Astros Farm Report: 7-8

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

In case you missed it, here are the player interviews I rolled out over the last couple of weeks.

Nivaldo Rodriguez (recently added to MLB Pipeline's Top 30 list for the Astros) and Enmanuel Valdez
Colton Shaver
Brett Conine
Jake Adams
Austin Hansen

Dustin pulled together all of the twitter info for the new draft picks. I have updated this to indicate which players have officially signed. I'm showing 32 of 40 signed to date. The deadline for signing is Friday, July 12th at 5:00 p.m. ET.

ROSTER MOVES/TRANSACTIONS

Here are the latest roster moves. An ongoing list of all of the 2019 season transactions and roster moves can be found here.

There were a few transactions from June that I originally missed. They have been added to the above link:

6-28: RHP Peyton Plumlee (31st round) signed
6-24: RHP Antonio Placencia (GCL) released
6-24: 1B/C Rhandall Sanchez (GCL) released
6-20: RHP Ryan Gusto (11th round) signed
6-14: LHP Bryan Martinez (33rd round) signed
6-14: OF Roilan Machandy (Cuba) signed

Latest moves:

7-7: RHP Erasmo Pinales (Corpus Christi) activated from the IL
7-7: RHP Miguel Figueroa assigned to Fayetteville from Corpus Christi
7-6: RHP Leovanny Rodriguez assigned to Corpus Christi from Round Rock
7-5: RHP Ralph Garza (Round Rock) placed on the 7-day IL
7-5: RHP Colin McKee assigned to Round Rock from Corpus Christi
7-5: RHP Chad Donato assigned to Corpus Christi from Fayetteville
7-5: RHP Leovanny Rodriguez assigned to Round Rock from Fayetteville
7-5: OF Ross Adolph assigned to Fayetteville from Quad Cities
7-5: IF Michael Wielansky (Quad Cities) placed on the 7-day IL
7-5: RHP Abdiel Saldana sent to the GCL on a rehab assignment
7-5: SS Grae Kessinger assigned to Quad Cities from Tri-City
7-5: RHP Franny Cobos assigned to Tri-City from the GCL
7-5: RHP Kyle Serrano sent to Tri-City on a rehab assignment
7-4: RHP Brady Rodgers placed on the 7-day IL
7-4: RHP Carson LaRue assigned to Round Rock from Corpus Christi
7-4: LHP Brett Adcock (Corpus Christi) activated from the IL
7-4: RHP Miguel Figueroa assigned to Corpus Christi from Tri-City
7-4: RHP Layne Henderson assigned to Quad Cities from Corpus Christi
7-4: RHP Alex Palmer (20th round 2019) assigned to the GCL
7-3: RHP Justin Ferrell assigned to Round Rock from Corpus Christi
7-3: OF James Nix signed (35th round 2019)
7-3: RHP Layne Henderson assigned to Corpus Christi from Quad Cities
7-3: RHP Joey Gonzalez assigned to Fayetteville from Quad Cities
7-3: C Alex Holderbach (Quad Cities) activated from the IL
7-3: RHP Hansel Paulino assigned to Quad Cities from Tri-City
7-3: RHP Christian Mejias assigned to the GCL from Tri-City
7-3: 1B Ronaldo Urdaneta assigned to Tri-City from the GCL
7-2: RHP Tyler Ivey (Corpus Christi) sent to the GCL on a rehab assignment
7-2: RHP Jose Urquidy called up to Houston from Round Rock
7-2: 1B A.J. Reed (Round Rock) designated for assignment
7-2: OF Jacob Meyers (Fayetteville) placed on the 7-day IL
7-2: RHP Blair Henley assigned to Tri-City from the GCL
7-2: RHP Dean Deetz (Round Rock) sent to the GCL on a rehab assignment
7-2: SS Dauri Laurenzo signed (Dominican Republic)
7-2: C Fernando Caldera (Venezuela) signed
7-2: OF Everett Cooper (Bahamas) signed
7-2: OF Denfry de la Cruz (Dominican Republic) signed
7-2: IF Luis Encarnacion (Dominican Republic) signed
7-2: RHP Elvis Garcia (Venezuela) signed
7-2: OF Richi Gonzalez (Dominican Republic) signed
7-2: IF Danyuri Guzman (Dominican Republic) signed
7-2: RHP Eurys Martich (Dominican Republic) signed
7-2: OF Christopher Morales (Dominican Republic) signed
7-2: IF Josue Payano (Dominican Republic) signed
7-2: OF Luis Perez (Dominican Republic) signed
7-2: C Juan Santander (Venezuela) signed
7-1: LHP Reymin Guduan optioned to Round Rock from Houston
7-1: OF Jordan Brewer (3rd round pick) signed
7-1: RHP Kevin Holcomb (13th round 2019) assigned to the GCL Astros
7-1: LHP Julio Robaina assigned to the GCL from Tri-City
7-1: 2B Bryan Arias (28th round 2019) assigned to Tri-City

Players who started the 2019 season on the DL

C Ruben Castro - activated 5-25
RHP Nick Hernandez - activated 5-8
RHP Alex House
OF Alex McKenna - activated 4-29
RHP Hansel Paulino - activated 6-14
RHP Erasmo Pinales - activated 5-20
RHP Abdiel Saldana - activated 7-5
RHP Kyle Serrano - activated 6-26
RHP Jairo Solis

Restricted List
RHP Francis Martes (80-game suspension) - suspension ended 6-26, but will remain on the restricted list for the time being due to visa issues
1B/OF J.J. Matijevic (50-game suspension) - activated 6-21

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 52-38 .578 2.0GB W1

AA CORPUS CHRISTI (Texas League/South Division)

3rd 41-45 .477 3.0GB W2 (Overall)
🠉 T2nd 8-9 .471 2.0GB W2 (Second Half)

ADV A FAYETTEVILLE (Carolina League/Southern Division)

4th 40-47 .460 19.5GB L1 (Overall)
🠋 T3rd 9-9 .500 1.0GB L1 (Second Half)

LOW A QUAD CITIES (Midwest League/Western Division)
1st half Division Winner

1st 53-29 .646 -.-GB L3 (Overall)
⬌ 5th 10-6 .625 1.5GB L3 (Second Half)

SHORT SEASON A TRI-CITY (New York-Penn League/Stedler Division)
🠋 4th 7-14 .333 9.0GB L4

ROOKIE LEVEL GULF COAST LEAGUE (East Division)
🠉 4th 6-6 .500 1.5GB W6

ROOKIE LEVEL DOMINICAN SUMMER LEAGUE (Northwest Division)
🠉 2nd 17-14 .548 1.0GB W1

WATCH THIS SPACE

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

Taylor Jones - May 2019

Photo by Jayne Hansen

1B/OF Taylor Jones has been a steady fixture for the AAA Round Rock Express team all year. Drafted out of Gonzaga in the 19th round in 2016, Jones broke through with his bat in 2018 and has carried that success forward to this season. His .296/.395/.535/.930 batting line over 80 games compares very favorably with that of Astros #2 Prospect Kyle Tucker who is hitting .275/.349/.589/.938 through 82 games. Jones may not be a base-stealing threat, but he makes up for it with his good on-base skills and power to all fields.  Watch this space ...

FORMER ASTRO UPDATE

Preston Tucker - June 2016

Photo by Jayne Hansen

Drafted by the Astros in the 7th round in 2012 out of the University of Florida, Preston Tucker spent six seasons in the Astros system (146 games in the majors in 2015 and 2016) prior to his trade to the Braves in December 2017. He was then traded to the Reds, purchased back by the Braves and ended up signing with the White Sox as a free agent in February 2019. After playing 25 games for the White Sox AAA affiliate to start the season, Tucker was granted his release in May 2019 so that he could play in Korea. He subsequently signed with the Kia Tigers in the Korean Baseball Organization where he has hit .297/.370/.448 in his first 42 games for the Tigers.

RANDOM PHOTO OF THE WEEK

Vermont - 2013

Photo by Jayne Hansen