Sunday, December 6, 2015

Astros Farm Report: 12-6

The Baseball Winter Meetings are upon us, but first things first ...

WISHING A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO

12-6: RHP Franklin Perez (18)
12-7: OF/2B Frankeny Fernandez (19)
12-8: C Oscar Campos (19)

TWEET OF THE WEEK
FALL/WINTER LEAGUE STATS

Here is how the Astros players participating in fall and winter leagues have fared to date (through Saturday, the 5th, unless otherwise noted):

ARIZONA FALL LEAGUE - FALL LEAGUE ENDED 11/21
3B J.D. Davis - .279/.329/.456 in 17 games
OF Derek Fisher - .254/.397/.424 in 17 games
IF Chan-Jong Moon - .093/.241/.116 in 13 games
1B A.J. Reed - .231/.326/.385 in 11 games
LHP Chris Cotton - 1.17 ERA/0.783 WHIP in 8 games (7.2IP)
LHP Brian Holmes - 1.13 ERA/1.250 WHIP in 6 games (16.0IP)
LHP Albert Minnis - 2.31 ERA/1.200 WHIP in 9 games (11.2IP)
RHP Keegan Yuhl - 7.88 ERA/1.625 WHIP in 8 games (8.0IP)

New Astro Brendan McCurry, obtained in the Jed Lowrie trade last week, went 0-1 with a 4.73 ERA and a 1.125 WHIP in 11 games (13.1 IP) in the Arizona Fall League.

DOMINICAN WINTER LEAGUE (stats thru Friday only)
C Tyler Heineman - .190/.288/.224 in 19 games - no longer playing
OF Teoscar Hernandez - .222/.250/.222 in 9 games
1B/DH Tyler White - .306/.434/.524 in 34 games
RHP Jake Buchanan - 2.01 ERA/0.830 WHIP in 7 games (31.1IP) - no longer playing
LHP Reymin Guduan - 4.22 ERA/1.875 WHIP in 13 games (10.2IP)
RHP Jandel Gustave - 2.87 ERA/1.277 WHIP in 14 games (15.2IP)
RHP Angel Heredia - 13.50 ERA/2.500 WHIP in 2 games (2.0IP) - not currently playing
RHP Jordan Jankowski - 16.20 ERA and 2.400 WHIP in 2 games (1.2IP)
RHP Juan Minaya - 12.79 ERA/2.842 WHIP in 6 games (6.1IP) - not currently playing

White has cranked it up a notch this week, going 9-for-20 with five runs, a double, home run, four RBI and five walks; last night's 2-for-4 game gives him a .313 batting average. Hernandez is heating up a little more slowly; his 1-for-2 night last night has his average up to .250. The only pitcher who saw action since last Saturday was Reymin Guduan and his one outing was mostly forgettable.

VENEZUELAN WINTER LEAGUE
IF Arturo Michelena - .083/.083/.083 in 8 games (only 12 at-bats; has been playing in the Liga Paralela)
IF Kristian Trompiz - 2 games as pinch runner; no at-bats (has been playing in the Liga Paralela)
OF Danry Vasquez - .288/.333/.423 in 41 games
*RHP Ruben "R.J." Alaniz - 2.49 ERA/1.303 WHIP in 9 games (25.1IP)
RHP Chris Devenski - 5.21 ERA/1.579 in 5 games (19.0IP) - no longer playing
RHP James Hoyt - 1.86 ERA/1.035 WHIP in 19 games (19.1IP) - no longer playing

*Free agent

Danry Vasquez didn't have the best week, but he ended it on a high note, going 3-for-3 with a double, RBI, walk and run scored in last night's game. Hoyt is back home after conducting a very successful winter campaign and it appears that Devenski may be done as well since he hasn't pitched since November 23rd.

MEXICAN PACIFIC LEAGUE
OF Leo Heras - .268/.394/.463 in 26 games - not currently playing
RHP Enrique Chavez - 9.00 ERA/3.000 WHIP in 1 game (1.0IP) - not currently playing
RHP Jose Hernandez - 1.39 ERA/1.021 WHIP in 8 games (32.1IP)
RHP Juan Robles - 4.02 ERA/1.277 WHIP in 10 games (15.2IP) - did not play last week
RHP Gonzalo Sanudo - 4.15 ERA/0.923 WHIP in 9 games (8.2IP)

Sanudo only gave up one hit in his two appearances during the week; unfortunately, that one hit was a solo home run. Hernandez had a great start last Sunday, allowing only two hits and two walks while striking out five in a scoreless five innings, earning the win.

AUSTRALIAN BASEBALL LEAGUE (thru Sunday)
C Jake Bowey - .094/.171/.094 in 10 games - did not play last week
IF Jared Cruz - .091/.091/.091 in 7 games - not currently playing
1B Connor MacDonald - .156/.264/.267 in 19 games - did not play last week
IF/OF Marc Wik - .319/.441/.407 in 27 games
RHP Kevin Comer - 16.88 ERA/4.499 WHIP in 4 games (2.2IP) - not currently playing

Wik had an absolute monster week, going 8-for-14 with a double, six walks, a stolen base, three RBI and six runs scored over the last five games. He is in the top 10 in the ABL in average and on-base percentage and is tied for first place in walks.

PUERTO RICAN WINTER LEAGUE
OF Edwin Medina - .235/.333/.294 in 15 games (17AB)
OF Alexander Melendez - .000/.000/.000 in 5 games (2AB)
C Roberto Pena - .132/.214/.184 in 14 games
C Max Stassi - .280/.333/.520 in 8 games - no longer playing
RHP Travis Ballew - 3.60 ERA/1.333 WHIP in 12 games (15.0IP)

Ballew made three appearances last week, allowing one hit, one run and three walks in 2.1 innings of work.

NEWS AND LINKS

The biggest news, of course, is the upcoming Rule 5 Draft taking place at this week's Baseball Winter Meetings in Nashville. The draft will take place on Thursday the 10th starting at 9:00 CST. The full schedule and other information about the meetings can be found here.

There is always a lot of wheeling and dealing that goes on during the meetings and the Astros cleared out a couple of additional roster spots last week by trading Hank Conger to Tampa Bay for cash and by non-tendering Chris Carter. The ongoing off-season transaction list can be found here.

As a reminder, here are the players who are at risk of being taken in the Rule 5 Draft this year (as they were not protected on the 40-man roster). Those in bold are on MLB Pipeline's Top 30 prospect list for the Astros.

AAA Position Players
#C Tyler Heineman
#IF Joe Sclafani

AAA Pitchers
#RHP Travis Ballew
RHP Chris Devenski
#RHP Mike Hauschild
#RHP Jordan Jankowski
RHP Tyson Perez
#RHP Brady Rodgers
LHP Tommy Shirley

AA Position Players
#OF Teoscar Hernandez
SS Chan Moon
C Roberto Pena
OF Danry Vasquez

AA Pitchers
RHP Edison Frias
LHP Reymin Guduan
#LHP Brian Holmes
RHP Gonzalo Sanudo
#RHP Aaron West

Position Players at High A or lower
#C Marlon Avea
#OF Rodrigo Ayarza
#3B Randy Cesar
2B Jose Fernandez
#IF Arturo Michelena
#IF Luis Reynoso
#IF/OF Marc Wik

Pitchers at High A or lower
#RHP Harold Arauz
RHP Agapito Barrios
#RHP Kevin Comer
#RHP Samil de los Santos
#RHP Yeyfry del Rosario
LHP Evan Grills
RHP Angel Heredia
RHP Jose Montero
#RHP Christian Powell
#LHP Edwin Villarroel
RHP Andrew Walter

A reminder of how the Rule 5 draft works can be found here.

In minor league staff news, the Astros are losing 2015 Fresno Pitching Coach Ace Adams to the Detroit organization where he will be joining recently retired MiLB home run king Mike Hessman in coaching the New York-Penn League Connecticut Tigers. Adams had earlier been announced to be moving to the Astros New York-Penn League affiliate Tri-City ValleyCats in 2016 as the Astros minor league Pitching Coordinator Dyar Miller was slated to take over in Fresno. With the loss of Adams and the prior loss of Doug Brocail to the Rangers, the Astros are now down two minor league pitching coaches.

Also, on the minor league staff front, Fresno skipper Tony DeFrancesco was named 2015 Minor League Manager of the Year by Baseball America. The Grizzlies reported the news here.
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4 comments:

  1. UnknownDecember 6, 2015 at 10:09 AM

    Aren't the Astros down 3 pitching coaches with Don Alexander, of the Lancaster JetHawks, also gone for 2016?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jayne HansenDecember 6, 2015 at 10:32 AM

      They already announced Don's replacement. Michael Burns is slated to be the Pitching Coach for Lancaster.

      Delete
  2. Baseball MomDecember 7, 2015 at 8:55 AM

    When does the Rule 5 window close? Is it open throughout Spring Training?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jayne HansenDecember 7, 2015 at 9:15 AM

      Once the draft is over on Thursday, any players who weren't drafted are back to being under the Astros control until the next Rule 5 draft in December 2016. The Astros can trade them, release them, etc. but another team can no longer take those players without the Astros blessing until then.

      Delete

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