Two Astros Minor League Player Retirements

I learned that two of the Astros minor league players retired from the game during the off-season, LHP Scott Zuloaga and SS Alex Todd. Zuloaga was one of very few lefty bullpen arms available in the lower minors and he made the rounds between Lexington, Greeneville and Tri-City in 2012. Todd started the season in Lexington, but spent the bulk of the summer at Lancaster. Both players got to the finals for their teams with Zuloaga's Tri-City team falling just short. Todd went out on top, though, as part of the Cali League Championship JetHawks.

Alex Todd - Lancaster August 2012

Photo by Jayne Hansen

I never had the opportunity to meet Zuloaga, but I got the chance to get to know Alex Todd a little bit when I was at Lancaster last summer. I talked to him the day after a particularly good game and it was a pleasure. I wish both players the best of luck as they find out what comes after baseball.

Astros Minor League Depth - Shortstop

Over the next few weeks as we approach Spring Training, I'll be looking at the Astros minor league depth, position by position. Today, we look at the shortstops in the organization who had the best seasons in 2012.

The embedded chart shows shortstops in the organization ranked from high to low in terms of OBP. I have noted their current age, the last level at which they played and, if they spent significant time at multiple positions, that information is included as well. I am including Jake Elmore's minor league numbers since he is new to the system so that you can see how his 2012 minor league numbers compare.

Nolan Fontana leapfrogged rookie league and short season A ball in his first season and went directly to playing for the full season Lexington club where he led the organization in OBP thanks to 65 walks in only 49 games. He will ultimately have to show more aggressiveness at the plate, but it was a solid first season by any measure. Jake Elmore and Ben Orloff also showed very patient approaches at the plate. Both players drew walks more often than they struck out in 2012.

Carlos Correa had an uneven season thanks to a slow start with the GCL team. However, once he got to Greeneville, he turned on the afterburners and hit .371/.450/.600 in his final 11 games and exhibited stellar defensive capabilities. Another young player to watch is Luis Reynoso. Reynoso was one of the few bright spots offensively on the DSL team in 2012. He just turned 18 in September as did Correa.

Jonathan Villar was having a good season offensively and appeared to be catching up to AA pitching when his fist came out on the losing side after an unfortunate encounter with a door. The tools are there, but he still has a ways to go, both offensively and defensively. But one thing he has a very good feel for is the stolen base. He swiped 39 bags in 86 games and was caught only eight times. Another player exhibiting some wheels was Joe Sclafani. In his first season in the organization he stole 16 bases in 70 games and was caught three times.

Jiovanni Mier was having a great comeback season when injury put a large dent in his season. He came back strong after the injury, though, and continued his progress with a very successful Arizona Fall League season. Alex Todd was one of the players to fill in for Mier; he put up good numbers at Lancaster after starting the season in Lexington. [UPDATE: After posting this, I found out that Alex Todd retired from baseball during the off-season.]

Monday: First Base
Tuesday: Second Base
Coming Thursday: Third Base

Tweet of the Day

Alex Todd ‏@Baseballders10

hearing "like my swagga" and not walking up to the plate is tough#itsaboutthattime

Tweets of the Day

Jarred Cosart ‏@JarredCosart

Are the marlins drunk?

Rafael Valenzuela ‏@RafyValenzuela

The Marlins have been drinking

Alex Todd ‏@Baseballders10

Well see ya marlins franchise

Tweets of the Day

Jiovanni Mier ‏@JioMier

I love baseball

Rafael Valenzuela ‏@RafyValenzuela

Today has been the best day of baseball #ILoveBaseball

Alex Todd ‏@Baseballders10

Playoff baseball!!! Gotta love it! #coco

Drew Muren ‏@justDREWit88

Playoff baseball! Nothing better in sports!

Jiovanni Mier ‏@JioMier

Let me say that again, I love baseball

Tweet of the Day

Alex Todd ‏@Baseballders10

Studying for a midterm is worse than taking pre game in August#miserable

Happy Birthday - 8/15

RHP Jorge de Leon (25)
Originally signed by the Astros as a NDFA out of the Dominican Republic, de Leon is in his seventh season in the Astros system and his first season at Lancaster, but only his third season as a pitcher as he was originally signed as a shortstop. In 33 appearances (14 starts) for Lancaster, he has a 8.02 ERA and a 1.858 WHIP.

SS Alex Todd (23)
Alex was selected in the 27th round of the 2011 draft out of Sonoma State. He has split his time this season between Lexington and Lancaster, hitting a combined .294/.372/.417. In his last 10 games, he is hitting .400/.475/.514.

Last Things First - SS Alex Todd

Saturday was a full day for me in Lancaster. I got several interviews, including three players who featured prominently in Saturday night's walk-off extra inning win -- Andrew Robinson and his three fantastic innings of relief; Chris Epps and his two home runs; and Erik Castro with his game-winning hit. But I was missing one hero from the night, Alex Todd.

Alex was four-for-five with a walk and a stolen base, but it was his diving catch in the seventh inning that set in motion a triple play completed by Kike Hernandez, the first triple play I've ever seen in person and, it turns out, the first triple play of Alex's professional career. So, even though I was only planning on making some contacts with players in my final day on Sunday, I had to get this one last interview.

Alex landed on my radar screen recently and I included him in this piece from three weeks ago. Since posting that, Alex has been on an absolute tear at the plate. His combined batting line for Lexington and Lancaster for the season is .294/.367/.409 and he has hit .357/.378/.452 in his last 10 games (.458 in August thus far). This is after recording some rather anemic numbers during his first season in 2011.

When I caught up with Alex, I asked him about Saturday's come from behind win. "Last night was awesome.  It was a crazy game," he said. In reply to a question about his at-bats, he noted, "It's August. Your body's kind of getting tired which is sometimes a good thing because you don't try to do too much. [You're] in the box, in your comfort zone and looking for a good pitch to hit. Fortunately I got a couple of pitches to hit last night."

On the triple play, "That was something cool. It was like when it happened, I didn't know what to do. I caught the ball and I flipped it to Kike [and Kike stepped on second] and I was yelling at him, 'Throw it to first, throw it to first' and he just tagged the runner. It was pretty cool to be a part of it. It never happens. You never practice it. It's one of those things so far out of the norm." And there was some momentary confusion on the field at the end of the play as the realization set in that a no outs, two on situation had erased itself in a matter of seconds.

I also talked to Alex about his turnaround at the plate this season. As I alluded to earlier, he wasn't exactly setting the world on fire with his numbers last season. What was different for him? "I bounced around a lot of schools and my swing was always kind of changing with [every] new hitting coach. Going from college to pro ball, my swing was no where near where it should be so me and Boni [Lexington hitting coach Josh Bonifay] just put in hours and hours and a lot of changes throughout the summer. The last three weeks I was starting to get a plan, [getting] a feel for it and [sticking] with that."

Since his promotion to Lancaster the work has continued with hitting coach Darryl Robinson. He is taking advice here and there from Coaches Bonifay and Robinson, as well as the roving instructors and trying to figure out what works for him. "I'm glad it turned itself around though. It was not a fun summer last year. A lot of sleepless nights." He is glad to have faced that adversity early because it helps him take things in stride now.

As to what he needs to do to get to the next level developmentally, "It's just fine-tuning stuff. It's not missing pitches. It's being ready to hit in every count. Your numbers are going to come from pitcher's mistakes.  When they make a mistake, you need to hit it and hit it hard. Now [with] my approach and my swing being closer to normal and correct, I feel like I'm making more hard contact on those mistake pitches. A lot of it comes from trusting your hands and not trying to do too much because once you're trying to do too much, everything's going in different directions and that's when it gets ugly."

Well I know one thing. There was nothing ugly about Alex Todd's game on Saturday. And that triple play was actually a thing of beauty.

Minor League Recaps

Saturday's Results

DSL Astros @ DSL Indians

-Suspended

GCL Astros @ GCL Nationals

-Postponed

Johnson City Cardinals 2 Greeneville Astros 3 (10)

The Astros had the only two runs of the game after a couple scores in the third on Saturday and they rode the lead until the ninth inning.  Jordan Jankowski was in to close out the game and gave up a single, then a homer to the first two batters he faced in the ninth to tie the game.  Jankowski did add another K to his total after fanning 1 to end the eighth inning; he now has 40 Ks in 23.1 innings.  Euris Quezada (3-1) picked up the win after coming on for the final 1 and 2-thirds of work on the mound.  Quezada gave up a hit and struck out 3.  Jean Batista was on at the plate Saturday, hitting 2 of 4 with a double and a walk.  Ariel Ovando went 2 for 4 as well at the dish, with a triple, a walk and 2 RBIs.  One of those RBIs being the result of the walk-off single Ovando hit to win the game.

Mahoning Valley Scrappers 3 Tri-City ValleyCats 8

Tri-City didn't get on the board the first Saturday, but when they did it was for a huge, 5-run third inning. The ValleyCats hit two home runs that inning: one by M.P. Cokinos, who ended up 2 for 4 on the game with a pair of RBIs and the other by Dan Gulbransen, who drew a walk, ending up 1 for 3 at the plate.  Neiko Johnson was the man to beat Saturday though, going 3 for 3 at the plate with 2 walks, 2 RBIs, a 2-run homer and 2 stolen bases.  The homer was Johnson's first of the season. On the mound, Lance Day (3-0) picked up the win after going 6 and 2-thirds, allowing 3 runs on 8 hits and striking out 6.  Jamaine Cotton came on for the final 2 and a third and kept it scoreless, giving up just a hit and striking out 3.  Neither Tri-City pitcher issued a walk on Saturday.

Lexington Legends 8 Hagerstown Suns 0

Hagerstown, Maryland was the scene of a four-hit, shutout assault by Lexington Saturday.  David Rollins (1-0, 5 IP) and Juri Perez (S, 4 IP) gave up 2 hits each, walked 1 each and struck out a pair each.  The end result of their efforts netted Rollins his first win for Lexington and Perez his first save for the team.  The leaders offensively Saturday were Matt Duffy, who went 2 for 3 with a double, a solo homer and 3 RBI, and Zach Johnson, who went 2 for 5 with a double, a solo homer and 3 RBIs of his own.  Zach Johnson now has 97 RBI, which leads the South Atlantic League and is only 1 RBI shy of tying the team record, set in 2010 by Jake Goebbert.

High Desert Mavericks 5 Lancaster JetHawks 6 (11)

Lancaster won an intense come-from-behind, extra-inning-game at home on Saturday.  After trailing most of the game, the JetHawks squared it all up at 5 with 2 runs in the eighth, started off by a Chris Epps solo shot to left field.  That tater was Epps second home run of the game and he ended up 2 for 4 at the plate with a pair of RBIs and a walk.  Alex Todd was also hot with the bat, hitting 4 for 5 with a walk in the game.  Erik Castro got a couple hits in 5 ABs and had an RBI.  Castro's RBI was the game winning walk-off single in the 11th inning to score Alex Todd.  Nicholas Tropeano got the start for Lancaster and struck out 6 over the first 6 innings.  However, Tropeano was also charged with 5 (3ER) runs on 7 hits.  Andrew Robinson came on to pitch in the ninth inning and kept Lancaster in the game, to say the least.  Robinson struck out 7 batters, didn't allow a hit and took the win, moving his record to 4-2 on the season.   

Corpus Christi Hooks 17 Midland RockHounds 6

Anything worth doing is worth doing right.  Corpus Christi made their belief in this adage evident entering the ninth inning on Saturday tied at 6.  Needing only a run, mathematically, to break the tie and win the game, the Hooks set off on an 11-run, one-inning-ruckus in Midland to win the game. Bobby Doran got the start for the Hooks and through 6 and a third was charged with all 6 runs on 11 hits.  Doran also walked 3 and K-ed 2.  Arcenio Leon (3-1) took the win after coming on with 1 out in the 8th.  Leon gave up no hits, struck out a pair and walked 1 in his time on the mound.

The offense, like Greeneville's yesterday, again was overwhelming.  I've attached the boxscore from milb.com again, but interesting to note among all the slugging: Robbie Grossman drew 3 walks and Jonathan Singleton drew a pair of his own.

Oklahoma City RedHawks 1 Tacoma Rainiers 5

Oklahoma City struggled offensively Saturday in Tacoma.  The RedHawks had just 5 hits all game (2  were extra base hits) and drew no walks.  Brett Oberholtzer (4-4) had a rough night on the mound too, going 4 and 2-thirds, allowing 4 runs on 8 hits, walking 1,  striking out 3 and taking the loss.  Sergi Perez, who came on for the final 2 and a third, had a strong outing, allowing just a hit and K-ing 2.  During the stalemate at the plate Saturday, Brad Snyder (1X4) snuck in his 17th double of the season.  

Player(s) of the Day:  On Saturday night in Lancaster, Alex Todd and Kike Hernandez combined for a triple play in the seventh inning.  So, yeah, they're getting the honor today.  This was also the first TP Jayne has ever witnessed in person and the first called by the voice of the JetHawks, Jason Schwartz.     

Pitcher of the Day:  Andrew Robinson gets the honor today (and this is heartily endorsed by Jayne after witnessing his performance in person last night).  Robinson supported his team as they looked for the winning run, and he did it with authority.   

           

Roster Moves - 5/9

Sorry I didn't post this sooner, but I wanted to get confirmation. Due to Jio Mier's hamstring injury, SS Alex Todd is being assigned from Lexington to Lancaster. To fill the vacancy at Lexington, SS Chan Moon is being assigned from extended Spring Training to Lexington. I haven't heard anything about the severity of Jio's injury yet, but he was being checked out in Houston on Tuesday.

Mini-Profile on SS Alex Todd

I didn't get the opportunity to talk to SS Alex Todd while I was in Lexington, but I did talk to Hitting Coach Josh Bonifay about one of his most improved hitters. Last season in Greeneville, Todd hit .159/.287/.215 over 33 games but did show definite signs of improvement in his final 16 games at Lancaster with a .298/.310/.421 batting line. Through 18 games in 2012, Todd is hitting .300/.375/.414. He already has almost as many RBI's as he had all last season and is showing indications of much better power.

Coach Bonifay attributes the improvements to hard work, pure and simple. The key for Todd, according to Bonifay, is to work on keeping his lower half closed to create more torque in his swing. Todd has worked hard to make the adjustments and is seeing good results. "He works his butt off. He's in here early. He's in here often and he really grinds and and gets after it."

I also asked Jordan Scott, one of Todd's roommates, what Todd was doing differently this year. He said that Todd had tried about 15 or 20 different stances and swings last season and was really struggling. Now, according to Scott, Todd has found confidence in what he's doing at the plate and that has made all the difference for him.

I'm looking forward to seeing what Todd can do over a full season. [UPDATED TO ADD: I should never try to write in too big a hurry. I forgot to mention that Todd was a 27th round pick in 2011 out of Sonoma State, he's 22 and bats right-handed (although you can see that from the picture).]

Alex Todd April 2012

Happy Birthday - 8/15

Tons of birthdays this week - 5 pitchers (3 lefties), 3 IF and 1 OF

RHP Jorge de Leon (24)
In 37 appearances (47.2 IP) for the Lexington Legends this season, Jorge has 13 saves with a 3.40 ERA, 1.049 WHIP and a SO/BB ratio of 5.00. Born in the Dominican Republic, Jorge was picked up by the Astros as an NDFA in 2006 and is currently on the Astros 40-Man Roster.

SS Alex Todd (22)
Alex was selected in the 27th round of the 2011 draft out of Sonoma State (CA). He was just called up to Lancaster from Greeneville and currently has a .200 BA for LAN, .162 for the season. He is originally from San Jose, CA.