season at Greeneville, was named the Texas A&M Corpus Christi Player of the Year. 2B Jose Martinez was name the Player of the Year for the Corpus Christi Hooks while RHP Jason Stoffel drew Pitcher of the Year honors for the Hooks team. In addition, Milo Hamilton was given a lifetime achievement award. Softball pitcher extraordinaire (and now coach) Cat Osterman was the featured speaker.

Congratulations to Daniel, Jose and Jason!

Daniel  Minor
As if I don't feel short enough already, cat osterman makes it that much worse 
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Daniel  Minor
The one and only milo Hamilton, listened to him growing up, never imagined I'd meet him in person 
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Happy Birthday - 1/24

Happy Birthday to ~

CF Javaris Reynolds (20)
Drafted by the Astros out of high school in 2011 in the seventh round, Reynolds played in only 11 games for the GCL Astros in 2012, hitting .214/.333/.214. He last played on July 13th but was never placed on the DL.

2B Jose Martinez (27)
Signed as a minor league free agent in 2012, Martinez split his time between Corpus Christi (.304/.362/.464 with 21 doubles, four triples and 13 home runs in 107 games) and Oklahoma City (.205/.272/.260 with two doubles and a triple in 23 games). He played in Venezuela this winter, hitting .287/.358/.401 in 46 games.

D'Andre Toney (21)
Toney was the PTBNL in the trade that sent Humberto Quintero and Jason Bourgeois to the Royals. Originally drafted by Kansas City in the 14th round in 2011, Toney played in 59 games for the Greeneville Astros, hitting .252/.351/.326.

RHP Juan Hernandez (20)
Signed as an amateur free agent from the Dominican Republic in 2012, Hernandez spent his first professional season with the DSL Astros. In 13 games (11 starts), he was 0-4 with a 3.78 ERA and a 1.510 WHIP.

Former Astros with birthdays today

LF Sandy Valdespino (74)
Valdespino came to Houston in a December 1968 trade with Atlanta and played in 41 games for the Astros in 1969, hitting .244/.326/.277.

LHP Ross Powell (45)
Originally drafted by the Reds in the third round in 1989, Powell came to Houston from Pittsburgh in July 1995. In 27 games for Houston in 1994 and 1995, he had a 6.61 ERA and a 2.327 WHIP.

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Checking In With Delino DeShields

Delino DeShields was the Astros minor league Player of the Year for 2012 and Mike Foltynewicz was the Pitcher of the Year. They have both agreed to participate in a series of mini-interviews as we track their progress throughout the 2013 season. There won't be a set schedule, but I'll do my best to check in with them from time to time.

First up, DeShields talks about his 2012 season and what he's been doing in the off-season.

WTH: You had a whirlwind season with the 101 stolen bases, the promotion to Lancaster, being named MVP of the JetHawks Championship series and Minor League Player of the Year. What memories of the season will you take with you?

DD: I have a lot of memories that I will carry on with me. It was a big year. Was I surprised? No, I just needed to be more calm and study the game. But I did a lot of good things this year. I broke the stolen base record in Lexington and for the whole organization. I think I have the all time hits record in Lexington also. And then being named minor league Player of the Year for our organization was huge for me after having the year that I had before, even though it wasn't all about the numbers in 2011. And then winning a championship and getting MVP of the championship series, and getting to share that with my coaches, teammates, and fans was something very special to me. I haven't won anything like that in my entire life so those memories I know I will carry on with me forever.

WTH: What have you been doing in the off-season to prepare yourself for the 2013 season?

DD: Preparing myself for a bigger challenge. Get stronger, faster, trying to perfect my craft and what I love to do. We all know that no one is perfect but people should strive to be, I believe. Some other things [that I am working on] are my quickness defensively, on the bases, and becoming a better student at the game.

WTH: What have you been doing for fun in the off-season?

DD: Some things I have been doing for fun during the off-season is I have been trying to learn how to play the guitar. Been traveling a bit and really just enjoying my family and friends before I leave again.

WTH: What is your goal for Spring Training? How special is it to be invited to the major league camp again this year?

DD: It's real special to be invited to big league camp for the second year in a row. It's just a blessing to get another opportunity like this to make a mark and to establish myself as a ballplayer and as Delino DeShields. A goal of mine throughout spring training is to just stay healthy. I think that's the number one goal for me because I don't want to miss any opportunities. I don't want things being handed to me. I want to earn everything that I do.

Astros Minor League Depth - RH Relievers Pt. 1

As Spring Training approaches, I've been looking at the Astros minor league depth, position by position. Because of the sheer number of pitchers in the organization, I really needed to break them down into groups. Today, we're doing something a little different because I was a bit shocked when I realized this and I wanted to share.

The embedded chart shows ALL of the right-handed relief pitchers in the organization who finished their seasons at AA or AAA who remain in the Astros organization. ALL OF THEM PLUS TWO. Chuckie Fick (who apparently now goes by C.J.) and Jose Valdez actually ended their seasons in Houston, but neither is on the 40-man roster currently so I'm including them on this list.  Hector Ambriz was also used in relief at AAA in 2012, but remains on the 40-man roster after finishing his season in Houston so I'm not including him.



Where did everyone go, you ask? Arcenio Leon and Brian Sanches were lost to free agency and five others who pitched in relief at those levels in 2012 are unsigned free agents - Erick Abreu, Henry Villar, Adalberto Flores, Sergio Perez and Enerio Del Rosario.

I suppose that bodes well for Carlos Quevedo and Andrew Robinson from Lancaster. And Chia-Jen Lo will probably start the season at AA with the intent of moving him quickly, but it's still pretty slim on available, experienced arms.

Which brings me back to something I noted earlier this week about how crowded AA and AAA are likely to get in the way of starting pitchers. I really think that we will see some of our starters converted to the bullpen.  I can see David Martinez and Jose Cisnero converted to relievers (although I know of no plans to do so) and the possibility of Jarred Cosart as a closer has been bandied about for the last couple of years. And you'll note that I included Jake Buchanan as a relief pitcher as he was used out of the bullpen in the latter part of the season, despite being used exclusively in a starting role previously.

With that said, who exactly are the few, the proud, the brave? Jason Stoffel had a terrific season and led the Astros organization in saves with 27, and he managed to maintain a sub-1.00 WHIP over his 55 appearances. Jose Valdez numbers are inflated by the struggles he encountered mid-season before being placed on the DL. He was second in saves in 2012. [Note on Valdez: Mike at Farmstros astutely observed that Valdez is no longer shown as a non-roster invitee and has an option in his contract that may land him in Japan. If that happens, the depth of experienced relievers at AA and AAA dwindles even further.]

Josh Zeid has good stuff, but in my opinion he lacks confidence. He had a Jekyll and Hyde season and it was often difficult to know which Zeid would be showing up. His last few regular season appearances in August and September were excellent, though. Zeid is another pitcher who I think will benefit from working with Roger Clemens on his mental approach.

Mark Hamburger started the season with the Rangers, then was claimed off waivers by the Padres and then finally claimed by Houston. He struggled with the Rangers and Padres, but pitched closer to his 2011 AAA form in his 17 appearances at Oklahoma City.

Monday: Starting RHP for Full Season Clubs
Tuesday: Starting RHP for Short Season Clubs
Coming Thursday: RH Relievers - A and below

Happy Birthday - 1/23

No future Astros, but a few former Astros with birthdays today ~

RHP Don Nottebart (died October 4, 2007 at 71)
Nottebart came to Houston in a December 1962 trade with the Milwaukee Braves and pitched in 88 games (76 starts) for the Colt 45's and Astros from 1963 to 1965 with an ERA of 3.86 and a WHIP of 1.244. Nottebart pitched Houston's first no-hitter on May 17, 1963 against the Phillies.

2B Joey Amalfitano (79)
Amalfitano was drafted by Houston from the Giants in the 1961 expansion draft and played in 117 games for the Colt .45's in 1962, hitting .237/.317/.303.

1B/OF Benny Distefano (51)
A second round pick by the Pirates in 1982, Distefano signed with Houston as a free agent in January 1992. In 52 games for the Astros that season, he hit .233/.303/.300.

RHP Brandon Duckworth (37)
Duckworth came to Houston as a part of the Billy Wagner trade with the Phillies in November 2003. In 26 games (eight starts) for the Astros in 2004 and 2005, he was 1-3 with an 8.08 ERA and a 1.778 WHIP.

Tweet of the Day

Nick Tropeano
Whatever is going to happen will happen, whether we worry or not. No worries.

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Astros Minor League Depth - Starting RHP Pt. 2

As Spring Training approaches, I've been looking at the Astros minor league depth, position by position. Because of the sheer number of pitchers in the organization, I really needed to break them down into groups. Today, we look at the right-handed starting pitchers in the organization who had the best seasons in 2012 playing on short season clubs.

Lance McCullers - August 2012
Photo by Jayne Hansen

The embedded chart shows the pitchers ranged from low to high in terms of WHIP. I have noted their current age and the last level at which they played.



2012 college draft picks Aaron West, Daniel Minor and Brady Rodgers had simply outstanding first seasons in the organization, as did NDFA Lance Day.

Astros supplemental first rounder, Lance McCullers, was kept on a strict pitch count, but was nonetheless impressive in his limited time. The Blue Jays supplemental first rounder from 2011, Kevin Comer, came to the organization very late in the season as the PTBNL in the 10-player July trade. Adrian Houser, the Astros second rounder from 2011 showed definite improvement over his freshman season.

Samil de los Santos in his second season and Elieser Hernandez in his first both had good seasons for the DSL Astros. Agapito Barrios and Edison Frias both made the transition from the DSL in their first season to the GCL in their second quite nicely, although Barrios needs to work on his control (8 hit batters and 11 wild pitches for the short season).

Both Raul Rivera and Vincent Velasquez missed the 2011 season completely due to injury which makes their 2012 results that much more impressive.

Michael Feliz' ERA and WHIP for the GCL Astros was practically microscopic before his promotion to Greeneville. Feliz, who only turned 19 in September, will likely start the season back at Greeneville.

Juri Perez had fantastic numbers at Tri-City, and made five appearances (three starts) for Lexington. I look for him to start the season with Quad Cities.

There are two other pitchers that I will be keeping an eye on in 2013 that were with the Greeneville squad in 2012. Francis Ramirez had a fairly average season, but his strikeout rate was worthy of notice. Unfortunately, his walk rate caught my notice too, but not the good kind of notice. The other is Joe Musgrove, another 2011 first round supplemental pick by the Blue Jays who came to the Astros organization in the July trade. Musgrove was limited to only 17 innings coming off an injury in 2012. I assume that Musgrove will still be groomed to be a starter, at least for now, but that isn't necessarily a given.

I'm not making many predictions as to where these players will be playing in 2013, but most of those who played at Tri-City will probably go to full season A at Quad Cities. Most of the others will likely play at some level of short season ball after spending time in extended spring training.

Monday: Starting RHP in Full Season Clubs
Coming on Wednesday: Right-Handed Relief Pitchers at AA and AAA