Astros Minor League Depth - Right-Handed Starters, Part 2

In looking at the Astros MiLB depth, I covered those right-handed starting pitchers who finished the season at Advanced A or higher here. Now let's look at those righties who finished the season at Quad Cities or one of the short season or rookie levels. I've included a few pitchers on this list who may have relieved more than started in 2013, but who I believe are still in the mix as potential starters, such as Daniel Minor and Troy Scribner as well as Joe Musgrove who was coming off an injury. I have sorted the pitchers by WHIP, low to high.

First let's look at the 2013 draftees. Naturally, Mark Appel as the first round pick has gotten most of the attention, but Tri-City's Kyle Westwood (13th round) and Andrew Thurman (second round) had excellent freshman seasons as well. Thurman led this trio with a healthy strikeout rate (9.8 per nine innings) and was also much more of a flyball pitcher than the other two; his GO/AO ratio of 0.69 was lower than all but one of the 25 pitchers on the list. Conversely, Appel had the highest groundball rate out of the entire group, with a 2.24 GO/AO ratio, although his groundball rate was somewhat lower after his promotion to Quad Cities. Westwood had a particularly good season, leading the list in ERA and WHIP and sporting an impressively low walk rate. Batters hit .173 against him.

Andrew Thurman - July 2013

Photo by Jayne Hansen

Troy Scribner, signed as a non-drafted free agent last season, also impressed in his time at three levels, culminating with Tri-City. In addition to a sub-1.000 WHIP and solid ERA, he had the highest strikeout rate in the system for anyone pitching a minimum of 50 innings (tied with reliever Travis Ballew). He held batters to a .193 average.

2012 draftees Lance McCullers (first round compensation pick) and Daniel Minor (ninth round) both plied their wares in Quad Cities for the season. McCullers had a very solid first full season and stretched his innings out to 104+ before being shut down for the season after his August 15th start. His walk rate was high, but so was his strikeout rate (10.1 per nine innings). Minor started out in a tandem rotation and ended the season starting in his last three appearances, but was used extensively out of the bullpen in between. He may ultimately be headed to the bullpen since he fared better in relief, going 7-1 with a 2.44 ERA, 1.333 WHIP and a 9.9 strikeouts per nine innings in that role.

Lance McCullers - April 2013

Photo by Jayne Hansen

Adrian Houser (second round) and Brandon Culbreth (eighth round) represent the 2011 Astros draft class. Houser had a strong season for Tri-City and I am extremely encouraged by the fact that he managed to halve his walk rate from the prior year. Culbreth has an incomplete. He did not appear between July 18th and August 28th. Both pitchers are 21, with Houser hitting that milestone on Sunday.

Three other 2011 draft picks acquired in trades by the Astros had tough seasons. Kevin Comer had an up and down season and fared better in relief at Tri-City, allowing only a .216 batting average in that role. Joe Musgrove got a late start to the season due to injury and his overall numbers aren't great, but he was coming on very strong at the end of the season. In 18 innings pitched in August for the GCL, he was 1-1 with a 1.96 ERA and a 1.255 WHIP, walking only two batters and striking out 17. Chris Devenski started the season well (3.91 ERA and 1.263 WHIP in 6 appearances in Lancaster in April) and ended it reasonably well (3.60 ERA and 1.367 WHIP in five starts in Quad Cities in August), but he was largely ineffective in between. It is my sincere hope that Devenski, who threw a no-hitter to end his 2012 season in Lexington, will be back on track in 2014.

In looking at the Latin non-drafted free agents, there are several interesting players, but Michael Feliz stands out from the rest. The 20-year old Dominican (who just turned 20 in September) was dominant in 14 games (10 starts) at Tri-City. A sub-2.00 ERA, a sub-1.000 WHIP and 78 strikeouts to 13 walks in 69 innings at short season A before his 20th birthday? What's not to like? And prospect experts took note, with Feliz landing on several recent top Astros prospect lists.

Michael Feliz - July 2013

Photo by Jayne Hansen

Of those who made it as far as Greeneville, Jandel Gustave is definitely the most interesting of the bunch. He's been known to touch 100 and was just included in Baseball America's Prospect Handbook as the 27th best prospect in the Astros system. Luis Ordosgoitti is another pitcher with an incomplete. After being shelved for most of the season, he only saw limited action in Greeneville in August. Edison Frias started the season at Tri-City but spent the majority at Greeneville before returning to Tri-City for his final start. Both Frias and teammate Frederick Tiburcio had good seasons with Greeneville, but both turned 23 after the season ended and should be expected to do well at that level. Jose Montero spent most of his season with the GCL Astros and actually did better in his limited time at Greeneville after the promotion. Francis Ramirez also played the bulk of his season in the GCL before a late season promotion to Greeneville. He did not fare as well as Montero did after his promotion.

Three of the young Latin players from this list ended their season in the GCL. Gerardo Juarez spent the majority of his season with the Dominican Summer League and his excellent numbers merited a late season promotion to the GCL. Agapito Barrios, who only turned 20 in November, was in his second season in the GCL. David Paulino did not play in the Houston farm system in 2013. He was obtained after the season ended as the PTBNL in the Jose Veras trade. He excelled in limited action for the GCL Detroit team. He last pitched in mid-July and was reported to have subsequently undergone Tommy John Surgery.

Harold Arauz (18), Elieser Hernandez (18), Rayderson Chevalier (19) and Juan Hernandez (21) were at the core of a very talented rotation for the Dominican Summer League Astros in 2013. All were in their second years as professionals and all impressed, but I am most intrigued by the Panamanian Arauz and Elieser Hernandez, a Venezuelan. I wouldn't be surprised to see any of the four make the jump stateside in 2014 and I will be watching the transition closely.