Astros Minor League Opening Day: 4/5

Everything you wanted to know about Astros MiLB Opening Day, but were afraid to ask!!! The season officially starts on Thursday, April 5th for all of the Astros full season teams.

OPENING DAY ROSTERS

Here's the breakdown of the Astros Full Season Opening Day rosters, including how/when the players were signed, where they were last season (and how they did) and a few notable players who are missing (and, in most cases, presumably on the DL to start the season).

For a bit more of a breakdown. On MiLB Opening Day, I show 233 players in the system who are NOT on the 40-man roster. This is how they break down:

140 international free agents
71 from the June Draft
8 non-drafted free agents
8 acquired in trades
5 minor league free agents
1 Rule 5 draft pick (minor league phase)

The international players are from (there are more than 140 because of trades and MiLB FA):

65 from the Dominican Republic
48 from Venezuela
12 from Cuba
9 from Panama
8 from Mexico
2 from Brazil
1 from Costa Rica

COACHING STAFF

And here is the info on the Astros 2018 minor league coaching staff.

PLAYER PROFILES

I have compiled all of the recent Beyond the Top 30 prospect profile links (over 140 Astros minor league player profiles or mini-profiles!) into one post and have pinned it to the front page for easy reference. As a reminder, I did not include profile write-ups of any players that had already made their MLB debut in those posts.

TOP PROSPECT LISTS

Also, the Consensus Top 32 Astros Prospect List is pinned to the front page. This includes rankings from Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus, FanGraphs and MLB Pipeline.

ASTROS ON TWITTER/INSTAGRAM

I've updated my twitter list of Astros players. If you have any that I'm missing, let me know! I've also updated my Instagram account to follow as many of the Astros minor leaguers as I could find. Feel free to wade through all of my follows to find some of your favorites (I do have a number of former Astros in there as well.) It's a really good way to get a feel for some of the Latin players who may not be on twitter!

ROSTER MOVES/TRANSACTIONS

And here is the final edition of the 2017-2018 Offseason Transactions post. I plan to keep an ongoing transaction list on signings, releases and trades throughout the season and I will keep that pinned on the front page of the blog as well.

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And, before I bring you the game info for Opening Day, I have one very important announcement. The one and only Dustin Nguyen will be back this season, bringing you THE BEST minor league recaps in the biz. Honestly, I don't know how he does it day in and day out, but he always adds little interesting tidbits here and there in addition to giving us full-blown recaps every day ... even when the short season teams start up and he has double the workload! Seriously, Dustin is the best and I am beyond happy that he will be back.

Now, without further ado ...

OPENING DAY INFORMATION

All games are on Thursday, April 5th.

FRESNO
The Grizzlies will start their season on the road in Reno at 8:35 central time with RHP Mike Hauschild on the mound for Fresno. The game will be available on MiLB.tv. Their home opener will be next Tuesday the 10th as they host Tacoma. The temperature at game time is forecast to be in the upper 50's.

CORPUS CHRISTI
The Hooks will also start their season with a long road trip to Springdale, Arkansas to face the Northwest Arkansas Naturals. Game time will be at 6:25 central with LHP Framber Valdez getting the start for the Hooks. The game will be available on MiLB.tv. The home opener for the Hooks will be one week later (Thursday the 12th) and they will once again face Northwest Arkansas. Game time temperature is forecast to be in the mid to high 50's.

BUIES CREEK
The BC Astros will be traveling to Salem, Virginia to start their season with RHP Jorge Alcala the scheduled starter for the Astros. The game starts at 6:05 central and will be available on MiLB.tv. The BC Astros home opener will be on Thursday, April 12th, and will also be against the Salem Red Sox. Game time temperature is forecast to be in the mid 50's.

QUAD CITIES
The River Bandits will be the only Astros team to start the season at home as they host the Cedar Rapid Kernels. The announced starter will be LHP Patrick Sandoval. The game will start at 6:35 central and will be available on MiLB.tv. The current forecast has game time temperature around 40 degrees.

If you wish to subscribe to MiLB.tv, the information is here. Audio of all games is free by clicking on the link to the game on the team page.