Seven players from the Tri-City squad made the New York-Penn League All-Star team. The All-Star game will take place next Tuesday, August 14th.
OF Andrew Aplin
Aplin is hitting .348/.441/.547. His batting average leads the league (based on a minimum number of appearances) and his OBP and SLG rank second. He also leads the league in runs and stolen bases.
C Tyler Heineman
Heineman doesn't have enough plate appearances to qualify as a league leader, but his .377 batting average leads the ValleyCats team as does his .459 OBP. His SLG of .465 ranks third on the team.
2B Austin "Catfish" Elkins
Elkins is hitting .310/.378/.454 and is among the team leaders in those categories. He is second on the team in stolen bases.
C Jobduan Morales
Morales' SLG ranks sixth in the league and he is hitting .294/.366/.484. He leads the team in home runs.
RHP Aaron West
West leads the league in WHIP (0.760), is second in the league in ERA (0.90) and is tied for wins with six. He has 49 strikeouts to only five walks allowed.
LHP Brian Holmes
Holmes is tied for second on the team with five wins and is fourth in the league with a 0.895 WHIP. He is one of only two pitchers in the league with a complete game. His ERA is 2.40.
RHP Blake Ford
Ford leads the league in saves with 12. He has a 2.95 ERA and a 1.219 WHIP.
Congratulations and Good Luck!!!
A LOOK AT THE ASTROS MINOR LEAGUE SYSTEM
Showing posts with label Blake Ford. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blake Ford. Show all posts
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Friday, July 20, 2012
Minor League Recaps
Thursday's Games
DSL Indians over DSL Astros 5-3
Writing about the DSL Astros is about as depressing as following the big club. You just have to look for nuggets of hope for the future. With that said the Astros did collect 10 hits and two doubles in this game which is significant for this light-hitting club (alas, the big club only collected one). Victor Mesa was pegged with the loss after allowing all five of the Indian runs (three earned).
GCL Marlins over GCL Astros 6-0
The less said about this one the better. The Astros were the victim of a perfect game. Lance McCullers was charged with the loss after giving up two runs on five hits over two innings. Jose Montero and Brandon Culbreth allowed the remaining runs. The good news is that Chia-Jen Lo and Rodney Quintero both pitched one perfect inning each.
Pulaski at Greeneville - Game suspended after the top of the 7th
Pulaski was up 5-0 over Greeneville when the game was suspended. Daniel Minor had a shutout going through six innings and then Minor, Scott Zuloaga and Zach Dando had things blow up on them with a five-run seventh. Greeneville only had four hits in the game at the time it was suspended, but two of those belonged to Brian Blasik. The game will resume today, weather allowing.
Tri-City over Vermont 6-3
Vincent Velasquez (W, 4-1) gave up two runs on three hits and three walks over five innings and John Neely let another run come across in the seventh, but then the bullpen shut things down and Blake Ford earned his 10th save of the season. On the offensive side, Joe Sclafani got things started with a two-run triple in the third, one of his two hits for the night. Preston Tucker was two-for-three with a double and an RBI single. Andrew Aplin got one hit and scored two runs.
Greenville over Lexington 11-10 in 15 innings
What makes this loss worse is that Lexington should have won it once in regular innings and once in extra innings before they finally lost in the 15th. Starter Jonas Dufek allowed five runs (three earned) on seven hits and no walks over six innings with nine strikeouts. He had a tough four-run fifth inning, but otherwise looked very good. Greenville led 5-2 going into the seventh, but Lexington scored six runs in the seventh thanks in large part to two hit batters, two wild pitches and three walks issued by the Greenville crew. With Lexington leading 8-5 going into the bottom of the ninth, the normally reliable Dayan Diaz gave up three runs to tie it. Then Lexington went ahead again in the top of the 12th with a two-run Mike Kvasnicka double, but Nate Pettus gave up two runs in the bottom of the frame. In the end, Mitch Lambson got stuck with the loss, but it never should have gotten that far. Offensive standouts were Brandon Meredith (2x6 2B 3B RBI), Mike Kvasnicka (2x6 2B HR 4RBI) and Jose Fernandez (2x6 2-2B).
San Jose over Lancaster 15-8
I think when you allow 15 runs, it goes without saying that the pitching staff struggled. The "Let's Convert Jorge de Leon to a Starting Pitcher at Lancaster Experiment" is still a miserable failure as de Leon fell to 2-9 for the season, but it was Jose Trinidad giving up eight runs in 1.1 innings that sealed Lancaster's fate for the evening. Only birthday boy Kirk Clark went unscathed as he pitched a perfect final frame. Chris Epps had a particularly good night with an RBI double and a three-run home run as did Ben Heath with an RBI single and a two-run home run. Kike Hernandez was two-for-four and George Springer was three-for-four with an RBI.
Midland over Corpus Christi 6-4
Jake Buchanan gave up five runs on nine hits in seven innings and went to 5-6 for the season. The Hooks got within a run with a big sixth inning thanks to a Drew Locke RBI double and a three-run Jake Goebbert home run, but they stranded runners in the eighth and ninth innings and that was that. Andrew Simunic and Jose Martinez each had two hits, but Drew Locke was locked in with a five-for-five night.
Oklahoma City over Omaha 9-8
This one got closer than it should have as Jonnathan Aristil and Juan Abreu combined to allow three runs in the bottom of the ninth, but ultimately starter Armando Galarraga got the win despite giving up five runs, four of them on home runs. The Redhawks scored four via the long ball as well, with a two-run shot from Jimmy Paredes and solo homers from Brad Snyder and Landon Powell. There was good hitting across the board with everyone getting at least one hit and Brandon Barnes and Paredes getting three hits each.
Pitcher of the Day: I'm going to go with Blake Ford for converting his 10th save out of 10 opportunities for Tri-City. He still has a 0.00 ERA for Tri-City, and a WHIP of only 0.868.
Players of the Day: Chris Epps should get some recognition for his four RBI night, as should Drew Locke for his five-for-five outing.
DSL Indians over DSL Astros 5-3
Writing about the DSL Astros is about as depressing as following the big club. You just have to look for nuggets of hope for the future. With that said the Astros did collect 10 hits and two doubles in this game which is significant for this light-hitting club (alas, the big club only collected one). Victor Mesa was pegged with the loss after allowing all five of the Indian runs (three earned).
GCL Marlins over GCL Astros 6-0
The less said about this one the better. The Astros were the victim of a perfect game. Lance McCullers was charged with the loss after giving up two runs on five hits over two innings. Jose Montero and Brandon Culbreth allowed the remaining runs. The good news is that Chia-Jen Lo and Rodney Quintero both pitched one perfect inning each.
Pulaski at Greeneville - Game suspended after the top of the 7th
Pulaski was up 5-0 over Greeneville when the game was suspended. Daniel Minor had a shutout going through six innings and then Minor, Scott Zuloaga and Zach Dando had things blow up on them with a five-run seventh. Greeneville only had four hits in the game at the time it was suspended, but two of those belonged to Brian Blasik. The game will resume today, weather allowing.
Tri-City over Vermont 6-3
Vincent Velasquez (W, 4-1) gave up two runs on three hits and three walks over five innings and John Neely let another run come across in the seventh, but then the bullpen shut things down and Blake Ford earned his 10th save of the season. On the offensive side, Joe Sclafani got things started with a two-run triple in the third, one of his two hits for the night. Preston Tucker was two-for-three with a double and an RBI single. Andrew Aplin got one hit and scored two runs.
Greenville over Lexington 11-10 in 15 innings
What makes this loss worse is that Lexington should have won it once in regular innings and once in extra innings before they finally lost in the 15th. Starter Jonas Dufek allowed five runs (three earned) on seven hits and no walks over six innings with nine strikeouts. He had a tough four-run fifth inning, but otherwise looked very good. Greenville led 5-2 going into the seventh, but Lexington scored six runs in the seventh thanks in large part to two hit batters, two wild pitches and three walks issued by the Greenville crew. With Lexington leading 8-5 going into the bottom of the ninth, the normally reliable Dayan Diaz gave up three runs to tie it. Then Lexington went ahead again in the top of the 12th with a two-run Mike Kvasnicka double, but Nate Pettus gave up two runs in the bottom of the frame. In the end, Mitch Lambson got stuck with the loss, but it never should have gotten that far. Offensive standouts were Brandon Meredith (2x6 2B 3B RBI), Mike Kvasnicka (2x6 2B HR 4RBI) and Jose Fernandez (2x6 2-2B).
San Jose over Lancaster 15-8
I think when you allow 15 runs, it goes without saying that the pitching staff struggled. The "Let's Convert Jorge de Leon to a Starting Pitcher at Lancaster Experiment" is still a miserable failure as de Leon fell to 2-9 for the season, but it was Jose Trinidad giving up eight runs in 1.1 innings that sealed Lancaster's fate for the evening. Only birthday boy Kirk Clark went unscathed as he pitched a perfect final frame. Chris Epps had a particularly good night with an RBI double and a three-run home run as did Ben Heath with an RBI single and a two-run home run. Kike Hernandez was two-for-four and George Springer was three-for-four with an RBI.
Midland over Corpus Christi 6-4
Jake Buchanan gave up five runs on nine hits in seven innings and went to 5-6 for the season. The Hooks got within a run with a big sixth inning thanks to a Drew Locke RBI double and a three-run Jake Goebbert home run, but they stranded runners in the eighth and ninth innings and that was that. Andrew Simunic and Jose Martinez each had two hits, but Drew Locke was locked in with a five-for-five night.
Oklahoma City over Omaha 9-8
This one got closer than it should have as Jonnathan Aristil and Juan Abreu combined to allow three runs in the bottom of the ninth, but ultimately starter Armando Galarraga got the win despite giving up five runs, four of them on home runs. The Redhawks scored four via the long ball as well, with a two-run shot from Jimmy Paredes and solo homers from Brad Snyder and Landon Powell. There was good hitting across the board with everyone getting at least one hit and Brandon Barnes and Paredes getting three hits each.
Pitcher of the Day: I'm going to go with Blake Ford for converting his 10th save out of 10 opportunities for Tri-City. He still has a 0.00 ERA for Tri-City, and a WHIP of only 0.868.
Players of the Day: Chris Epps should get some recognition for his four RBI night, as should Drew Locke for his five-for-five outing.
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Minor League Schedule and Recaps
Tuesday's Games
Monday's Results
DSL Indians over DSL Astros 2-1 (completed early)
Elieser Hernandez (L, 0-2) got the loss despite allowing only two unearned runs on five hits over six innings. Yoel Silfa didn't help Hernandez out much as his two errors led to the runs being unearned; however, Silfa did his best to make up for his questionable defensive play by getting the only Astros hit of the day and scoring on an error himself.
GCL Marlins over GCL Astros 6-3
Brandon Culbreth (L, 0-2) got mugged early and often as he allowed all six runs over only three innings. Ricardo Batista and Agapito Barrios did a fantastic job out of the bullpen allowing no further runs and only four hits the rest of the way. Brett Phillips has already hit his fifth triple in only 12 games; this is a kid to watch. Darwin Rivera was three-for-four with an RBI, and Teoscar Hernandez was two-for-four.
Kingsport over Greeneville 5-4
Frederick Tiburcio (L, 0-1) had a rough start allowing four runs over only three innings and the Astros were able to match those first four, but not the final run allowed by Michael Dimock in relief. No hitter managed more than one hit and only Ariel Ovando had an extra base hit, a double.
Lexington over Asheville 6-5
Lexington needed this win badly and that's how they ended up getting it, badly. Luis Ordosgoitti pitched a great game through seven, but struggled in the eighth and left the game with a run in, bases juiced and two outs. Enter Dayan Diaz who allowed all three of Ordosgoitti's runners to score and what had been a comfortable 6-1 lead rapidly became a very uncomfortable one run lead. Mercifully Diaz regrouped in the ninth to get three quick outs to ensure the win. Delino DeShields showed off the power with his sixth home run, a two-run shot. Zach Johnson is definitely heating up at the plate as of late and went two-for-four with two doubles and his 66th RBI of the season. Jose Fernandez had a two-run double.
Corpus Christi over Tulsa 5-4
Jake Buchanan wasn't really fooling the hitters last night as he allowed three runs on nine hits in only 4.1 innings of work. Alex Sogard allowed one additional run in his 2.1 innings before Henry Villar and Jason Stoffel (W, 1-1) shut down Tulsa. Tulsa led 4-3 going into the bottom of the ninth but a two-run walk off home run by Jonathan Villar (his eighth home run of the season) put a nice exclamation point on the night. The other hero of the night was Jon Singleton. After a rather prolonged slump, his bat woke up with a vengeance last night as he banged out two doubles and a two-run home run.
Oklahoma City over Memphis 7-1
Brett Oberholtzer (W, 2-1) decided to show off for the boss last night as Jeff Luhnow was in attendance. Oberholtzer allowed only one run on six hits over 6.1 innings before handing things over to Mickey Storey and Enerio del Rosario. Oberholtzer also helped himself out at the plate as he got an RBI on a bases loaded walk. Marwin Gonzalez continues to do well in his rehab assignment as he went two-for-two with two RBIs; Mike Hessman had two hits, including his 25th home run, a solo shot; and Brandon Barnes (who is hitting .325 by the way) provided a two RBI single.
Lancaster over Modesto 8-7
Lancaster scored all of their runs by the third inning and led the Nuts 8-2 by the end of the third. After that it was just a matter of hanging on which turned out to be easier said than done. Tyson Perez (W, 6-2) allowed three runs, Brian Streilein allowed another two, and Jose Trinidad allowed yet another two runs and Modesto pulled within one run in the bottom of the seventh. Thankfully Trinidad pitched an effective eighth and Pat Urckfitz (S, 5) pitched an uneventful ninth to seal the deal. The JetHawks jumped all over Nuts starter Juan Gonzalez and forced him out of the game in the second inning. George Springer was four-for-five with a double and two RBIs. Erik Castro and Domingo Santana each contributed two hits and two RBIs. And Chris Epps added an RBI triple to the mix. Grant Hogue was only one-for-four with a walk (but he did manage to steal a base and score three runs) and his batting average plummeted all the way down to .523.
Game of the Day
Tri-City over Lowell 2-0
Brian Holmes, Travis Ballew and Blake Ford combined for a four hit shutout against Lowell. Tri-City only managed five hits, but made them count. Jesse Wierzbicki's lead-off double in the second and Joe Sclafani's lead-off triple in the fifth set the table for Jobduan Morales and Neiko Johnson to drive them in. Tri-City has now won ten games in a row.
What went right: Fantastic pitching and good situational hitting.
What went wrong: Not enough to mention.
Brian Holmes (W, 1-0) - 6IP 2H 0R 2BB 3SO
Travis Ballew - 2IP 1H 0R 1BB 2SO
Blake Ford (S, 6) - 1IP 1H 0R 0BB 0SO
Joe Sclafani - 1x4 3B BB SO R
Neiko Johnson - 1x3 RBI BB
Jesse Wierzbicki - 1x4 2B SO R
Jobduan Morales - 1x3 RBI 2SO
Player of the Day: Four-for-five with two RBIs? Yeah, I think I'll send a little love to George Springer today.
Pitchers of the Day: I have to go with Brian Holmes, Travis Ballew and Blake Ford for the combined four hit shutout. Nicely done, gentlemen!
DSL Astros
|
DSL Athletics
|
9:30 CST
|
||
GCL Astros
|
GCL Marlins
|
11:00 CST
|
||
Greeneville
|
Kingsport
|
6:00 CST
|
||
Asheville
|
Lexington
|
6:05 CST
MiLB.tv
|
||
Tri-City
|
Lowell
|
6:05 CST
|
||
Tulsa
|
Corpus Christi
|
7:05 CST
MiLB.tv
|
||
Memphis
|
Oklahoma City
|
7:05 CST
MiLB.tv
|
||
Lancaster
|
Modesto
|
9:05 CST
|
Monday's Results
DSL Indians over DSL Astros 2-1 (completed early)
Elieser Hernandez (L, 0-2) got the loss despite allowing only two unearned runs on five hits over six innings. Yoel Silfa didn't help Hernandez out much as his two errors led to the runs being unearned; however, Silfa did his best to make up for his questionable defensive play by getting the only Astros hit of the day and scoring on an error himself.
GCL Marlins over GCL Astros 6-3
Brandon Culbreth (L, 0-2) got mugged early and often as he allowed all six runs over only three innings. Ricardo Batista and Agapito Barrios did a fantastic job out of the bullpen allowing no further runs and only four hits the rest of the way. Brett Phillips has already hit his fifth triple in only 12 games; this is a kid to watch. Darwin Rivera was three-for-four with an RBI, and Teoscar Hernandez was two-for-four.
Kingsport over Greeneville 5-4
Frederick Tiburcio (L, 0-1) had a rough start allowing four runs over only three innings and the Astros were able to match those first four, but not the final run allowed by Michael Dimock in relief. No hitter managed more than one hit and only Ariel Ovando had an extra base hit, a double.
Lexington over Asheville 6-5
Lexington needed this win badly and that's how they ended up getting it, badly. Luis Ordosgoitti pitched a great game through seven, but struggled in the eighth and left the game with a run in, bases juiced and two outs. Enter Dayan Diaz who allowed all three of Ordosgoitti's runners to score and what had been a comfortable 6-1 lead rapidly became a very uncomfortable one run lead. Mercifully Diaz regrouped in the ninth to get three quick outs to ensure the win. Delino DeShields showed off the power with his sixth home run, a two-run shot. Zach Johnson is definitely heating up at the plate as of late and went two-for-four with two doubles and his 66th RBI of the season. Jose Fernandez had a two-run double.
Corpus Christi over Tulsa 5-4
Jake Buchanan wasn't really fooling the hitters last night as he allowed three runs on nine hits in only 4.1 innings of work. Alex Sogard allowed one additional run in his 2.1 innings before Henry Villar and Jason Stoffel (W, 1-1) shut down Tulsa. Tulsa led 4-3 going into the bottom of the ninth but a two-run walk off home run by Jonathan Villar (his eighth home run of the season) put a nice exclamation point on the night. The other hero of the night was Jon Singleton. After a rather prolonged slump, his bat woke up with a vengeance last night as he banged out two doubles and a two-run home run.
Oklahoma City over Memphis 7-1
Brett Oberholtzer (W, 2-1) decided to show off for the boss last night as Jeff Luhnow was in attendance. Oberholtzer allowed only one run on six hits over 6.1 innings before handing things over to Mickey Storey and Enerio del Rosario. Oberholtzer also helped himself out at the plate as he got an RBI on a bases loaded walk. Marwin Gonzalez continues to do well in his rehab assignment as he went two-for-two with two RBIs; Mike Hessman had two hits, including his 25th home run, a solo shot; and Brandon Barnes (who is hitting .325 by the way) provided a two RBI single.
Lancaster over Modesto 8-7
Lancaster scored all of their runs by the third inning and led the Nuts 8-2 by the end of the third. After that it was just a matter of hanging on which turned out to be easier said than done. Tyson Perez (W, 6-2) allowed three runs, Brian Streilein allowed another two, and Jose Trinidad allowed yet another two runs and Modesto pulled within one run in the bottom of the seventh. Thankfully Trinidad pitched an effective eighth and Pat Urckfitz (S, 5) pitched an uneventful ninth to seal the deal. The JetHawks jumped all over Nuts starter Juan Gonzalez and forced him out of the game in the second inning. George Springer was four-for-five with a double and two RBIs. Erik Castro and Domingo Santana each contributed two hits and two RBIs. And Chris Epps added an RBI triple to the mix. Grant Hogue was only one-for-four with a walk (but he did manage to steal a base and score three runs) and his batting average plummeted all the way down to .523.
Game of the Day
Tri-City over Lowell 2-0
Brian Holmes, Travis Ballew and Blake Ford combined for a four hit shutout against Lowell. Tri-City only managed five hits, but made them count. Jesse Wierzbicki's lead-off double in the second and Joe Sclafani's lead-off triple in the fifth set the table for Jobduan Morales and Neiko Johnson to drive them in. Tri-City has now won ten games in a row.
What went right: Fantastic pitching and good situational hitting.
What went wrong: Not enough to mention.
Brian Holmes (W, 1-0) - 6IP 2H 0R 2BB 3SO
Travis Ballew - 2IP 1H 0R 1BB 2SO
Blake Ford (S, 6) - 1IP 1H 0R 0BB 0SO
Joe Sclafani - 1x4 3B BB SO R
Neiko Johnson - 1x3 RBI BB
Jesse Wierzbicki - 1x4 2B SO R
Jobduan Morales - 1x3 RBI 2SO
Player of the Day: Four-for-five with two RBIs? Yeah, I think I'll send a little love to George Springer today.
Pitchers of the Day: I have to go with Brian Holmes, Travis Ballew and Blake Ford for the combined four hit shutout. Nicely done, gentlemen!
Monday, June 18, 2012
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Happy Birthday - 5/16
RHP Blake Ford (24)
Originally drafted in the 44th round out of Lamar University in 2011, the big righty (6'5" 215 lb.) pitched very effectively in relief for the Gulf Coast Astros in 2011. In 18 appearances out of the bullpen, he had a 4-3 record with eight saves, a 1.90 ERA, a 1.394 WHIP and 20 strikeouts to only six walks.
RHP and Pitching Coach Doug Brocail (45)
A first round draft pick by San Diego in 1986, Brocail was part of the Houston organization on three separate occasions as a player. The Houston trades he was a part of (from Baseball-Reference):
Originally drafted in the 44th round out of Lamar University in 2011, the big righty (6'5" 215 lb.) pitched very effectively in relief for the Gulf Coast Astros in 2011. In 18 appearances out of the bullpen, he had a 4-3 record with eight saves, a 1.90 ERA, a 1.394 WHIP and 20 strikeouts to only six walks.
RHP and Pitching Coach Doug Brocail (45)
A first round draft pick by San Diego in 1986, Brocail was part of the Houston organization on three separate occasions as a player. The Houston trades he was a part of (from Baseball-Reference):
December 28, 1994: Traded by the San Diego Padres with Derek Bell, Ricky Gutierrez, Pedro Martinez, Phil Plantier and Craig Shipley to the Houston Astros for a player to be named later, Ken Caminiti, Andujar Cedeno, Steve Finley, Roberto Petagine andBrian Williams. The Houston Astros sent Sean Fesh (minors) (May 1, 1995) to the San Diego Padres to complete the trade.
December 10, 1996: Traded by the Houston Astros with Brian Hunter, Todd Jones, Orlando Miller and cash to the Detroit Tigersfor Brad Ausmus, Jose Lima, Trever Miller, C.J. Nitkowski and Daryle Ward.
December 11, 2000: Traded by the Detroit Tigers with Brad Ausmus and Nelson Cruz to the Houston Astros for Roger Cedeno,Chris Holt and Mitch Meluskey.He pitched in 151 games for Houston at the major league level in 1995, 1996, 2008 and 2009 with a 15-14 record, a 4.24 ERA and a 1.422 WHIP.
After retiring from baseball, Brocail became a special assistant to the Astros General Manager until he was pressed into service as the Astros pitching coach when Brad Arnsberg was fired in June 2011.
Former Astros with birthdays today ~
RHP Bob Bruce (79)
Obtained in a trade with Detroit in December of 1961, Bruce pitched in 219 games for the Colt .45's and the Astros from 1962 to 1966. He was 42-58 with a 3.78 ERA and a 1.279 WHIP in a mostly starting role for Houston. His best season was 1964 when he went 15-9 with a 2.76 ERA and a 1.107 WHIP. He pitched in the final game at Colt Stadium and in the first game at the Astrodome.
RHP Rick Rhoden (59)
Rhoden was drafted by the Dodgers in the first round of the 1971 draft and came to Houston as part of a trade with the Yankees in January 1989. Houston was the final stop in a 16 year career in the majors that saw Rhoden earn two All Star nods and three Silver Slugger Awards. After retiring from baseball, he went on to have a second, very successful career in golf.
Former Astros with birthdays today ~
RHP Bob Bruce (79)
Obtained in a trade with Detroit in December of 1961, Bruce pitched in 219 games for the Colt .45's and the Astros from 1962 to 1966. He was 42-58 with a 3.78 ERA and a 1.279 WHIP in a mostly starting role for Houston. His best season was 1964 when he went 15-9 with a 2.76 ERA and a 1.107 WHIP. He pitched in the final game at Colt Stadium and in the first game at the Astrodome.
RHP Rick Rhoden (59)
Rhoden was drafted by the Dodgers in the first round of the 1971 draft and came to Houston as part of a trade with the Yankees in January 1989. Houston was the final stop in a 16 year career in the majors that saw Rhoden earn two All Star nods and three Silver Slugger Awards. After retiring from baseball, he went on to have a second, very successful career in golf.
Friday, September 9, 2011
Blake Ford is not Blake King, and Other of Life's Imponderables
Let me preface this by saying that my memory isn't what it used to be, but I think that getting confused in my feeble little brain by two right-handed pitchers named Blake is somewhat understandable. So I'm going to share my journey of discovery with any of my readers who harbor similar confusion (even if they won't admit it aloud).
Blake King
King is 24. He was picked up off of waivers from the Cardinals in May and pitched in Corpus Christi - 33 appearances, 40.2 IP, with an ERA of 3.76, WHIP of 1.549 and a S0/BB ratio of 1.32. He was drafted by the Cardinals in the 44th Round in 2005 and this is his 6th year in the minors. His picture shows him to be a fairly beefy guy ... listed as 6'1", 195 lbs. He bats right.
Blake Ford
Ford is 23. He was drafted by Houston in the 44th Round (seriously, they're both 44th round players as well?) in 2011 out of Lamar University. He pitched for the GCL Astros in this, his first, season - 18 appearances, 23.2 IP, with an ERA of 1.90, a WHIP of 1.394, a SO/BB ratio of 3.33 and 8 saves. Being in the GCL, he rates no picture on milb.com, but in looking at a Lamar University photo he doesn't look particularly beefy despite his listed height and weight of 6'5" and 215. He bats left (although he won't have any official opportunities to show us his prowess with a bat until he gets to AA).
OK, this is easy to remember. Blake King is King of Corpus, not figuratively, not metaphorically, but alliteratively (I think I made up a word there). As a mnemonic device, King of Corpus works. And Blake Ford is fording his way upstream in the minor league hierarchy.
Done. Now I know which big, early 20's, drafted in the 44th round, right-handed pitcher named Blake is which.
Blake King
King is 24. He was picked up off of waivers from the Cardinals in May and pitched in Corpus Christi - 33 appearances, 40.2 IP, with an ERA of 3.76, WHIP of 1.549 and a S0/BB ratio of 1.32. He was drafted by the Cardinals in the 44th Round in 2005 and this is his 6th year in the minors. His picture shows him to be a fairly beefy guy ... listed as 6'1", 195 lbs. He bats right.
Blake Ford
Ford is 23. He was drafted by Houston in the 44th Round (seriously, they're both 44th round players as well?) in 2011 out of Lamar University. He pitched for the GCL Astros in this, his first, season - 18 appearances, 23.2 IP, with an ERA of 1.90, a WHIP of 1.394, a SO/BB ratio of 3.33 and 8 saves. Being in the GCL, he rates no picture on milb.com, but in looking at a Lamar University photo he doesn't look particularly beefy despite his listed height and weight of 6'5" and 215. He bats left (although he won't have any official opportunities to show us his prowess with a bat until he gets to AA).
OK, this is easy to remember. Blake King is King of Corpus, not figuratively, not metaphorically, but alliteratively (I think I made up a word there). As a mnemonic device, King of Corpus works. And Blake Ford is fording his way upstream in the minor league hierarchy.
Done. Now I know which big, early 20's, drafted in the 44th round, right-handed pitcher named Blake is which.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)