Astros Farm Report: 1/1

Happy New Year!!! Catching you up on the latest Astros MiLB offseason news ...

WISHING A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO

Dallas Keuchel - Spring Training 2013

Photo by Jayne Hansen

1-1: LHP Dallas Keuchel (30)
1-2: RHP Juan Corniel (22)
1-3: RHP Hansel Paulino (22)
1-4: RHP Valente Bellozo (18)
1-7: RHP Brendan McCurry (26)

ROSTER MOVES/TRANSACTIONS

In case you missed it, quite a few Astros minor leaguers were released last week and I did a write up with some general observations about them. Since that was posted, a few more players got their pink slips as well.

12-29: OF Renaigel Martis (DSL Orange) released
12-29: RHP Renny Ugarte (DSL Blue) released
12-29: OF Luis Coronel (DSL Blue) released
12-22: C Freddy Chirino (DSL Blue) released
12-22: RHP Jonger Ochoa (DSL Blue) released
12-22: 2B Samir Caraballo (DSL Blue/Orange) released
12-22: 1B Michael Garcia (DSL Orange) released
12-22: RHP Jesus Bernaez (DSL Orange) released

The cumulative Astros offseason transaction list can be found here.

ARIZONA FALL LEAGUE (AFL) - SEASON OVER

The Mesa Solar Sox ended their fall campaign with a 16-13-1 record to lead the East, but ultimately fell 8-2 to the West in the Arizona Fall League Championship game on 11/18.

RHP Dean Deetz - 8G 4.91 ERA/1.182 WHIP 11.0IP 4BB:23SO
RHP Riley Ferrell - 9G 4.66 ERA/1.552 WHIP 9.2IP 9BB:7SO
RHP Brendan McCurry - 5G 4.05 ERA/1.350 WHIP 6.2IP 3BB:5SO (last played 10/30)
LHP Framber Valdez - 6G/6ST 3.20 ERA/1.627 WHIP 19.2IP 8BB:14SO
1B Yordan Alvarez - 4G .313/.353/.438 3B 1BB:6SO (last played 10/14)
3B/2B Nick Tanielu - 2G .000/.000/.000 (last played 10/16)
OF Kyle Tucker - 22G .214/.305/.310 6-2B 3B 9RBI 9BB:22SO 2SB:0CS

VENEZUELAN WINTER LEAGUE (LVBP) - SEASON OVER

18-year old Venezuelan OF prospect Wilyer Abreu had the opportunity to play in the final two games of the season for Zulia. Although he didn't have much to show for those two games, it is a testament to his talent that he was given that opportunity after playing in only 34 games at the pro level in his first season in 2017.

In years past, the Liga Paralela (the Venezuelan version of the minor league) featured many Astros minor leaguers, but due to the current economic issues in Venezuela, the league was roughly cut in half and very few Astros players participated this year.

Aguilas de Zulia
OF Wilyer Abreu - 2G .143/.143/.143 1RBI 0BB:1SO
SS Kristian Trompiz - 10G .227/.320/.227 3BB:4SO (last played 10/28)
RHP Elieser Hernandez - 5G/5ST 2.11 ERA/0.844 WHIP 21.1IP 6BB:22SO (last played 11/6 - picked up by the Rays in the Rule 5 draft)

Bravos de Margarita
2B Alfredo Angarita - 29G .304/.396/.337 2B 3B 8RBI 13BB:27SO 4SB:3CS (last played 11/26)

Leones del Caracas
RHP Diosward Gonzalez - 2G 6.75 ERA/2.251 WHIP 1.1IP 2BB:0SO (last played 10/19 - released 12-20)
RHP Yoanys Quiala - 4G/2ST 7.45 ERA/1.448 WHIP 9.2IP 5BB:8SO (last played 10/31)
C Gabriel Bracamonte - 3G .125/.125/.125 0BB:2O (last played 10/28)

MEXICAN WINTER LEAGUE (LMP) - SEASON OVER

Caneros de los Mochis

RHP Akeem Bostick - 11G/11ST 3.43 ERA/1.357 WHIP 42IP 19BB:47SO (returned to the U.S. week of 12/17)
OF Drew Ferguson - 9G .094/.147/.125 2BB:12SO

Naranjeros de Hermosillo
RHP Jacob Dorris - 8G 8.64 ERA/2.280 WHIP 8.1IP 10BB:2SO (last played 12/7)

AUSTRALIAN BASEBALL LEAGUE (ABL)

Rodrigo Ayarza - July 2016

Photo by Jayne Hansen

Rodrigo Ayarza is the only Astro currently playing and he had a great weekend down under, going 7-for-17 with three home runs, a double, three RBI and a stolen base. He scored five runs in the four games and struck out once (no walks).

Adelaide Bite
Rodrigo Ayarza - 24G .298/.340/.564 7-2B 6HR 11RBI 6BB:21SO 3SB:1CS

DOMINICAN WINTER LEAGUE (LIDOM) - SEASON OVER

Gigantes del Cibao
LHP Reymin Guduan - 5G 4.50 ERA/2.500 WHIP 2.0IP 2BB:1SO (last played 12/12)

PUERTO RICAN WINTER LEAGUE (LBPRC)

The LBPRC has set January 6 as their target date to begin play.

Puerto Rico! 🇵🇷⚾ A todos los boricuas les recordamos que todas las entradas generales de la Temporada Regular de la LBPRC serán libre de costo. Invita a tu gente y apoyen a sus equipos desde el 6 de enero del 2018. pic.twitter.com/gqZb3EUR6c

— LBPRC (@LBPRC) December 3, 2017

NEWS AND LINKS

A post Tommy John surgery update on Astros RHP Brady Rodgers.

EXCELLENT proposition from Doug Gray of RedsMinorLeagues.com on how to raise minor league wages with little to no pain for the major league clubs.

"Sorry, wrong number!" Unique minor league team names lead to confusion.

This story on the Trenton Thunder bat dogs was originally posted in September, but I missed it and it's too cute not to share.

Congratulations to Astros C Anthony Hermelyn and former Astro Austin Kerns on earning their degrees!

Congrats to these three former Sooners who have returned home and earned their degree from OU. A great accomplishment that you should be very proud of. #OUrHome @anthonyhermelyn @AustinKerns @BlakeRogers23 pic.twitter.com/ihHhB7x08W

— Skip Johnson (@CoachJohnsonOU) December 16, 2017

And one final non-baseball link for my fellow chocoholics out there. I made this super easy recipe for a Christmas dessert and it was sinfully good!!!