In case you missed these, here are my recent interviews from Quad Cities
Cesar Salazar
Brett Daniels
Felipe Tejada
And in honor of the blog's anniversary, I looked at eight years of WTHB by the numbers!
Look for another couple of interviews from my trip to Corpus Christi coming out this week.
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.
8-18: LHP Kit Scheetz (Round Rock) sent to the GCL on a rehab assignment
8-18: RHP Justin Ferrell (Round Rock) sent to the GCL on a rehab assignment
8-18: RHP Cy Sneed recalled to Houston
8-18: RHP Carson LaRue (Round Rock) activated from the IL
8-18: RHP Rogelio Armenteros optioned to Round Rock
8-17: RHP Rogelio Armenteros (Round Rock) recalled to Houston
8-17: RHP Francis Martes activated from the restricted list and placed on the Round Rock 7-day IL
8-17: RHP Cy Sneed optioned to Round Rock
8-17: RHP Erasmo Pinales (Corpus Christi) placed on the 7-day IL
8-17: RHP Willy Collado (Corpus Christi) activated from the IL
8-17: RHP Abdiel Saldana assigned to Fayetteville from Quad Cities
8-17: RHP Valente Bellozo assigned to Quad Cities from Tri-City
8-17: RHP Tanner Duncan (Fayetteville) released
8-16: RHP Garrett Gayle (Quad Cities) placed on the 7-day IL
8-16: RHP Jacob Billingsley (Fayetteville) activated from the IL and assigned to Quad Cities
8-16: RHP Ryan Gusto assigned to Tri-City from the GCL
8-15: RHP Lupe Chavez (Quad Cities) placed on the 7-day IL
8-15: C C.J. Stubbs assigned to Quad Cities from Tri-City
8-15: IF AJ Lee assigned to Quad Cities from Tri-City
8-15: C Orlando Marquez (Quad Cities) released
8-14: RHP Cy Sneed (Round Rock) recalled to Houston
8-14: RHP Joe Biagini optioned to Round Rock
8-14: OF/SS Myles Straw optioned to Round Rock
8-13: LHP Cionel Perez (Round Rock) sent to the GCL on a rehab assignment
8-13: LHP Brett Adcock (Corpus Christi) placed on the 7-day IL
8-13: OF/SS Myles Straw (Round Rock) recalled to Houston
8-13: RHP Brett Conine assigned to Corpus Christi from Fayetteville
8-13: LHP Parker Mushinski (Fayetteville) activated from the IL
8-13: Jose Bolivar signed (no info available)
8-13: 2B/OF Alfredo Angarita (Corpus Christi) released
8-12: OF Raider Uceta (GCL) placed on the 60-day IL
8-12: OF James Nix assigned to Quad Cities from the GCL
8-12: RHP Hunter Martin (Quad Cities) released
8-11: RHP Joey Gonzalez (Fayetteville) placed on the 7-day IL
8-11: SS Jeremy Pena (Fayetteville) activated from the IL
8-11: RHP Jayson Schroeder (Tri-City) sent to the GCL on a rehab assignment (MiLB.com doesn't actually show Schroeder as being on the IL)
8-10: C Orlando Marquez (Quad Cities) activated from the IL
8-10: IF Michael Wielansky (Quad Cities) placed on the 7-day IL
8-9: RHP Akeem Bostick (Round Rock) released
8-9: RHP Enoli Paredes (Corpus Christi) activated from the IL
8-9: RHP Tommy DeJuneas (Corpus Christi) placed on the 7-day IL
8-9: RHP Jacob Billingsley (Fayetteville) sent to the GCL on a rehab assignment
8-9: C Cesar Salazar (Quad Cities) placed on the 7-day IL
8-9: RHP R.J. Freure (Quad Cities) activated from the temporary inactive list (Freure had been representing Team Canada at the Pan Am Games)
8-8: C Garrett Stubbs optioned to Round Rock
8-8: 1B Zach Biermann (Quad Cities) activated from the IL
8-8: RHP Ryan Gusto (11th round 2019) assigned to the GCL
8-7: RHP Riley Ferrell (Round Rock) activated from the IL
8-7: RHP Carson LaRue (Round Rock) placed on the 7-day IL (retroactive to 8-6)
8-7: RHP Danny Cody assigned to Tri-City from Quad Cities
8-6: RHP Colin McKee assigned to Corpus Christi from Round Rock
8-6: RHP Willy Collado (Corpus Christi) placed on the 7-day IL
8-6: RHP Ryan Pressly sent to Corpus Christi for a rehab assignment (activated 8-9)
8-6: LHP Yeremi Ceballos assigned to the GCL from Fayetteville
8-5: RHP Humberto Castellanos assigned to Fayetteville from Round Rock
8-5: OF Carlos Machado (Quad Cities) placed on the 7-day IL
8-5: RHP Luis de Paula assigned to Quad Cities from Tri-City
8-5: RHP Alex House (Quad Cities) released - House had been on the IL all season
8-3: OF Jacob Meyers assigned to Corpus Christi from Fayetteville
8-3: RHP Brad Peacock sent to Round Rock on a rehab assignment (activated 8-18)
8-3: RHP Ronel Blanco (Round Rock) activated from the IL
8-3: LHP Yeremi Ceballos assigned to Fayetteville from the GCL
8-3: OF Wilyer Abreu assigned to Quad Cities from Tri-City
8-2: C Garrett Stubbs recalled to Houston
8-2: RHP Cy Sneed optioned to Round Rock
8-2: OF/IF Myles Straw optioned to Round Rock
8-2: RHP Jose Urquidy optioned to Round Rock
8-2: OF Granden Goetzman (Corpus Christi) placed on the 7-day IL (retroactive to 8-1)
8-2: RHP Bryan Abreu optioned to Corpus Christi
8-2: RHP Brandon Bailey (Corpus Christi) activated from the IL
8-2: RHP Tanner Duncan assigned to Fayetteville from Round Rock
8-2: LHP Parker Mushinski (Fayetteville) sent to Tri-City on a rehab assignment
8-1: 3B Abraham Toro assigned to Round Rock from Corpus Christi
8-1: C Lorenzo Quintana assigned to Round Rock from Corpus Christi
8-1: 1B Jake Adams assigned to Corpus Christi from Fayetteville
8-1: SS Jonathan Arauz assigned to Corpus Christi from Fayetteville
8-1: RHP Forest Whitley assigned to Corpus Christi from Fayetteville
8-1: SS Jeremy Pena (Fayetteville) placed on the 7-day IL
8-1: C Ruben Castro (Fayetteville) activated from the IL
8-1: 1B/3B David Hensley assigned from Quad Cities to Fayetteville
Players who started the 2019 season on the DL
RHP Jairo Solis
Restricted List
2019 STANDINGS/PLAYOFF PICTURE
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)
🠉 1st 75-49 .605 -.-GB L1
Round Rock had a very good week, capitalizing on the San Antonio Missions late season swoon to take the Southern Division lead. The Express are currently ahead of that Milwaukee AAA club by 1.5 games with 16 games left in the season. Four of those games will be against San Antonio at Round Rock. Eight of the remaining games for the Express are against sub-.500 teams. The Iowa Cubs have a comfortable 7-game lead in the Northern Division, but are headed into the week having lost four in a row.
AA CORPUS CHRISTI (Texas League/South Division)
Round Rock had a very good week, capitalizing on the San Antonio Missions late season swoon to take the Southern Division lead. The Express are currently ahead of that Milwaukee AAA club by 1.5 games with 16 games left in the season. Four of those games will be against San Antonio at Round Rock. Eight of the remaining games for the Express are against sub-.500 teams. The Iowa Cubs have a comfortable 7-game lead in the Northern Division, but are headed into the week having lost four in a row.
AA CORPUS CHRISTI (Texas League/South Division)
3rd 61-64 .488 5.5GB L1 (Overall)
🠉 T2nd 28-28 .500 4.0GB L1 (Second Half)
The playoff picture for the Texas League South Division is getting VERY convoluted right now. Thanks to a great 5-2 week by the Hooks, they are suddenly very much in the mix for a playoff berth. Amarillo is currently the second half leader, but they already qualified for the playoffs by winning the first half; if they remain in first place in the second half, the second place team will advance. Corpus Christi is currently tied with Midland for second place in the second half and since the Hooks are 10-9 against the RockHounds in the second half, the Hooks would be the second half winners if the season ended now. But the season doesn't end now and Frisco trails both Corpus Christi and Midland by only one half game (Frisco has a 7-6 record against the Hooks in the second half and would win a potential tie with them).
The Hooks have 14 games remaining, none of them against their division rivals. They will be playing the two teams who are currently tied for the North Division lead for all of their remaining games, six on the road followed by eight at home. Midland will be playing their remaining 14 games against two sub-.500 teams in the North Division (six at home, followed by eight on the road). Frisco will be playing those same sub-.500 teams for their remaining 15 games (six at home, followed by nine on the road). Stay tuned because the field is wide open at this point.
ADV A FAYETTEVILLE (Carolina League/Southern Division)
🠉 T2nd 28-28 .500 4.0GB L1 (Second Half)
The playoff picture for the Texas League South Division is getting VERY convoluted right now. Thanks to a great 5-2 week by the Hooks, they are suddenly very much in the mix for a playoff berth. Amarillo is currently the second half leader, but they already qualified for the playoffs by winning the first half; if they remain in first place in the second half, the second place team will advance. Corpus Christi is currently tied with Midland for second place in the second half and since the Hooks are 10-9 against the RockHounds in the second half, the Hooks would be the second half winners if the season ended now. But the season doesn't end now and Frisco trails both Corpus Christi and Midland by only one half game (Frisco has a 7-6 record against the Hooks in the second half and would win a potential tie with them).
The Hooks have 14 games remaining, none of them against their division rivals. They will be playing the two teams who are currently tied for the North Division lead for all of their remaining games, six on the road followed by eight at home. Midland will be playing their remaining 14 games against two sub-.500 teams in the North Division (six at home, followed by eight on the road). Frisco will be playing those same sub-.500 teams for their remaining 15 games (six at home, followed by nine on the road). Stay tuned because the field is wide open at this point.
ADV A FAYETTEVILLE (Carolina League/Southern Division)
4th 62-63 .496 21.0GB L1 (Overall)
🠉 2nd 31-25 .554 2.5GB L1 (Second Half)
The Down East Wood Ducks currently lead the second half in the Southern Division by 2.5 games, but since they won the first half, it will be the second place team that advances if Down East holds on to that lead. That is precisely where the Woodpeckers stand as of today. They are two games ahead of Myrtle Beach and 3.5 games ahead of Winston-Salem. Fayetteville has 14 games remaining, seven of those against the first place Wood Ducks and the remaining seven against the last place team in each division. Myrtle Beach will face the Southern Division last place team for three games before heading out on the road for their final 11 against the first, second and third place clubs in the Northern Division (all .500+ teams).
LOW A QUAD CITIES (Midwest League/Western Division)
1st half Division Winner
🠉 2nd 31-25 .554 2.5GB L1 (Second Half)
The Down East Wood Ducks currently lead the second half in the Southern Division by 2.5 games, but since they won the first half, it will be the second place team that advances if Down East holds on to that lead. That is precisely where the Woodpeckers stand as of today. They are two games ahead of Myrtle Beach and 3.5 games ahead of Winston-Salem. Fayetteville has 14 games remaining, seven of those against the first place Wood Ducks and the remaining seven against the last place team in each division. Myrtle Beach will face the Southern Division last place team for three games before heading out on the road for their final 11 against the first, second and third place clubs in the Northern Division (all .500+ teams).
LOW A QUAD CITIES (Midwest League/Western Division)
1st half Division Winner
1st 74-47 .612 -.-GB W2 (Overall)
🠋 T3rd 31-24 .564 4.0GB W2 (Second Half)
Thankfully, Quad Cities is already in the playoffs by virtue of winning their division in the first half. And we even know that they will be facing the Cedar Rapids Kernels (the first half wild card) for the first series, a best of three division quarterfinal. And we even know the dates for that first series, September 4th at Cedar Rapids and September 5th and 6th (if necessary) at Quad Cities.
SHORT SEASON A TRI-CITY (New York-Penn League/Stedler Division)
🠋 4th 25-36 .410 8.0GB L2
Barring a miracle, Tri-City will not be able to pull off a repeat of their 2018 League Championship. They have 14 games left to play and their elimination number is 6.
ROOKIE LEVEL GULF COAST LEAGUE (East Division)
🠉 4th 21-23 .477 5.0GB W2
The GCL 'Stros have 12 games left to go with an elimination number of 8.
ROOKIE LEVEL DOMINICAN SUMMER LEAGUE (Northwest Division)
🠉 T2nd 35-30 .538 1.5GB W3
The DSL team has only six games remaining with the final two games against the first place Royals1 team.
🠋 T3rd 31-24 .564 4.0GB W2 (Second Half)
Thankfully, Quad Cities is already in the playoffs by virtue of winning their division in the first half. And we even know that they will be facing the Cedar Rapids Kernels (the first half wild card) for the first series, a best of three division quarterfinal. And we even know the dates for that first series, September 4th at Cedar Rapids and September 5th and 6th (if necessary) at Quad Cities.
SHORT SEASON A TRI-CITY (New York-Penn League/Stedler Division)
🠋 4th 25-36 .410 8.0GB L2
Barring a miracle, Tri-City will not be able to pull off a repeat of their 2018 League Championship. They have 14 games left to play and their elimination number is 6.
ROOKIE LEVEL GULF COAST LEAGUE (East Division)
🠉 4th 21-23 .477 5.0GB W2
The GCL 'Stros have 12 games left to go with an elimination number of 8.
ROOKIE LEVEL DOMINICAN SUMMER LEAGUE (Northwest Division)
🠉 T2nd 35-30 .538 1.5GB W3
The DSL team has only six games remaining with the final two games against the first place Royals1 team.
WATCH THIS SPACE
I plan to use "this space" to feature players who are currently flying below the radar, but who deserve a closer look.
I probably would have featured RHP Jojanse Torres (High A Fayetteville) sooner, but for some reason I thought he was already on the MLB Pipeline Top 30 list for the Astros. Torres is an older pitcher (24 on August 4th) signed by the Astros in April of 2018, but he is only in his second season of professional baseball. He started the season in the bullpen with the Quad Cities team, but quickly earned a promotion to Fayetteville in mid-May and has thrown several starts at the higher level. For the season to date, he is 10-0 with one save, a 1.89 ERA and a 1.097 WHIP in 22 games (9 starts). He has walked 40 batters and struck out 102 in 85.2 innings. Prior to the season, he was said to have a fastball in the mid to high 90's (touching 100) and an advanced slider and changeup. He may not be on the MLB Pipeline Top 30 list yet, but if he maintains his current success, look for that to change soon. Watch this space ...
FORMER ASTRO UPDATE
And now for a Golden Oldie! OF Jay Austin was drafted by the Astros in the 2nd round in 2008 out of North Atlanta High School. Austin spent five seasons in the Astros system before his release in August 2012. After taking 2013 off, Austin tooled around independent league ball for the next few years before landing in the Mexican League in 2018. This season, he is hitting .326/.382/.484 with 21 doubles, three triples and 12 home runs in 100 games for the Piratas de Campeche. He has 29 stolen bases to 8 caught stealing and has 37 walks to 50 strikeouts. He was also selected to the mid-season All-Star team. Austin turned 29 last week.
I plan to use "this space" to feature players who are currently flying below the radar, but who deserve a closer look.
Jojanse Torres - June 2019
Photo by Jayne Hansen
I probably would have featured RHP Jojanse Torres (High A Fayetteville) sooner, but for some reason I thought he was already on the MLB Pipeline Top 30 list for the Astros. Torres is an older pitcher (24 on August 4th) signed by the Astros in April of 2018, but he is only in his second season of professional baseball. He started the season in the bullpen with the Quad Cities team, but quickly earned a promotion to Fayetteville in mid-May and has thrown several starts at the higher level. For the season to date, he is 10-0 with one save, a 1.89 ERA and a 1.097 WHIP in 22 games (9 starts). He has walked 40 batters and struck out 102 in 85.2 innings. Prior to the season, he was said to have a fastball in the mid to high 90's (touching 100) and an advanced slider and changeup. He may not be on the MLB Pipeline Top 30 list yet, but if he maintains his current success, look for that to change soon. Watch this space ...
FORMER ASTRO UPDATE
Jay Austin - May 2012
Photo by Bryan Green
RANDOM PHOTO OF THE WEEK
Race Rock Light, Long Island Sound - July 2019
Photo by Jayne Hansen
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.