Monday, September 17, 2018

Astros Farm Report: 9/17

Let's catch up on all the latest happenings in the Astros system...

WISHING A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO

Colton Shaver - July 2018
Photo by Jayne Hansen

9/15: RHP Forrest Whitley (21)
9/17: RHP Brady Rodgers (28)
9/18: OF/1B/DH Seth Beer (22)
9/18: 3B/1B Colton Shaver (23)
9/19: OF George Springer (29)
9/20: SS/2B Deury Carrasco (19)
9/21: C Nerio Rodriguez (19)
9/22: SS Carlos Correa (24)
9/22: SS Jeremy Pena (21)
9/23: OF Omar Diaz (17)
9/23: RHP Diosmerky Taveras (19)
9/24: RHP Matt Ramsey (29)
9/26: RHP Fredy Medina (21)
9/27: RHP Flaer Gonzalez (22)
9/28: RHP Enoli Paredes (23)
9/30: IF Jack Mayfield (28)
9/30: Trent Thornton (25)

ROSTER MOVES/TRANSACTIONS

9/16: OF Kyle Tucker (Fresno) recalled to Houston
9/15: OF Myles Straw (Fresno) called up to Houston
9/15: SS Antonio Nunez assigned to Fresno from Corpus Christi
9/13: C Freddy Guilamo signed by the Astros (17-year old out of the Dominican Republic)
9/11: RHP Bryan Abreu assigned to Buies Creek from Quad Cities
9/10: 1B Taylor Jones assigned to Fresno from Corpus Christi
9/10: SS Antonio Nunez assigned to Corpus Christi from Fresno
9/9: RHP Carson LaRue assigned to Corpus Christi from Buies Creek
9/7: LHP Carlos Hiraldo assigned to Corpus Christi from Quad Cities
9/5: RHP Justin Ferrell assigned to Fresno from Corpus Christi
9/5: SS Antonio Nunez (Fresno) activated from the DL (had been on the DL since 8/22)
9/5: RHP Forrest Whitley (Corpus Christi) activated from the DL (had been on the DL since 8/25)
9/4: 3B J.D. Davis (Fresno) recalled to Houston
9/4: RHP Dean Deetz (Fresno) called up to Houston

ASTROS MILB DISABLED LIST

8/15: C Ruben Castro (Quad Cities) placed on the 7-day DL
8/9: RHP Jairo Solis (Quad Cities) placed on the 7-day DL
7/28: 3B Joe Perez (GCL) placed on the 60-day DL
6/13: RHP Hunter Martin (Tri-City) placed on the 60-day DL
6/1: LHP Yeremi Ceballos (DSL) placed on the 60-day DL
6/1: RHP Carlos Quintero (DSL) placed on the 60-day DL
5/4: RHP Francis Martes (Fresno) placed on the 7-day DL; had TJ surgery 8/15
5/3+/-: RHP Gerardo Bojorquez had TJ surgery per Instagram post
4/5: RHP Ryan Thompson assigned to Fresno (starting the season on the 7-day DL); according to Instagram Ryan has had surgery, but I don't know whether or not it was TJ (later confirmed that it was TJ surgery)
4/5: RHP Matt Ruppenthal assigned to Quad Cities (starting the season on the 7-day DL; according to Instagram, Ruppenthal had elbow surgery to transpose the ulnar nerve in early April and started to throw mid-June; sent on rehab assignment to Quad Cities in mid-August but never actually activated from the DL during the season)
4/5: RHP Ángel Heredia (Corpus Christi) placed on the 7-day DL (Instagram post in early August showed him as having had surgery)
4/5: RHP Nick Hernandez (Corpus Christi) placed on the 7-day DL (Tommy John)

ASTROS MILB RESTRICTED LIST

8/24: OF Carlos Diaz placed on the restricted list (suspended 56 games for testing positive for a PED)
Note that a 56 game suspension in short season ball will effectively wipe out Diaz's 2019 season. I would not be surprised to see the 14th round 2017 pick released by the Astros this offseason.
6/22: RHP Yoanys Quiala placed on the restricted list (80 game suspension for performance-enhancing substance); Quiala won't be eligible to play again until approximately mid-April of 2019.

I will continue to keep track of all the minor league releases, retirements, trades and signings for the 2018 season here until the major league season is over at which time I will start an offseason transaction post.

FINAL ASTROS MILB STANDINGS

FRESNO (Pacific Coast League) - Won the PCL Pacific Northern Division
1st 82-57 .590 -.-GB W1

POSTSEASON
Won the Pacific Conference Championship 3-2 over El Paso
Lost the Pacific Coast League Championship series to Memphis 3-1

CORPUS CHRISTI (Texas League) - Won both 1st and 2nd halves in South Division
1st 82-56 .594 -.-GB W2 (overall)
1st 39-30 .565 -.-GB W2 (second half)
1st 43-26 .623 -.-GB W5 (first half division winner)

POSTSEASON
Lost the South Division Championship Series to San Antonio 3-2
San Antonio went on to lose to Tulsa in the Texas League Championship Series 3-0

 BUIES CREEK (Carolina League) - Won the 2nd half in the Southern Division
2nd 80-57 .584 3.5GB W2 (overall)
1st 43-25 .632 -.-GB W2 (second half)
2nd 37-32 .536 3.5GB L1 (first half)

POSTSEASON 🏆
Won the Southern Division Championship 3-0 over Winston-Salem
Won the one-game* League Championship Series 1-0 over Potomac 1-0

*Originally to be a five game series until Hurricane Florence crashed the party.

 QUAD CITIES (Midwest League) - Won the 1st half in the Western Division
1st 81-59 .579 -.-GB W5 (overall)
2nd 41-29 .586 4.0GB W5 (second half)
1st 40-30 .571 -.-GB W6 (first half division winner)

POSTSEASON
Lost the Western Division Quarterfinal 2-0 to Peoria
(Peoria went on to win the Western Division Championship series 2-0 over Cedar Rapids and is currently down 2-1 against Bowling Green in the best-of-five League Championship Series.)

TRI-CITY (New York-Penn League) - Won the Stedler Division
1st 42-33 .560 -.-GB L2

POSTSEASON 🏆
Won the Semi-Final Championship Series 2-0 over Mahoning Valley
Won the New York-Penn League Championship Series 2-0 over Hudson Valley

GCL ASTROS (Gulf Coast League)
2nd 27-28 .491 12.5 L2

DSL ASTROS (Dominican Summer League Northwest)
6th 30-41 .423 21.0GB L3

NEWS AND LINKS


In case you missed it, I posted my Astros Full Season and Short Season Players, Starters, Relievers and Catchers of the Year. So much talent!!

MLB has worked very, very hard to keep minor league players from earning a fair wage. Is this the answer?
"The Dodgers run one of baseball’s most extensive minor league systems. They list about 300 organizational players in their media guide, so guaranteeing each one $25,000 this year would have cost less than they guaranteed to infielder Logan Forsythe this season."


via GIPHY

Another former Astros farmhand and Friend of the Blog gets a baseball coaching gig.

Patrick Obley of the Fayetteville Observer looks back at the Buies Creek experience as the team prepares to move to their new Fayetteville digs next season.

Why Brett Maverick Phillips continues to be one of my favorite ballplayers and one of my favorite people.

SAFE!!!


And in case you missed any of these, here are my interviews from this season:

OF Alex McKenna (Tri-City, since promoted to Quad Cities)
RHP Peter Solomon (Quad Cities, since promoted to Buies Creek)
OF Seth Beer (Quad Cities, since promoted to Buies Creek)
RHP Jairo Solis and C Ruben Castro (Quad Cities)
RHP Corbin Martin (Corpus Christi)
3B Abraham Toro (Corpus Christi)
RHP Trent Thornton (Fresno)
OF Chas McCormick (Buies Creek, since promoted to Corpus Christi)
OF J.J. Matijevic (Buies Creek)
RHP Brandon Bielak (Buies Creek, since promoted to Corpus Christi)
LHP Brett Adcock (Buies Creek, since promoted to Corpus Christi)
SS Alex De Goti (Corpus Christi, since promoted to Fresno)
1B Taylor Jones (Corpus Christi, since promoted to Fresno)
RHP Brock Dykxhoorn (Corpus Christi, since promoted to Fresno)

 STATE OF THE BLOG ADDRESS

This concludes my seventh season of traveling to see Astros minor league players in minor league ballparks from Kentucky to California to Tennessee to Oklahoma to Iowa to New York to South Carolina (Buies Creek road trip) and, of course, to Corpus Christi and Austin (Fresno road trips). I am not exactly a spring chicken anymore, but the players I have met along the way keep me much younger than my years. They make me laugh and cry and love baseball even more than I ever imagined was possible. Because, when it comes right down to it, the players are what make this game special.

And those players aren't limited to my favorite team. Players I've talked to and gotten to know are peppered throughout major and minor league baseball. The Astros will always be "my team," but I find myself pulling more and more for those players I care about regardless of the uniform the player wears. Which finally makes me a true fan of baseball after all these years, I suppose.

And that brings me to the future of WTHB?. I have always felt the need to re-invent myself every few years. I get restless with the status quo. But I can't imagine my life without minor league baseball in it. But, then again, why should I limit myself just to the Astros? Why should I deprive myself of the opportunity to get to know great people from 29 other affiliates simply because of the team they're on?

Readership is way down since the team is good again; people aren't hungry to know about the next wave of Astros players like they were when I started, and there are players from other MLB affiliates that I would love to get to know a little better. I have a ton of contacts in the Astros organization, but I've gained many contacts outside the organization as players, managers and coaches move around.

Secondarily, I've gotten away from what got me started on this blog in the first place ... writing about things that interest me personally, talking not only to players, but to people in all walks of baseball life, and going down the occasional rabbit hole. So, after much thought and deliberation about the future of WTHB?, I've come to the conclusion that, although the blog will still be mostly Astros-centric, I won't limit myself to just the Astros. I have been working behind the scenes on some long-read and series work that will look at prospects throughout the minors, the 2018 draft, minor league pay and women in baseball. And that's just for starters! I plan to keep interviewing Astros prospects and then start branching out to other teams next season during my travels. As a result, I may retire some of the content I've provided in years past. The blog may look a little different in 2019, but don't worry, the Astros will always be my first love and will take priority.

In the meantime, other than my annual Rule 5 draft post which will come out this week or next, I plan to take a little time off from posting regularly while I work on some of these larger projects and do some housekeeping on the blog. (And with the postseason rapidly approaching, Astros fans are likely to be too preoccupied to read much of what I'd put out there right now anyway!)

As a final note, I hope that Dustin will continue to contribute to the blog next season. He has really come into his own as a writer and has been an invaluable voice for WTHB?. He has an open invitation to write as much or as little as he wishes, about whatever he wishes, for as long as he wishes. It will be my absolute pleasure to have him continue to be my partner in crime.

Thank you for reading, and thank you for your encouragement as I strive to make the minor league life a fun and interesting part of your lives.
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