Astros Farm Report: 4-30

Bringing you the latest news from down on the Astros farm ...

Come back soon for player interviews from my Corpus Christi trip coming out over the next week. In the meantime, I have a little breaking news.

MISSING IN ACTION

There are currently a couple of top 30 prospects in the Astros system who have gone missing. The first of these is Corpus Christi Hooks RHP Tyler Ivey who is currently the number 17 prospect in the system according to MLB Pipeline. According to MiLB.com, Ivey is on the DL. However, I have two solid sources who have said that Ivey has been suspended for an undisclosed number of games. I am going to go out on a short limb and assume that the suspension is related to an incident in his April 12th start in Amarillo in which he was removed from the game after a foreign substance was found on his glove. In any event, Ivey was not in Corpus Christi during my time there from Friday through Sunday and has not pitched since April 23rd. I reached out to the Astros for comment, but have been unable to obtain any further information at this time. I am, however, confident in my sources. UPDATE: One source is telling me that the suspension is for 14 games.

The other missing player is OF/1B J.J. Matijevic, the #22 prospect in the Astros system (MLB Pipeline). Matijevic played in the Hooks game on Friday, April 26th, but was not present during the games on Saturday or Sunday and did not appear on Monday either. I have a source on this situation as well, but the information I have is so limited that I am not comfortable disclosing it. Again, I reached out to the Astros, but they declined to comment. UPDATE: As I had learned on Sunday, Matijevic was placed on the restricted list. Unfortunately, I did not know any further details about the nature of his suspension until MLB reported today that he will face a 50-game suspension for a second positive test for a drug of abuse.

APRIL TRANSACTIONS/ROSTER MOVES

4-30: RHP Jamie Melendez, a 17-year old from Mexico, signed by the Astros
4-29: LHP Brett Adcock assigned to Tri-City (effectively to extended spring training) from Corpus Christi
4-29: RHP Justin Ferrell (Corpus Christi) activated from the DL
4-29: OF Alex McKenna (Quad Cities) activated from the DL
4-29: OF Andy Pineda (Quad Cities) released
4-29: C Lorenzo Quintana (Corpus Christi) activated from the DL
4-27: 1B/OF J.J. Matijevic (Corpus Christi) suspended for 50 games for a second positive test for a drug of abuse
4-27: LHP Jonathan Bermudez assigned to Quad Cities
4-27: RHP Felipe Tejada assigned to Quad Cities
4-27: RHP Cody Deason assigned to Tri-City (effectively to extended spring training) from Quad Cities
4-27: RHP Matt Ruppenthal assigned to Tri-City (effectively to extended spring training) from Quad Cities
4-25: RHP Tyler Ivey suspended for an undisclosed number of games
4-24: RHP Carlos Sanabria assigned to Corpus Christi from Fayetteville
4-24: RHP Brett Daniels assigned to Quad Cities from Corpus Christi
4-24: RHP Jacob Billingsley assigned to Fayetteville
4-24: RHP Willy Collado assigned to Fayetteville from Quad Cities
4-24: RHP Joey Gonzalez assigned to Quad Cities from Fayetteville
4-24: RHP Mark Moclair (Quad Cities) placed on the 7-day DL
4-23: RHP Bryan Abreu assigned to Corpus Christi from Fayetteville
4-23: OF Carmen Benedetti (Corpus Christi) placed on the 7-day DL
4-23: RHP Shawn Dubin was assigned to Fayetteville from Quad Cities
4-23: RHP Riley Cabral assigned to the Quad Cities River Bandits
4-21: LHP Reymin Guduan optioned to Round Rock from Houston
4-21: LHP Framber Valdez (Round Rock) recalled to Houston
4-20: IF Juan Pineda assigned to Tri-City (Extended Spring Training) from Fayetteville
4-20: 2B Alfredo Angarita (Fayetteville) activated from the 7-day DL
4-18: OF Drew Ferguson (Round Rock) activated from the DL
4-18: C Lorenzo Quintana (Corpus) placed on the 7-day DL
4-18: C Carlos Canelon assigned to Corpus Christi
4-18: RHP Jose Bravo assigned to Fayetteville from Corpus Christi
4-17: 1B A.J. Reed (Round Rock) placed on the 7-day DL
4-16: RHP Peter Solomon (Fayetteville) placed on the 7-day DL
4-15: OF Chandler Taylor (Fayetteville) placed on the 7-day DL
4-15: IF Juan Pineda assigned to Fayetteville
4-14: RHP Justin Ferrell (Corpus Christi) placed on the 7-day DL
4-14: RHP Brett Daniels assigned to Corpus Christi from Quad Cities
4-14: RHP Jojanse Torres assigned to Quad Cities
4-13: RHP Joey Gonzalez assigned to Fayetteville
4-13: 2B Alfredo Angarita (Fayetteville) placed on the 7-day DL
4-12: LHP Reymin Guduan recalled to Houston from Round Rock
4-12: RHP Brendan Feldmann assigned to Corpus Christi from Fayetteville
4-11: LHP Framber Valdez optioned to Round Rock from Houston
4-11: OF Drew Ferguson (Round Rock) placed on 7-day DL
4-11: RHP Tanner Duncan assigned to Round Rock from Corpus Christi
4-11: RHP Jose Bravo assigned to Corpus Christi
4-11: C Oscar Campos (Quad Cities) placed on 7-day DL
4-11: OF/2B Austin Dennis assigned to Quad Cities
4-8: RHP Hunter Martin assigned to Fayetteville
4-7: RHP Brendan Feldmann assigned to Fayetteville from Corpus Christi
4-7: RHP Edgardo Sandoval voluntarily retired (he pitched on Saturday and then retired on Sunday; I'm not sure what's going on with that!)
4-7: RHP Tanner Duncan assigned to Corpus Christi
4-6: RHP Brendan Feldmann assigned to Corpus Christi

Players who started the 2019 season on the DL
C Ruben Castro
RHP Nick Hernandez
RHP Alex House
OF Alex McKenna - activated 4-29
RHP Hansel Paulino
RHP Erasmo Pinales
RHP Abdiel Saldana
RHP Kyle Serrano
RHP Jairo Solis

Restricted List
RHP Francis Martes (80-game suspension)

2019 STANDINGS

Up and down arrows denote an increase or decrease in win percentage over the last week.

AAA ROUND ROCK (Pacific Coast League/American Southern Division)

🠋 3rd 13-10 .565 1.5GB L1

AA CORPUS CHRISTI (Texas League/South Division)

🠉 3rd 12-13 .480 4.0GB L2

ADV A FAYETTEVILLE (Carolina League/Southern Division)

🠉 T3rd 14-11 .556 3.0GB W1

LOW A QUAD CITIES (Midwest League/Western Division)

🠉 T3rd 12-10 .545 1.0GB L1

WATCH THIS SPACE

I plan to use "this space" to feature players who are currently flying below the radar, but who deserve a look.

Bryan de la Cruz
MiLB Photo

Bryan de la Cruz, a 22-year old outfielder from the Dominican Republic is in his sixth season with the Astros. In his first 20 games of the season with the Advanced A Fayetteville Woodpeckers, de la Cruz is hitting .346/.407/.593/.999 (10 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR) which puts him in the top five in the Astros minor league system in average, slugging percentage and OPS and sixth in the system in on-base percentage for players who have played a roughly equivalent number of games this season. Keeping company with top prospects such as Yordan Alvarez and Seth Beer is no mean feat. Rounding out his 2019 resume (so far) are four stolen bases to zero caught stealing and eight walks to 16 strikeouts. I have yet to catch up with Mr. De la Cruz in person, but I hope to see him later this season in Fayetteville (or more likely in Corpus Christi if he keeps hitting like this). Watch this space ...

FORMER ASTRO UPDATE

Randy Cesar - April 2018

Photo by Jayne Hansen

3B Randy Cesar had a 42-game hitting streak for the Corpus Christi Hooks in 2018, but any hitting streaks in 2019 will take place in the Twins organization as Cesar became a minor league free agent at the end of the 2018 season and signed with that team. He is currently playing for the Twins AAA affiliate, the Rochester Red Wings. Through 18 games, he is hitting .328/.375/.597/.972 with nine doubles, three home runs and 16 RBI. Cesar originally signed with the Astros out of the Dominican Republic in July 2011. He is currently 24.

RANDOM PHOTO OF THE WEEK

Yosemite National Park, California - May 2015

Photo by Jayne Hansen