In case you missed my latest interviews
OF Stephen Wrenn
OF Granden Goetzman
RHP Jose Hernandez-Urquidy and IF/OF Osvaldo Duarte
RHP Bryan Abreu and RHP Ronel Blanco
MAY TRANSACTIONS/ROSTER MOVES
Note: Some of the assignments to Tri-City are likely to be on paper only in order to help with roster management while some indicate players who have been sent back to extended Spring Training.
5-19: OF Carmen Benedetti (Corpus Christi) placed on the 7-day DL
5-19: LHP Parker Mushinski (Fayetteville) placed on the 7-day DL
5-19: OF Alex McKenna (Quad Cities) placed on the 7-day DL
5-17: OF Bryan de la Cruz (Fayetteville) placed on the 7-day DL
5-17: 1B Scott Schreiber assigned to Fayetteville from Quad Cities
5-17: OF Alex McKenna (Quad Cities) activated from the DL
5-17: OF Ramiro Rodriguez assigned to Quad Cities
5-16: RHP Dean Deetz (Round Rock) placed on the 7-day DL
5-16: OF Seth Beer assigned to Corpus Christi from Fayetteville
5-16: RHP Brendan Feldmann (Corpus Christi) released
5-16: 3B Enmanuel Valdez assigned to Fayetteville from Quad Cities
5-16: RHP Nivaldo Rodriquez assigned to Fayetteville from Quad Cities
5-16: RHP Jose Alberto Rivera assigned to Quad Cities
5-15: RHP Cristian Javier assigned to Corpus Christi from Fayetteville
5-15: RHP Jose Hernandez-Urquidy assigned to Round Rock from Corpus Christi
5-13: OF Marty Costes (Quad Cities) activated from the DL
5-12: RHP Joey Gonzalez assigned to Quad Cities from Fayetteville
5-12: RHP Corbin Martin called up to Houston from Round Rock
5-12: RHP Brett Conine assigned to Fayetteville from Quad Cities
5-11: RHP Tyler Ivey (Corpus Christi) activated from the suspended list
5-11: RHP Ronel Blanco assigned to Round Rock from Corpus Christi
5-8: RHP Nick Hernandez (Corpus Christi) activated from the DL and assigned to Fayetteville
5-8: RHP Hunter Martin assigned from Fayetteville to Tri-City
5-7: OF Alex McKenna (Quad Cities) placed on the 7-day DL
5-7: OF Carlos Machado assigned to Quad Cities from extended spring training
5-7: RHP Jose Bravo assigned to Tri-City from Round Rock
5-6: RHP Jose Bravo assigned to Round Rock from Fayetteville
5-6: OF Stephen Wrenn assigned to Corpus Christi from Round Rock
5-6: OF Derek Fisher optioned to Round Rock From Houston
5-6: C Carlos Canelon (Corpus Christi) placed on the 7-day DL
5-6: RHP Akeem Bostick (Round Rock) activated from the temporary inactive list
5-6: RHP Tanner Duncan assigned to Fayetteville from Round Rock
5-6: LHP Brett Adcock assigned to Corpus Christi from Tri-City
5-4: 1B A.J. Reed (Round Rock) activated from the DL
5-4: OF Derek Fisher recalled to Houston from Round Rock
5-4: RHP Joey Gonzalez assigned to Fayetteville from Quad Cities
5-4: IF Michael Wielansky assigned to Quad Cities
5-4: RHP Felipe Tejada assigned to Tri-City from Quad Cities
5-4: RHP Cody Deason assigned to Quad Cities from Tri-City
5-3: OF Stephen Wrenn assigned to Round Rock from Corpus Christi
5-3: RHP Akeem Bostick (Round Rock) placed on the temporary inactive list
5-3: OF Carmen Benedetti (Corpus Christi) activated from the DL
5-3: RHP Cesar Rosado (Fayetteville) placed on the 7-day DL
5-3: OF Marty Costes (Quad Cities) placed on the 7-day DL
5-3: RHP Matt Ruppenthal assigned to Quad Cities from Tri-City
Players who started the 2019 season on the DL
C Ruben Castro
RHP Nick Hernandez - activated 5-8
RHP Alex House
OF Alex McKenna - activated 4-29; back on 5/7
RHP Hansel Paulino
RHP Erasmo Pinales
RHP Abdiel Saldana
RHP Kyle Serrano
RHP Jairo Solis
Restricted List
RHP Francis Martes (80-game suspension)
1B/OF J.J. Matijevic (50-game suspension)
An ongoing list of all of the 2019 season transactions and roster moves can be found here.
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)
Purple Coneflower
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Austin, TX - May 2019
Note: Some of the assignments to Tri-City are likely to be on paper only in order to help with roster management while some indicate players who have been sent back to extended Spring Training.
5-19: OF Carmen Benedetti (Corpus Christi) placed on the 7-day DL
5-19: LHP Parker Mushinski (Fayetteville) placed on the 7-day DL
5-19: OF Alex McKenna (Quad Cities) placed on the 7-day DL
5-17: OF Bryan de la Cruz (Fayetteville) placed on the 7-day DL
5-17: 1B Scott Schreiber assigned to Fayetteville from Quad Cities
5-17: OF Alex McKenna (Quad Cities) activated from the DL
5-17: OF Ramiro Rodriguez assigned to Quad Cities
5-16: RHP Dean Deetz (Round Rock) placed on the 7-day DL
5-16: OF Seth Beer assigned to Corpus Christi from Fayetteville
5-16: RHP Brendan Feldmann (Corpus Christi) released
5-16: 3B Enmanuel Valdez assigned to Fayetteville from Quad Cities
5-16: RHP Nivaldo Rodriquez assigned to Fayetteville from Quad Cities
5-16: RHP Jose Alberto Rivera assigned to Quad Cities
5-15: RHP Cristian Javier assigned to Corpus Christi from Fayetteville
5-15: RHP Jose Hernandez-Urquidy assigned to Round Rock from Corpus Christi
5-13: OF Marty Costes (Quad Cities) activated from the DL
5-12: RHP Joey Gonzalez assigned to Quad Cities from Fayetteville
5-12: RHP Corbin Martin called up to Houston from Round Rock
5-12: RHP Brett Conine assigned to Fayetteville from Quad Cities
5-11: RHP Tyler Ivey (Corpus Christi) activated from the suspended list
5-11: RHP Ronel Blanco assigned to Round Rock from Corpus Christi
5-8: RHP Nick Hernandez (Corpus Christi) activated from the DL and assigned to Fayetteville
5-8: RHP Hunter Martin assigned from Fayetteville to Tri-City
5-7: OF Alex McKenna (Quad Cities) placed on the 7-day DL
5-7: OF Carlos Machado assigned to Quad Cities from extended spring training
5-7: RHP Jose Bravo assigned to Tri-City from Round Rock
5-6: RHP Jose Bravo assigned to Round Rock from Fayetteville
5-6: OF Stephen Wrenn assigned to Corpus Christi from Round Rock
5-6: OF Derek Fisher optioned to Round Rock From Houston
5-6: C Carlos Canelon (Corpus Christi) placed on the 7-day DL
5-6: RHP Akeem Bostick (Round Rock) activated from the temporary inactive list
5-6: RHP Tanner Duncan assigned to Fayetteville from Round Rock
5-6: LHP Brett Adcock assigned to Corpus Christi from Tri-City
5-4: 1B A.J. Reed (Round Rock) activated from the DL
5-4: OF Derek Fisher recalled to Houston from Round Rock
5-4: RHP Joey Gonzalez assigned to Fayetteville from Quad Cities
5-4: IF Michael Wielansky assigned to Quad Cities
5-4: RHP Felipe Tejada assigned to Tri-City from Quad Cities
5-4: RHP Cody Deason assigned to Quad Cities from Tri-City
5-3: OF Stephen Wrenn assigned to Round Rock from Corpus Christi
5-3: RHP Akeem Bostick (Round Rock) placed on the temporary inactive list
5-3: OF Carmen Benedetti (Corpus Christi) activated from the DL
5-3: RHP Cesar Rosado (Fayetteville) placed on the 7-day DL
5-3: OF Marty Costes (Quad Cities) placed on the 7-day DL
5-3: RHP Matt Ruppenthal assigned to Quad Cities from Tri-City
Players who started the 2019 season on the DL
C Ruben Castro
RHP Alex House
RHP Hansel Paulino
RHP Erasmo Pinales
RHP Abdiel Saldana
RHP Kyle Serrano
RHP Jairo Solis
Restricted List
RHP Francis Martes (80-game suspension)
1B/OF J.J. Matijevic (50-game suspension)
An ongoing list of all of the 2019 season transactions and roster moves can be found here.
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)
🠋 2nd 25-17 .595 0.5GB L3
AA CORPUS CHRISTI (Texas League/South Division)
AA CORPUS CHRISTI (Texas League/South Division)
🠉 T2nd 21-21 .500 1.5GB L1
ADV A FAYETTEVILLE (Carolina League/Southern Division)
ADV A FAYETTEVILLE (Carolina League/Southern Division)
🠉 4th 20-23 .465 9.5GB W1
LOW A QUAD CITIES (Midwest League/Western Division)
LOW A QUAD CITIES (Midwest League/Western Division)
🠋 1st 26-13 .667 -.-GB W2
THOUGHTS ON YORDAN ALVAREZ AND BRADY RODGERS
My recent trip to Round Rock didn't yield any player interviews, but I've already interviewed almost everyone on that team at one time or another. I had lined up OF/1B Yordan Alvarez (with Alex De Goti to translate), but Astros GM Jeff Luhnow came to town and called a team meeting during my only window of opportunity to talk with him. But I was able to ask Express Manager Mickey Storey and Hitting Coach Ben Rosenthal about Alvarez.
If you've been living under a rock and have somehow missed out on the incredible start to Alvarez's season, let's recap. In 39 games with AAA Round Rock, he is hitting .411/.494/.884/1.378 with 15 doubles, 18 home runs, 55 RBI and 38 runs scored. He has 23 walks to 33 strikeouts. He hits on the road and at home and kills right-handed pitching, but is only hitting .348/.434/.761/1.195 against his fellow lefties (yes, my tongue is firmly planted in my cheek as I write that). When I asked Rosenthal what a coach can do with somebody like that, he quickly responded, "Try not to screw him up." Rosenthal added, "There are small things (to work on), but he's got a good approach. It's advanced. He recognizes pitches well. You can get away with a bad swing if you've got a good plan and know what you can handle. But he's got a good swing and he's got a lot of good things going his way. Just try not to hinder him and get in his way. If he needs info on a (pitcher), I try to get it and if there's something that he needs, I try to get it for him."
Storey said, "The thing that separates Yordan is his approach. He's always been the same guy. He's got real good swing decisions. He goes up there knowing what he's looking for. He's able to hit the ball to all fields and he's strong. Obviously, he's got power. The things that we saw in him in the lower levels are just flourishing now. He's just getting that much better each year and he's really capitalizing. He's in one of those runs where he's really locked in and really letting his talents work. As far as what we do as coaches, it's really easy for me. Insert him in the clean up spot, make sure he's in the lineup as much as I can. He's like having a weapon that can go off any moment. The group's really doing well offensively, but he is someone who has really been a staple for us in the middle of the lineup doing damage."
The only possible hole in Alvarez's game right now is his defense. "He's never going to win a Gold Glove but he has made strides year in and year out, getting better, getting more steady, making plays that he should make. And that's the key. If he can make plays he's supposed to make in the big leagues, (he can let his bat) do the talking. He's been working. He's been out early as much as he can, working on everything defensively just to get himself prepared to play in the big leagues because defense matters everywhere but in the big leagues, it's heavily scrutinized. Everyone knows the kid can swing it, but we want to make sure he's clicking on all cylinders when he gets that call," said Storey.
I also asked Storey to weigh in on Round Rock RHP Brady Rodgers. Rodgers has had a very solid start to his season, going 4-0 with a 3.22 ERA and a 1.299 WHIP in eight games (seven starts) and I was somewhat surprised that he wasn't the first player to be called upon to help the big league club, particularly since he is already on the 40-man roster. I didn't ask Storey about that directly, but I did ask what Rodgers needs to do to get back to the bigs. "What can he do? He can stay the course. Everyone's got work to do, but he's a veteran guy at this point. He's got experience. He throws strikes. He attacks hitters. He's doing everything right. Yeah, the walks are up a tick but I'm sure he'll iron that out as the season goes on. It's still early. I expect a guy like that to start locking it in and really come into his own as the season goes because he's been around. He can really throw the baseball. He's doing everything he can. We really have a good big league staff. Like I say, he's got to stay the course, keep chipping away. Keep working. Keep making his starts and having his quality outings like he's done thus far. He'll be fine. Something will shake out eventually for him. He's a mentally strong guy. He's not here worrying about why am I not getting called up, why did this guy go and I didn't go. He's not. He just continues to do what he does. He's working. This is a guy who came back from Tommy John, missed a ton of time. He knows what it takes. There are setbacks involved and sometimes it throws you off course, but you do what you can do and he's doing everything he can do at this point," said Storey.
WATCH THIS SPACE
I plan to use "this space" to feature players who are currently flying below the radar, but who deserve a look.
Enmanuel Valdez - July 2018
Photo by Jayne Hansen
If you have been reading Dustin's fantastic minor league recaps since the season started, you will probably have noticed 2B/3B Enmanuel Valdez showing up as one of his stars of the day over and over again. There are certainly players with better overall numbers than Valdez, but he always seems to be in the middle of the action. The 20-year old Dominican who signed in July 2015 for $450,000 is in his fourth season in the Astros system and is starting to live up to his early promise. In his first 33 games of the season for Low A Quad Cities, Valdez hit .275/.374/.442 with 11 doubles, three home runs and 16 walks to 21 strikeouts. With solid numbers like that, it was no surprise that Valdez was promoted to High A Fayetteville last week. Watch this space ...
FORMER ASTRO UPDATE
RHP Brock Dykxhoorn was originally drafted by the Astros in the 6th round in 2014 and spent five seasons in the Astros system prior to his November 2018 release. Dykxhoorn was quickly picked up by SK Wyverns in the Korean Baseball Organization where he has been flourishing. He is 3-2 in 10 starts with a 3.74 ERA and a 1.247 WHIP. He has allowed 15 walks to 42 strikeouts in 55.1 innings of work. Brock recently started a Youtube channel to document the lifestyle of a Canadian baseball player transitioning from minor league baseball to playing in Korea. Dykxhoorn has always lived up to the stereotype of an almost too nice Canadian. We at WTHB and all of the fans he made in the Astros minor leagues wish Brock the best.
RANDOM PHOTO OF THE WEEK
THOUGHTS ON YORDAN ALVAREZ AND BRADY RODGERS
My recent trip to Round Rock didn't yield any player interviews, but I've already interviewed almost everyone on that team at one time or another. I had lined up OF/1B Yordan Alvarez (with Alex De Goti to translate), but Astros GM Jeff Luhnow came to town and called a team meeting during my only window of opportunity to talk with him. But I was able to ask Express Manager Mickey Storey and Hitting Coach Ben Rosenthal about Alvarez.
Yordan Alvarez - May 2019
Photo by Jayne Hansen
If you've been living under a rock and have somehow missed out on the incredible start to Alvarez's season, let's recap. In 39 games with AAA Round Rock, he is hitting .411/.494/.884/1.378 with 15 doubles, 18 home runs, 55 RBI and 38 runs scored. He has 23 walks to 33 strikeouts. He hits on the road and at home and kills right-handed pitching, but is only hitting .348/.434/.761/1.195 against his fellow lefties (yes, my tongue is firmly planted in my cheek as I write that). When I asked Rosenthal what a coach can do with somebody like that, he quickly responded, "Try not to screw him up." Rosenthal added, "There are small things (to work on), but he's got a good approach. It's advanced. He recognizes pitches well. You can get away with a bad swing if you've got a good plan and know what you can handle. But he's got a good swing and he's got a lot of good things going his way. Just try not to hinder him and get in his way. If he needs info on a (pitcher), I try to get it and if there's something that he needs, I try to get it for him."
Storey said, "The thing that separates Yordan is his approach. He's always been the same guy. He's got real good swing decisions. He goes up there knowing what he's looking for. He's able to hit the ball to all fields and he's strong. Obviously, he's got power. The things that we saw in him in the lower levels are just flourishing now. He's just getting that much better each year and he's really capitalizing. He's in one of those runs where he's really locked in and really letting his talents work. As far as what we do as coaches, it's really easy for me. Insert him in the clean up spot, make sure he's in the lineup as much as I can. He's like having a weapon that can go off any moment. The group's really doing well offensively, but he is someone who has really been a staple for us in the middle of the lineup doing damage."
The only possible hole in Alvarez's game right now is his defense. "He's never going to win a Gold Glove but he has made strides year in and year out, getting better, getting more steady, making plays that he should make. And that's the key. If he can make plays he's supposed to make in the big leagues, (he can let his bat) do the talking. He's been working. He's been out early as much as he can, working on everything defensively just to get himself prepared to play in the big leagues because defense matters everywhere but in the big leagues, it's heavily scrutinized. Everyone knows the kid can swing it, but we want to make sure he's clicking on all cylinders when he gets that call," said Storey.
Brady Rodgers - May 2019
Photo by Jayne Hansen
I also asked Storey to weigh in on Round Rock RHP Brady Rodgers. Rodgers has had a very solid start to his season, going 4-0 with a 3.22 ERA and a 1.299 WHIP in eight games (seven starts) and I was somewhat surprised that he wasn't the first player to be called upon to help the big league club, particularly since he is already on the 40-man roster. I didn't ask Storey about that directly, but I did ask what Rodgers needs to do to get back to the bigs. "What can he do? He can stay the course. Everyone's got work to do, but he's a veteran guy at this point. He's got experience. He throws strikes. He attacks hitters. He's doing everything right. Yeah, the walks are up a tick but I'm sure he'll iron that out as the season goes on. It's still early. I expect a guy like that to start locking it in and really come into his own as the season goes because he's been around. He can really throw the baseball. He's doing everything he can. We really have a good big league staff. Like I say, he's got to stay the course, keep chipping away. Keep working. Keep making his starts and having his quality outings like he's done thus far. He'll be fine. Something will shake out eventually for him. He's a mentally strong guy. He's not here worrying about why am I not getting called up, why did this guy go and I didn't go. He's not. He just continues to do what he does. He's working. This is a guy who came back from Tommy John, missed a ton of time. He knows what it takes. There are setbacks involved and sometimes it throws you off course, but you do what you can do and he's doing everything he can do at this point," said Storey.
WATCH THIS SPACE
I plan to use "this space" to feature players who are currently flying below the radar, but who deserve a look.
Photo by Jayne Hansen
If you have been reading Dustin's fantastic minor league recaps since the season started, you will probably have noticed 2B/3B Enmanuel Valdez showing up as one of his stars of the day over and over again. There are certainly players with better overall numbers than Valdez, but he always seems to be in the middle of the action. The 20-year old Dominican who signed in July 2015 for $450,000 is in his fourth season in the Astros system and is starting to live up to his early promise. In his first 33 games of the season for Low A Quad Cities, Valdez hit .275/.374/.442 with 11 doubles, three home runs and 16 walks to 21 strikeouts. With solid numbers like that, it was no surprise that Valdez was promoted to High A Fayetteville last week. Watch this space ...
FORMER ASTRO UPDATE
Brock Dykxhoorn - June 2018
Photo by Jayne Hansen
RHP Brock Dykxhoorn was originally drafted by the Astros in the 6th round in 2014 and spent five seasons in the Astros system prior to his November 2018 release. Dykxhoorn was quickly picked up by SK Wyverns in the Korean Baseball Organization where he has been flourishing. He is 3-2 in 10 starts with a 3.74 ERA and a 1.247 WHIP. He has allowed 15 walks to 42 strikeouts in 55.1 innings of work. Brock recently started a Youtube channel to document the lifestyle of a Canadian baseball player transitioning from minor league baseball to playing in Korea. Dykxhoorn has always lived up to the stereotype of an almost too nice Canadian. We at WTHB and all of the fans he made in the Astros minor leagues wish Brock the best.
RANDOM PHOTO OF THE WEEK
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Austin, TX - May 2019
Photo by Jayne Hansen
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