Greeneville Astros - August 2012

Over the last couple of weeks, I've attempted to cull through and organize hundreds of photos I took at the various minor league venues during the 2012 season. Here are a few you may enjoy. I have also uploaded photos to Flickr. You can find my Greeneville photos from August 2012 here. Unfortunately, I haven't tagged the photos yet, but hope to do so at some point during the off-season. I promise I will try to upload and post pictures in a more timely manner in the coming season!

Ariel Ovando

Adrian Houser

Marc Wik

Angel Ibanez

Richard Rodriguez

Photos by Jayne Hansen

 All Rights Reserved*

*The players and coaches featured in these photos are hereby granted permission to use these photos for personal uses. All other uses require permission and acknowledgment. 

Lancaster JetHawks - August 2012

Over the last couple of weeks, I've attempted to cull through and organize hundreds of photos I took at the various minor league venues during the 2012 season. Here are a few you may enjoy. I have also uploaded photos to Flickr. You can find my Lancaster photos from August 2012 here. Unfortunately, I haven't tagged the photos yet, but hope to do so at some point during the off-season. I'll be posting photos of my August trip to Greeneville this afternoon.

Enrique (Kiké) Hernandez

Telvin Nash and Batting Coach Darryl Robinson

Nick Tropeano

Pat Urckfitz

Robert Peña

Photos by Jayne Hansen

 All Rights Reserved*

*The players and coaches featured in these photos are hereby granted permission to use these photos for personal uses. All other uses require permission and acknowledgment. 

Corpus Christi Hooks - June 2012

Over the last couple of weeks, I've attempted to cull through and organize hundreds of photos I took at the various minor league venues during the 2012 season. Here are a few you may enjoy. I have also uploaded photos to Flickr. You can find my Corpus Christi photos from June 2012 here and from the September 7th playoff game here. Unfortunately, I haven't tagged the photos yet, but hope to do so at some point during the off-season. I'll be posting photos of my August trips to Lancaster and Greeneville tomorrow.

Josh Zeid

Jon Singleton

Jarred Cosart's radar reading (he got to 98 that day)

Jair "Jay" Fernandez

Ross Seaton

Brandon Wikoff

Photos by Jayne Hansen

 All Rights Reserved*

*The players and coaches featured in these photos are hereby granted permission to use these photos for personal uses. All other uses require permission and acknowledgment. 

Lexington Legends - April 2012

Over the last couple of weeks, I've attempted to cull through and organize hundreds of photos I took at the various minor league venues during the 2012 season. Here are a few you may enjoy. I have also uploaded photos to Flickr. You can find my Lexington Legends photos from April 2012 here. Unfortunately, I haven't tagged the photos yet, but hope to do so at some point during the off-season. I'll be posting additional photos over the next couple of days.

Mike Kvasnicka warming up Luis Cruz

Mike Kvasnicka taking infield

Roving Coach Paul Runge working with Jordan Scott

Delino DeShields taking a breather

Jordan Scott

Photos by Jayne Hansen

 All Rights Reserved*

*The players and coaches featured in these photos are hereby granted permission to use these photos for personal uses. All other uses require permission and acknowledgment.

So How Did I Do? Oklahoma City Redhawks

I've been taking a long overdue look at how I did in predicting the the 2012 Astros minor league full season team results. Last week I looked at the Lexington Legends and the Lancaster JetHawks, and earlier this week I looked at the Corpus Christi Hooks. Today let's look at the AAA level Oklahoma City Redhawks.

OFFENSE

I didn't go into any detail about specific players, but did predict better overall results in the categories of batting average and slugging percentage which is precisely what happened (OBP stayed roughly the same). I went on to note that since several of the players had significant experience at the AAA level with good results, I saw no reason that trend wouldn't continue. Players such as J.B. Shuck, Brett Wallace, Brad Snyder, Scott Moore and Jimmy Paredes performed as I expected while players such as Justin Ruggiano, Angel Sanchez and Fernando Martinez outperformed my expectations. And Mike Hessman's 35 home runs didn't exactly hurt the team slugging percentage.

This is how things shook out:

2011 - .260/.341/.381 with 4.33 runs scored per game
2012 - .282/.349/.434 with 5.34 runs scored per game

PITCHING

Much as I noted for Corpus Christi's rotation, it really wasn't a stretch to predict that an opening day rotation of Jordan Lyles, Aneury Rodriguez and Henry Sosa (all with significant major league experience), as well as Dallas Keuchel and Paul Clemens (both of whom had gotten their feet wet at AAA the prior year) would be an upgrade over Ryan Rowland-Smith, Nelson Figueroa, Andy Van Hekken, Sergio Perez and a younger version of Jordan Lyles. Little did I know that Rodriguez and Clemens would struggle and Sosa would leave the team after only six starts. Keuchel and Lyles both performed well, however, and ended up in Houston.

It took several players who didn't start the season with Oklahoma City, such as Brett Oberholtzer, Wes Musick, Armando Galarraga and Jarred Cosart, to keep the starting rotation from taking a big step backward from last season. Mickey Storey showed great consistency out of the bullpen, but he was the exception rather than the rule.

On paper I saw the 2011 and 2012 staffs (at least the way they were drawn up on opening day) as being roughly equivalent as translated to wins and losses but that was if the pitchers showed no improvement. I anticipated that they would most definitely show improvement, but as noted above, the results were mixed and ultimately the staff did not perform as well as I had hoped.

This is how the pitching stacked up:

2011 - 4.63 ERA/1.561 WHIP/5.01 runs allowed per game
2012 - 4.91 ERA/1.508 WHIP/5.30 runs allowed per game

OVERALL RECORD

With the offense overperforming somewhat and the pitching (overall) underperforming a bit, it was kind of a wash and this turned out to be my closest prediction.

2011 Actual - 68-75/.476 win percentage
2012 Prediction - 76-68/.527 win percentage
2012 Actual - 78-65/.545 win percentage

FINAL NOTE

I underestimated the number of wins in 2012 for these four teams by 26. I was under by four on Lexington, a whopping 14 on Lancaster, six on Corpus and only two on Oklahoma City. Little did I know that this group of four teams would go from a cumulative win percentage of .414 to a cumulative win percentage of .538 in one season. I thought that my cumulative prediction of .489 might be too ambitious, but I also hoped that the individual teams would prove me wrong by winning more than I projected. This is one instance when I'm very, very happy to have been wrong.

So How Did I Do? Corpus Christi Hooks

I've been taking a long overdue look at how I did in predicting the the 2012 Astros minor league full season team results. Last week I looked at the Lexington Legends and the Lancaster JetHawks. Today let's look at the AA level Corpus Christi Hooks.

OFFENSE

I predicted across-the-board improvements in offensive output for this team as compared to the 2011 team. I thought that Austin Wates and Jon Singleton would make smooth transitions from Lancaster to Corpus and they did. Austin Wates actually had slightly better numbers at Corpus than he did at Lancaster the previous year (although in fewer at-bats) and Singleton didn't suffer from the Lancaster effect either as he hit home runs at a higher rate in Corpus Christi than he had in hitter-friendly Lancaster.

I was high on Adam Bailey based on his great season in 2011, including limited time at Corpus Christi at the end of the season, but Bailey was sent back to Lancaster before the season even started and didn't make it to Corpus until later in the season. Bailey had a solid, albeit unspectacular, season at Corpus in limited playing time. I was also high on Kody Hinze, largely based on his good transition to AA at the end of the season, but he had a highly uneven season (hitting .278 in April, .106 in May, .306 in June and .167 in July) leading to his ouster in early August. Obviously, that wasn't one of my better predictions.

One of my big questions had to do with J.C. Thompson and Andy Simunic and whether or not they could recreate their 2011 success at Lancaster. Thompson couldn't and was cut after only 18 games. Simunic fared well though, hitting .297/.349/.345. Simunic will never be a big power threat, but he did do a decent job of getting on base and increased his stolen base output while lowering his strikeout rate. My other question had to do with T.J. Steele. I didn't want him taking away at-bats from Bailey, Wates and Brandon Barnes which is precisely what he did to start the season (one of the reasons that Bailey was sent to Lancaster). Steele hit .141 in 26 games for Corpus and was released in late May.

Ultimately, the offense stacked up this way:

2011 - .258/.320/.388 with 4.32 runs scored per game
2012 - .268/.342/.410 with 5.26 runs scored per game

PITCHING

It really didn't take a rocket scientist to predict that an opening day rotation of Jarred Cosart, Brett Oberholtzer, Ross Seaton, Jose Cisnero and Jake Buchanan would have a better time of it than the five most frequently used starters from 2011 - Dallas Keuchel, Erick Abreu, Jonnathan Aristil, Xavier Cedeno and a younger, less experienced version of Ross Seaton. Granted Keuchel had a terrific season with Corpus in 2011, but the others had average to below average seasons and I didn't think that would be the case with the 2012 staff.

I predicted that Cosart might start slowly and end strong. He didn't start particularly slowly, but he definitely ended stronger, including a successful stint at AAA. I thought that Oberholtzer would benefit from a second year at AA. Oberholtzer made the most of his 13 starts in Corpus Christi and parlayed that into a promotion to Oklahoma City. I was very high on Ross Seaton based on his improvement late in the 2011 season. I expected to see a vast improvement from him as he had been young for the league in 2011, but would benefit from the year of experience. He did not disappoint me as he went from a 4-9 record, 5.23 ERA and 1.387 WHIP in 2011 to an 8-8 record, 4.07 ERA and a 1.274 WHIP at Corpus Christi in 2012.

I also predicted success for Buchanan and Cisnero. I figured if they could pitch effectively in Lancaster, Corpus would be a piece of cake for them. Buchanan didn't do as well as I had hoped (5-9 in 27 games/19 starts with a 4.96 ERA and a 1.519 WHIP), but Cisnero exceeded my expections with his 9-6 record, 3.40 ERA and 1.279 WHIP which led to a late-season promotion for him.

In looking at the bullpen, I anticipated that the relievers would be more effective since several of them were repeating the AA level. The one thing that jumps out at me when looking at this year's relief staff vs. last year is how stable the 2012 crew was. Seven relievers pitched a minimum of 50 innings (with a combined ERA of 3.94), and only 10 pitchers were used primarily in relief. In 2011, 18 different pitchers were used primarily for relief and only one of them pitched more than 50 innings; of those 18, only three had an ERA lower than the 2012 core staff.

Ultimately, this is how the pitching stacked up:

2011 - 5.01 ERA/1.460 WHIP/5.44 runs allowed per game
2012 - 4.49 ERA/1.332 WHIP/4.49 runs allowed per game

OVERALL RECORD

I actually fudged on my predictions and gave a worst-case/best-case prediction. The ironic part was that I remember thinking at the time that the Hooks would do even better than my most optimistic prediction, but I was afraid that I would be accused of either: a) being the biggest homer in the City of Houston , or b) being downright delusional for predicting they would have 30 more wins than the prior season. I should have listened to my heart because they actually had 31 more wins!

2011 Actual - 50-90/.357 win percentage
2012 Worst-Case Prediction - 65-75/.464 win percentage
2012 Best-Case Prediction - 75-65/.536 win percentage
2012 Actual - 81-59/.579 win percentage

Next (and last) on Thursday: Oklahoma City

So How Did I Do? Lancaster JetHawks

In taking a long overdue look at how I did in predicting the the 2012 Astros minor league full season team results, I first looked at the Lexington Legends. Today let's look at the worst of my predictions - the Advanced A level Lancaster JetHawks.

OFFENSE

I wasn't overly concerned about the offense on this team despite the fact that they had big shoes to fill offensively as players such as Jose Altuve, Kody Hinze, Austin Wates, Adam Bailey and Jon Singleton had great success there in 2011, and ultimately I thought that the 2011 and 2012 teams would profile somewhat similarly. I predicted that George Springer, Telvin Nash and Domingo Santana would drive the offense, and they did exactly that as three of the top four RBI men on the team. I didn't anticipate, however, that Erik Castro was going to have such a terrific season and lead all of them in the RBI category.

I was expecting improvements from Jio Mier and Kiké Hernandez and they obliged as well, although Mier got sidetracked by injury for a large chunk of the season and Hernandez' walk rate took a hit. (Hernandez' 2012 numbers below are for Lancaster and Corpus combined.)

Jio Mier
.239/.345/.344 in 114 games in 2011
.292/.396/.409 in 46 games in 2012

Kiké Hernandez
.247/.341/.326 with 11 doubles, 0 triples, 2 home runs and 17 RBI in 62 games in 2011
.270/.314/.399 with 27 doubles, 7 triples, 6 home runs and 52 RBI in 123 games in 2012

One concern that I had, offensively, going in to the season was that Erik Castro and Rafy Valenzuela were the only lefty hitters on the team, but since they both had very good seasons and their ranks were supplemented with lefty Chris Epps in June (as well as Drew Muren and Andrew Aplin later in the season), it turned out to be a non-issue. Finally, I was hoping that Dan Adamson's numbers wouldn't fall off too drastically from his 2011 numbers at Lexington, but he was cut only four games into the season.

Ultimately, the offense stacked up this way:

2011 - .280/.352/.420 with 5.35 runs scored per game
2012 - .283/.353/.448 with 6.02 runs scored per game

PITCHING

I didn't really make any predictions as to how the pitching staff as a whole would fare in 2012 as compared to the 2011 team, but rather focused on the individual pitchers and my predictions didn't fall far from the mark.

As far as the opening day starting rotation, I was very optimistic about Bobby Doran going in to the season and looked for a big improvement from him. I didn't, however, anticipate that he would go all the way from 1-3 with a 9.04 ERA and a 2.010 WHIP in 2011 to a 14-6 record with a 4.00 ERA and a 1.284 WHIP in 2012, meriting a mid-season promotion. I was a little leery about Wes Musick pitching a full season at The Hangar, but with his quick promotion after only five starts, that became a non-factor (although, interestingly enough, he did have a 4.76 ERA and a 1.412 WHIP in two starts at The Hangar as compared to a 1.29 ERA and 0.857 WHIP in 3 starts on the road). I was pretty much on the money with R.J. Alaniz (6-2, 5.04 ERA, 1.390 WHIP) and David Martinez (9-5, 4.38 ERA, 1.335 WHIP) for whom I predicted modest success at Lancaster and with Zach Grimmett (3-6, 8.21 ERA, 1.776 WHIP) for whom I anticipated difficulty at Lancaster. I was concerned about Grimmett's extreme flyball tendencies in an unforgiving park, coupled with a fairly low strikeout rate, and my concerns were justified as he only made 10 starts and was moved to the bullpen for the bulk of the season.

In looking at the bullpen, I was right when I saw Lancaster as a bad fit for Gabriel Garcia (also an extreme flyball pitcher); Garcia ended up back in Lexington after only nine appearances at Lancaster. And I was wrong when I predicted that Brian Streilein would have the best season out of the 'pen; after putting up a 7.78 ERA and a 1.632 WHIP in 26 appearances, he was cut from the team in July. I also predicted modest success for Alex Sogard (he was promoted after only six appearances) and Jorge de Leon (who had a tough season after getting thrown into the starting rotation for a large part of the season) -- I'll take an incomplete on these two.

Ultimately, this is how the pitching stacked up:

2011 - 5.96 ERA/1.569 WHIP/6.64 runs allowed per game
2012 - 5.00 ERA/1.458 WHIP/5.61 runs allowed per game

OVERALL RECORD

I vastly underestimated how the Lancaster team would do. I didn't anticipate just how well they would  function as a team under Rodney Linares' leadership. This was a case where the whole was definitely greater than the sum of the parts because all of the parts worked together so well.

2011 Actual - 55-85/.393 win percentage
2012 Prediction - 60-80/.428 win percentage
2012 Actual - 74-66/.529 win percentage

Next up: Corpus Christi (next week)

So How Did I Do? Lexington Legends

I've been dragging my heels a bit in going back to look at some of my predictions for the Astros minor league  teams for 2012. Frankly I was surprised that I did fairly well overall with one major exception. Let's look at my predictions as to how the 2012 full season teams would fare. First the A level Lexington Legends.

OFFENSE

I was concerned about the offense on this team. On paper, they looked to improve slightly in batting average and on-base percentage over the 2011 team, but were poised for a large drop-off in power coming in to the season. I saw Mike Kvasnicka and Matt Duffy as keys to shoring up the team slugging percentage. I wanted to see those two players translate some of their doubles power into home run power as I thought they were the most likely candidates to do so. They both obliged nicely.

Mike Kvasnicka
32 doubles/4 triples/4 home runs in 128 games in 2011
15 doubles/1 triple/15 home runs in 63 games in 2012

Matt Duffy
20 doubles/1 triple/2 home runs in 63 games in 2011
32 doubles/1 triple/16 home runs in 134 games in 2012

I also wanted to see at least incremental improvements offensively from three players. Robert Pena started off the year at Lexington slowly, but did start showing those incremental improvements prior to his promotion to Lancaster. Alex Todd didn't do anything incrementally. He blew away his rather anemic 2011 numbers and only spent 22 games with Lexington before getting the call up to Lancaster. And we all know about Delino DeShields terrific season as he went from hitting .220/.305/.322 at Lexington in 2011 to .298/.401/.439 in 2012, leading to his late season call-up to Lancaster.

And finally, I wanted to see three players avoid major drop-offs from their 2011 seasons. Matt Duffy continued to show consistency all season and ended up with only a slightly lower batting average than he did in 2011 despite playing in more than twice as many games (and had a higher OBP and SLG). However, Emilio King went from .293/.332/.439 in 98 games with Lexington in 2011 to hitting .135/.220/.176 in 20 games with Lexington in 2012, leading to a trip back to extended Spring Training. Somewhere in between was Jordan Scott who I saw as unlikely to produce at the level he had the previous year (.323/.380/.406 through three levels), but who ultimately fell off offensively more than I had expected (.230/.325/.280).

Ultimately, the offense stacked up this way:

2011 - .255/.327/.389 with 4.67 runs scored per game
2012 - .252/.344/.380 with 5.01 runs scored per game

PITCHING

I was more optimistic about the pitching than the offense. Overall, the 2012 staff looked to be stronger than the 2011 staff and I expected improvement in that area. But after I established some of my keys to success, the team quickly re-keyed the locks. First of all I was looking for Nick Tropeano to build on his terrific freshman year success. Check. But I hoped for the same from Kyle Hallock who struggled out of the gate before having surgery and missing the vast bulk of the season.

But I looked rather perspicacious when I went on to note that Luis Cruz and Carlos Quevedo, both of whom started the season in the bullpen, had experience as starters and were quite capable of picking up the slack if the opening day roster rotation struggled. Quevedo started four games for Lexington, but Cruz became a regular and started 24 games for the team and did so quite capably.

The other key, in my mind, was improvement by Mike Foltynewicz and Tanner Bushue. I expected improvement from Folty but was very pleasantly surprised by the level of his improvement. I also expected improvement from Bushue, but he continued to struggle with mechanics and was quickly sent back to extended Spring Training after only six games.

I also liked the bullpen and saw good seasons from Dayan Diaz and Jason Chowning, in particular, as establishing the strength of the Lexington 'pen. They did not disappoint.

Ultimately, this is how the pitching stacked up:

2011 - 4.63 ERA/1.413 WHIP/5.30 runs allowed per game
2012 - 4.26 ERA/1.387 WHIP/4.81 runs allowed per game

OVERALL RECORD

I underestimated how well every single full season team would do, but I did come close on Lexington.

2011 Actual - 59-79/.428 win percentage
2012 Prediction - 65-75/.464 win percentage
2012 Actual - 69-69/.500 win percentage

Next up: Lancaster

Congratulations!!!

RHP Chris Devenski got to the party late. As the PTBNL in the Brett Myers trade with the White Sox, he only got in five starts with his new club, the Lexington Legends, before the season ended. The last of those five starts was a memorable one. Devenski threw a 16-strikeout complete game no-hitter, the first in Lexington Legends history. Devenski had never pitched beyond the seventh inning in his two years in the minor leagues, yet he was only one fifth-inning walk away from a perfect game in his final start of the season.

Devenski was nominated for a MiLBY award, in which the fans vote for, among other things, the Game of the Year. This year Devenski's no-hitter was the winner. Congratulations to Chris and to all of his Legends teammates on this well-deserved recognition!

The 40-Man Roster and the Rule 5 Draft - Pt. 2

Yesterday I took a look at some of the players who may need to come off the 40-man roster in order to provide room to protect current Astros players who are now Rule 5 eligible and to give Jeff Luhnow room to add one or two Rule 5 draftees of his own (keeping in mind that the Astros have the first selection). Let's take a look at some of the higher profile players who will merit consideration for a 40-man roster spot.

PITCHERS
Since players taken in the Rule 5 draft have to remain on the drafting team's 25-man roster for the full season*, pitchers are taken much more frequently than position players simply because it's fairly easy to use a pitcher sparingly out of the bullpen. Position players can't be tucked away quite so neatly if they struggle. With that said, here are five pitchers who are newly eligible for the Rule 5 draft who merit consideration for a roster spot.

RHP Jarred Cosart/Starter - Cosart projects as a front of the rotation starter with his high octane fastball and "electric stuff." Despite some blister issues, he had a successful 2012 season and handled his promotion to AAA well. For the season, he was 6-7 with a 3.30 ERA and a 1.395 WHIP. I cannot see any scenario in which he is NOT placed on the 40-man roster.

LHP Brett Oberholtzer/Starter - Oberholtzer had the most experience at AAA of any of my candidates and he will certainly be in the mix for a possible spot in the rotation as he heads to spring training next February. Despite the infusion of talent into the Astros system in 2012, Oberholtzer is still on Jonathan Mayo's top prospect list, albeit he dropped to number 20 out of 20. Between Corpus Christi and Oklahoma City in 2012, he was 10-10 with a 4.37 ERA and a 1.356 WHIP and he was a workhorse, throwing the second most innings in the Astros minor league system. I don't think Jeff Luhnow added so many lefties via trade this year just to let one slip away via the Rule 5 draft. I think he will be protected, but then I thought he would be a September call-up, so what do I know?

RHP Jose Cisnero/Starter - Cisnero isn't a high profile name for most casual Astros fans, but he had a very good season at Corpus Christi leading to a call-up to Oklahoma City for eight games. For the season, he was 13-7 with a 3.70 ERA and a 1.409 WHIP. He didn't pitch as strongly at Oklahoma City as Cosart and Oberholtzer, and I don't see him quite as close to major league ready as those two, but someone may see his strong strikeout numbers and take a chance on him in a bullpen role. I wouldn't be surprised if the Astros protected him in the Rule 5 draft, but I also wouldn't be too terribly surprised if they didn't. It will be a calculated risk.

RHP Ross Seaton/Starter - Despite strong steps forward in 2012, Seaton is the least major league ready of these four starters (in my opinion). He only started four games at AAA in 2012 and, although he pitched well there, I can't really see him being taken in the major league portion of the Rule 5 draft. He ended the season with an 8-9 record with a 3.93 ERA and a 1.281 WHIP. I don't think he'll be protected on the 40-man roster, but will be put on the AAA reserve list.

RHP Jason Stoffel/Reliever - Stoffel led the Astros minor league system in saves (27) and appearances (56) while compiling a 2.33 ERA and an extremely stingy WHIP of 0.983 at AA Corpus Christi. I think the only reason Stoffel did not get promoted to AAA during the 2012 season was because Corpus was in a pennant race and he was too valuable to lose. Personally, I would absolutely protect Stoffel on the 40-man roster because I think he's the most major league ready reliever in the organization who's not already on the 40-man.

POSITION PLAYERS
As I noted above, position players are not taken as often as pitchers in the Rule 5 draft. Those who are taken are usually very close to being major league ready. But even if a player isn't ready for the bigs, leaving a top prospect unprotected could prove too tempting for other teams. Here are four players who are newly eligible for the Rule 5 draft who may merit consideration for the 40-man roster.

SS Jonathan Villar - Villar is still raw and is most decidedly not ready for prime time, but he is still one of the top prospects in the organization. Add to that the broken hand he suffered last season which limited him to 86 games. If he is not protected on the 40-man roster, he will at least be put on the AAA reserve list so that he would have to be taken in the major league portion of the draft. Are the Astros willing to take a chance? I don't think so, but we'll soon see. Villar hit .261/.336/.396 with 39 stolen bases. He also had a .938 fielding percentage and committed 24 errors.

OF Marc Krauss - Krauss was a top 20 prospect in the Diamondbacks organization coming in to the 2012 season. He had a great season with AA Mobile and AA Corpus Christi before stumbling at AAA Oklahoma City. His overall batting line for 2012 was .271/.397/.491 with 31 doubles, two triples and twenty home runs. Although there are some doubts about his bat, the lefty has a very high upside. It might be a risk to leave him unprotected.

CF Robbie Grossman - Grossman hasn't played beyond AA yet, but he was one of the top 10 prospects in the Pirates organization coming in to the 2012 season. In 2012, he hit .266/.376/.410 with 28 doubles, six triples and 10 home runs. I don't particularly think he's in danger of being taken in the major league portion of the Rule 5 draft as he hasn't played beyond AA yet, but I think he will be given consideration and at least placed on the AAA reserve list.

C Carlos Perez - Although Perez has not played one game above High A, I would think twice about leaving him exposed to the Rule 5 draft. Currently listed as #18 by Jonathan Mayo in the Astros system, Perez profiles to have the highest upside offensively and defensively of any catcher in the organization. I know it's  unlikely that anyone would take him in the major league portion of the draft, but if there is even a remote possibility I would protect him.

OTHER PLAYERS
There are some other interesting players who are eligible to be taken in the Rule 5 draft this year, one or more of whom may need to be protected on the 40-man roster, including RHP Chia-Jen Lo, RHP Carlos Quevedo, RHP Josh Zeid, SS Ben Orloff, OF Jake Goebbert and others. Obviously, not everyone can be protected on the 40-man roster. Some players will be added to the 38-man AAA reserve list so that they will not be subject to the minor league phases of the Rule 5 draft. If those AAA reserve players are drafted, it will have to be in the major league phase of the draft in which case the players will have to remain on the drafting team's 25-man roster for the whole season*. So the Astros will have to determine which players are more likely to "stick" with another team as they make those decisions.

Rosters will have to be set by November 20th in advance of the Rule 5 draft. And for the first time in while, it may be a difficult proposition for the Astros to protect all of the players who are potentially going to be a part of this team's future. And that, my friends, is not a bad thing. Not at all!

*If the player doesn't stay on the 25-man roster, he will have to be put through waivers. If claimed, the new team will be subject to the same conditions regarding that player. If not claimed, the player will be offered back to the team from which they were drafted.

Composition of the Astros System: Pitchers

As I confessed yesterday, I really enjoy looking at the minutiae of what makes up a team. Yesterday I looked at Position Players. Today, let's look at Pitchers. All information includes both major league players and minor league players in the Astros system as of the end of the 2012 season. I may be missing one or two players but the underlying data should be pretty darned accurate.

ASTROS PITCHERS (150)

PLACE OF BIRTH
83 - United States (25 states)*
39 - Dominican Republic
10 - Venezuela
5 - Panama
4 - Puerto Rico
2 - Colombia
1 - Brazil
1 - El Salvador
1 - Mexico
1 - Nicaragua
1 - Canada (Ontario)
1 - Taiwan
1 - Virgin Islands

*U.S. Breakdown
18 - Texas
11 - California
9 - Florida
6 - Arizona
4 - Oklahoma
4 - South Carolina
3 - Illinois
3 - North Carolina
3 - New York
2 each - Colorado, Georgia, Nebraska, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania
1 each - Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, Oregon, Washington

WHEN/HOW SIGNED
The dates may be off on an occasional winter signing or a Latin free agent who did not play until the following year, but this should still serve to give you a general idea.

• 2002 - Latin American Free Agent (1)
• 2005 - Latin American Free Agents (4)
• 2006 - Latin American Free Agents (3); Drafted (2 college)
• 2007 - Latin American Free Agents (4); Rule 5 (1)
• 2008 - Drafted (7 - 5 high school, 1 community college & 1 college); Latin American Free Agents (6); Pacific Rim Free Agent (1); U.S. Non-Drafted Free Agent (1); Free Agent (1)
• 2009 - Latin American Free Agents (7); Drafted (3 - 2 high school & 1 college); U.S. Non-Drafted Free Agent (2); Free Agent (1); Trade (1); Waiver Claim (1)
• 2010 - Drafted (12 - 6 college, 4 high school & 2 community college); Latin American Free Agents (10); Trades (2); Free Agents (2); Rule 5 (1)
• 2011 - Drafted (13 - 7 college, 4 community college & 2 high school); Trades (8); Latin American Free Agents (7); U.S. Non-Drafted Free Agents (3); Free Agents (2); Waiver Claim (1); Rule 5 (1)
• 2012 - Drafted (14 - 11 college, 2 community college & 1 high school); Trades (13); Latin American Free Agents (7); Free Agents (4); Waiver Claims (2); U.S. Non-drafted Free Agents (2)

Totals
28 - Drafted out of College
14 - Drafted out of High School
9 - Drafted out of Community College
49 - Latin American Free Agents
1 - Pacific Rim Free Agents
8 - U.S. Non-Drafted Free Agents
24 - Trades
10 - Free Agents
4 - Waiver Claims
3 - Rule 5

DRAFT PICKS BY ROUND
In addition to those players drafted by the Astros, there have been numerous players added to the system that were drafted by other teams. For example, in addition to 13 top five round picks (including supplemental picks) drafted by the Astros, there are an additional 12 players who were first five round picks by other teams that are now in the system. Here is the breakdown by round. (As a reminder, this is for pitchers only).

6 - 1st round
6 - 2nd round
5 - 3rd round
6 - 4th round
2 - 5th round
1 - 6th round
3 - 7th round
5 - 8th round
5 - 9th round
4 - 10th round
1 - 11th round
1 - 12th round
1 - 13th round
3 - 15th round
1 - 16th round
2 - 17th round
1 - 18th round
1 - 19th round
1 - 22nd round
1 - 23rd round
1 - 24th round
2 - 25th round
1 - 27th round
2 - 28th round
1 - 29th round
1 - 30th round
2 - 31st round
2 - 32nd round
1 - 33rd round
1 - 34th round
2 - 37th round
2 - 38th round
1 - 39th round

"HANDEDNESS"
111 - Right-handed pitchers
39 - Left-handed pitchers

Up next - Composite of position players and pitchers

Composition of the Astros System: Position Players

I'll admit it. I like to look at details that most people don't care about, and for the most part, probably don't matter very much either. But I still find these things interesting. And maybe you will as well. Or maybe not. All information includes both major league players and minor league players in the Astros system as of the end of the 2012 season. I may be missing one or two players but the underlying data should be pretty darned accurate.

ASTROS POSITION PLAYERS (140)

PLACE OF BIRTH
83 - United States (25 states and the District of Columbia)*
31 - Dominican Republic
11 - Venezuela
9 - Puerto Rico
2 - Colombia
2 - Nicaragua
1 - South Korea
1 - Australia

*U.S. Breakdown
24 - California
10 - Florida
8 - Texas
6 - Georgia
5 - Ohio
4 - Illinois
2 each - Indiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Virginia, Washington
1 each - Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Maryland, Mississippi, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Washington DC

WHEN/HOW SIGNED
The dates may be off on an occasional winter signing or a Latin free agent who did not play until the following year, but this should still serve to give you a general idea.

• 2005 - Drafted (2 - 1 college & 1 community college)
• 2006 - Latin American Free Agents (2)
• 2007 - Latin American Free Agents (2)
• 2008 - Latin American Free Agents (5); Drafted (4 - 3 college & 1 high school)
• 2009 - Drafted (11 - 6 college & 5 high school); Latin American Free Agents (2); Pacific Rim Free Agent (1)
• 2010 - Drafted (10 - 5 high school & 5 college); Latin American Free Agents (10); Trades (4); U.S. Non-Drafted Free Agents (2); Free Agent (1); Waiver Claim (1)
• 2011 - Drafted (17 - 15 college & 2 high school); Latin American Free Agents (8); Free Agents (5); Trades (4); Waiver Claims (2); U.S. Non-Drafted Free Agent (1); Rule 5/Trade (1)
• 2012 - Drafted (17 - 12 college, 3 high school & 2 community college); Latin American Free Agents (9); Trades (8); Free Agents (6); Waiver Claims (2); U.S. Non-drafted Free Agents (2); Pacific Rim Free Agent (1)

Totals
42 - Drafted out of College
16 - Drafted out of High School
3 - Drafted out of Community College
38 - Latin American Free Agents
2 - Pacific Rim Free Agents
5 - U.S. Non-Drafted Free Agents
16 - Trades
12 - Free Agents
5 - Waiver Claims
1 - Rule 5/Trade (Marwin Gonzalez was a Rule 5 pick by the Red Sox and then was immediately traded to Houston)

DRAFT PICKS BY ROUND
In addition to those players drafted by the Astros, there have been numerous players added to the system that were drafted by other teams. For example, in addition to seven first round picks (including supplemental first rounders) drafted by the Astros, there are an additional nine players who were first round picks by other teams that are now in the system. Here is the breakdown by round. (As a reminder, this is for position players only).

16 - 1st round
4 - 2nd round
4 - 3rd round
3 - 4th round
3 - 5th round
5 - 6th round
3 - 7th round
3 - 8th round
2 - 9th round
1 - 10th round
3 - 11th round
3 - 12th round
3 - 13th round
3 - 14th round
2 - 15th round
2 - 16th round
1 - 17th round
1 - 18th round
2 - 19th round
2 - 20th round
2 - 21st round
1 - 22nd round
2 - 23rd round
1 - 24th round
1 - 25th round
2 - 27th round
1 - 28th round
2 - 29th round
2 - 31st round
2 - 35th round
2 - 36th round
1 - 41st round
1 - 45th round
1 - 49th round

BATTERS
87 - Bat right-handed
36 - Bat left-handed
16 - Switch hitters
1 - Unknown

POSITION
63 - Infielders primarily
50 - Outfielders primarily
27 - Catchers

Up next - Pitchers

Astros Minor League Awards Presentation

I wanted to hand out a few awards to deserving players and coaching staff for their 2012 seasons. Awards will be divided into the serious (The Bobbies) and the not-so-serious (The Heckies). The envelope please ...

THE BOBBIES

Full Season Pitcher of the Year: RHP Mike Foltynewicz
I know this isn't a very original choice, but there is a reason that Folty was named Minor League Pitcher of the Year by the Astros and Outstanding Pitcher for the South Atlantic League. He made huge strides forward as he compiled a 14-4 record with a 3.14 ERA and a 1.362 WHIP this season at Lexington.

Full Season Player of the Year: 2B Delino DeShields
Again, not original, but DeShields showed everyone why he was a first round pick in 2010 as he stole 101 bases while hitting a combined .287/.389/.428 between Lexington and Lancaster. He was also named MVP of the California League Championship Finals.

Short Season Pitcher of the Year: RHP Aaron West
This was a difficult decision with great seasons from so many, but ultimately Aaron West made the decision for me. Aaron put together a 6-2 record with a 2.04 ERA and a 0.957 WHIP in 12 starts for Tri-City. He walked only nine batters in 61+ innings and put up a 6.56 SO/BB ratio. In the post-season, he had a 2.45 ERA and a 0.909 WHIP.

Short Season Player of the Year: CF Andrew Aplin
This was the most difficult decision of all with Tyler Heineman and Jean Batista, in particular, making very good cases for themselves, but Aplin's speed, on-base skills and emerging power gave him the edge. Aplin hit .313/.386/.493 combined between Tri-City and Lancaster with 13 doubles, seven triples, seven home runs, 38 RBI and 24 stolen bases in 68 games.

Comeback Pitcher of the Year: RHP Bobby Doran
No one else even came close! In 2011, Bobby was 1-3 with a 9.04 ERA and a 2.010 WHIP in 22 appearances (13 starts) at Lancaster. In 27 starts between Lancaster and Corpus Christi in 2012, he was 14-6 with a 4.00 ERA and a 1.284 WHIP. Enough said.

Comeback Player of the Year: 2B Kiké Hernandez

Being healthy and getting regular playing time agreed with Kiké. Everything except for his walk rate showed substantial improvement from 2011 to 2012. In 62 games for Lexington in 2011, he hit .247/.341/.326 with 11 doubles, no triples, two home runs, 17 RBI and no stolen bases. In 2012, between Lancaster and Corpus Christi, he hit .270/.314/.399 with 27 doubles, seven triples, six home runs, 52 RBI and six stolen bases in 123 games.

Manager of the Year: Rodney Linares of the Lancaster JetHawks
Rodney Linares not only guided his team to the California League Championship, he also managed to keep an even keel with his players. When I visited Lancaster, I was extremely impressed with how loose, yet focused the players were when going through on-field drills and BP, and how supportive the players were of each other. That comes from the top.

Pitching Coach of the Year: Hector Mercado
This is based solely on the glowing reports I received on Mercado from every single pitcher I talked to in Greeneville. Each and every one of those pitchers credited Mercado for his help and for keeping his advice  simple.

Hitting Coach of the Year: Josh Bonifay
Again, I heard great things about Bonifay from his players in Lexington, but it was Bonifay being honored as  hitting coach for the South Atlantic League All-Star game that put him over the top.

Team of the Year: Lancaster JetHawks
Other teams may have had better overall records, but the JetHawks crew never quit believing in themselves or in each other. They fought and scratched and clawed their way to a wild card berth and then rode that all the way to the California League Championship crown. It was my sincere pleasure to get to know many of the players on this team just a little bit better.

THE HECKIES

Studmuffin of the Year: Mike Foltynewicz
For those who may not know, Folty's girlfriend frequently refers to him as Studmuffin on twitter. She was gracious enough to allow me to borrow the phrase and he became my Studmuffin of the Day on recaps when he had a good game. This reward is only fitting after the year he had.

Most Likely to Buy Stock in Alleve: Matt Duffy
Duffy was hit by pitches an incredible 41 times in 2012.

Most Likely to Go Over the Wall for an Out: Austin Wates
In case you somehow missed it (or just want to see it again), here it is.

Best Middle Name Ever: We have a tie - Brett Maverick Phillips and Erik Beauchamp Castro

Best Name in the Astros Farm System: Another Tie - Rayderson Chevalier and Geronimo Franzua

Name Most Likely to be Misspelled: Asher Wojocowski Wojakoski Wojecowski Wojciechowski

Most Likely to Star in a Broadway Revival of 42nd Street: Joe Musgrove
Ever since I heard that Musgrove tap danced as a child, I've been daydreaming of seeing him under the lights.

Pitcher Lefties Would Least Like To Face: Brett Oberholtzer
Brett was named by several left handed hitters that I interviewed as someone they really wouldn't want to get in the batter's box against.

Pitcher Righties Would Least Like To Face: Nick Tropeano
Similarly, quite a few righties (and a few lefties as well) were reluctant to face Nick.

Most Sarcastic Tweeter: Mike Kvasnicka
And I mean that in a good way.

Best Impression of Pudge Rodriguez: Tyler Heineman
Heineman was not only the New York-Penn League Batting Champ with his .358 average, he also boasted a .997 fielding percentage and a 41% caught stealing rate behind the dish.

Armed and Dangerous, Part I: Jarred Cosart
When I saw Cosart in early June, his fastball was sitting in the mid-90's and regularly hitting 97-98.

Armed and Dangerous, Part II: Pedro Coa
In Coa's second year with the DSL Astros, he caught 25 of 42 base stealers, a whopping 60% caught stealing percentage.

Armed and Dangerous, Part III: Justin Gominsky and Teoscar Hernandez
Gominsky led the Astros minors in outfield assists with 15 in 93 games. Hernandez had 12 in only 48 games.

The Mighty Mouse Award: Jason Stoffel
Stoffel with 27 saves led the Texas League as well as the Astros minor league system. And if you don't get the Mighty Mouse reference, go here.

Most Likely to Outrun a Lion: Drew Muren
The extremely long-legged 6'6" Muren has oft been compared to a gazelle with his long, graceful strides in the outfield.

Most Likely to Outrun a Coyote: Delino DeShields
Yes, I'm calling him a roadrunner. 101 stolen bases - nuff said. Meep meep!

Walk Like "The Man": Nolan Fontana
With 65 walks in only 39 games, if Fontana makes it to Houston, he could very well be the guy to break Jeff Bagwell's single season record of 149 walks (1999) and his single game record of six walks (9/20/99).

The Wizards of Oz: Erik Castro and Zach Johnson
There's no place like home and that's precisely where these two wizards sent 108 players each as they tied for the organization's RBI lead.

One for the Money: Jimmy Paredes
Paredes led the Astros minor leagues with 161 hits.

Two for The Show: Brandon Barnes
Barnes hit an organization leading 39 doubles before getting called up to The Show.

Three to Get Ready: George Springer
Springer's 10 triples led the organization.

Go, Cat, Go: Mike Hessman
Hessman's organization-leading 35 home runs earn him a pair of blue suede shoes.

Pitcher Least Likely to Embrace the Move to the American League: Ross Seaton
Seaton had a .364 slugging percentage at Corpus Christi this year, a mark that many position players might envy.

Player Most Likely to Make Another Team Regret a Trade: Jon Singleton
Singleton hit .284/.396/.497 with 27 doubles, four triples, 21 home runs, 79 RBI, 88 walks and seven stolen bases at AA Corpus Christi in 2012. And he just turned 21.

Most Likely to Pitch a No Hitter: Chris Devenski
As a matter of fact he already did! Devenski's 16 strikeout complete game no-hitter in his final appearance of the season allowed him to go out on a high note, a very high note.

Laugh Most Likely to Result in a Call to 911: Brett Phillips
Phillips' laugh has been described as the sound that a dying donkey would make.

The Bad Timing Award: Adam Bailey
Bailey missed the Hooks playoffs because he was busy with an emergency appendectomy (having one, not performing one).

And that concludes this first annual awards presentation. I wish I could have given out more awards, but my time and my imagination ran out. Thank you and good night. Don't forget to tip your waiters.

A Few Noteworthy 2012 Pitching Performances

I took a look at some notable 2012 minor league pitching performances over at The Crawfishboxes. Meander on over there if you are so inclined.

Fall Instructional League Roster

Fall Instructional League Roster

PITCHERS

RHP Ruben Alaniz
LHP Colton Cain
RHP Kevin Comer
RHP Chris Devenski
RHP Dayan Diaz
RHP Michael Feliz
RHP Zach Grimmett
RHP Adrian Houser
LHP Christopher Lee
RHP Lance McCullers
RHP Joe Musgrove
RHP Francis Ramirez
RHP Raul Rivera
LHP David Rollins
LHP Blair Walters

CATCHERS

Tyler Heineman
Jobduan Morales
Roberto Pena
Carlos Perez

INFIELDERS

2B Delino DeShields
IF Austin Elkins
SS Jose Fernandez
SS Nolan Fontana
SS Carlos Correa
3B Angel Ibanez
3B Jonathan Meyer
1B Telvin Nash
3B Rio Ruiz

OUTFIELDERS

OF Andrew Aplin
OF Teoscar Hernandez
OF Terrell Joyce
RF Brandon Meredith
OF Drew Muren
RF Ariel Ovando
OF Domingo Santana
OF Preston Tucker

Players will report September 18th with the first workout the next day. The first game will be September 24th and the final game will be October 10th. Players in bold were added per Zachary Levine 9/19.

2012 Minor League System Comparisons

Last week, after the Astros minor league regular seasons ended, I took a look at how each of the Astros minor league teams did as compared to last season. The results were stunning. The question now before us is how did the entire farm system compare to the other farm systems. The short answer is, "Quite nicely, thank you very much for asking."




As you can see, the Astros ended up ranking 4th in Win Percantage out of 30 organizations. Last year they ranked 30th out of 30. The cumulative batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage ranked 5th, 4th and 4th respectively in 2012, a vast improvement over rankings of 18th, 19th and 23rd in 2011. The one dark cloud would be the cumulative ERA and WHIP, both of which ranked 22nd out of 30 teams, but that is still a vast improvement over the 30th place ranking in each of those categories from 2011.

Not bad at all, not bad at all.

Astros Minor League Coaching Staffs for 2012

Here is the complete list of all the coaching changes announced for all Astros minor league affiliates for 2012.

I went through the list and noted all of the changes for Manager, Pitching Coach and Hitting Coach for each team.  The odd men out are John Moses (Hitting Coach for Corpus), Tom Spencer (Manager for Lancaster) and Travis Driskill (Pitching Coach for Lancaster).  Leon Roberts (Hitting Coach for OKC) is new to the system.  Ivan de Jesus (Manager for Lexington) and Cesar Cedeno (Hitting Coach for Greeneville) are returning to the system.

2012 MINOR LEAGUE STAFF

ROVING INSTRUCTORS
Field Coordinator - Paul Runge
Pitching Coordinator - Jon Matlack
Hitting Coordinator - Ty Van Burkleo
Roving Infield Instructor - Tom Lawless
Roving OF / Base Running - Milt Thompson
Roving Catching Instructor - Danny Sheaffer
Strength & Conditioning - Frank Renner
Medical Coordinator - Jamey Snodgrass
Rehab Coordinator - Daniel Roberts

OKLAHOMA CITY
Manager - Tony DeFrancesco
Pitching Coach - Burt Hooton
Hitting Coach - Leon Roberts – New to system

  (Replaced Keith Bodie who went to Corpus)
Athletic Trainer - Mike Freer
Strength & Conditioning - Gary McCoy

CORPUS CHRISTI
Manager - Keith Bodie – was hitting coach at OKC

   (Replaced Tom Lawless who became roving infield instructor)
Pitching Coach - Gary Ruby – was pitching coach at Tri-City

   (Replaced Don Alexander who went to Lancaster)
Hitting Coach - Joel Chimelis – was hitting coach at Lexington

   (Replaced John Moses)
Athletic Trainer - Eric Montague

LANCASTER
Manager - Rodney Linares – was manager at Lexington

   (Replaced Tom Spencer)
Pitching Coach - Don Alexander – was pitching coach at Corpus Christi

   (Replaced Travis Driskill)
Hitting Coach - Darryl Robinson
Athletic Trainer - Bryan Baca

LEXINGTON
Manager - Ivan De Jesus – Back in organization for 1st time since 2006

   (Replaced Rodney Linares who went to Lancaster)
Pitching Coach - Dave Borkowski
Hitting Coach - Josh Bonifay – was hitting coach at Greeneville

   (Replaced Joel Chimelis who went to Corpus Christi)
Athletic Trainer - Grant Hufford

TRI-CITY
Manager - Stubby Clapp
Pitching Coach - Rick Aponte – was pitching coach at Greeneville

   (Replaced Gary Ruby who went to Tri-City)
Hitting Coach - Mark Bailey
Athletic Trainer - Michael Rendon

GREENEVILLE
Manager - Omar Lopez
Pitching Coach - Hector Mercado – was pitching coach for GCL

   (Replaced Rick Aponte who went to Tri-City)
Hitting Coach - Cesar Cedeno – back in organization for 1^st time since 2001

   (Replaced Josh Bonifay who went to Lexington)
Athletic Trainer - Corey O'Brien

GULF COAST LEAGUE
Manager - Ed Romero
Pitching Coach - Jaime Garcia – was minor league pitching coordinator

   (Replaced Hector Mercado who went to Greeneville)
Pitching Coach - Charley Taylor
Hitting Coach - Edgar Alfonzo
Assistant Coach - Gordy MacKenzie
Athletic Trainer - Steve Miller

DOMINICAN SUMMER LEAGUE
Manager - Luis Martinez
Pitching Coach - Jose Martinez
Bullpen Coach - Joel Santo
Hitting Coach - Luis Mateo
Infield Instructor - Johan Maya
Assistant Coach - Ramon Garcia
Outfield Instructor - Juan Zapata
Catching Instructor - Sixto Ortega
Athletic Trainer - Ambiorix Reyes
Assistant Trainer - Edwin Garcia
Strength & Conditioning - Geremias Guzman

Baseball Calendar for 2012

Here is the link to all of the important baseball dates for 2012.  I'll worry about the other dates later, but the one I'm focused on now is February 19th.  That is the day that the four sweetest words in the English language are spoken ... "Pitchers and catchers report."