Happy Birthday - 5/17

Happy Birthday to ~

RHP Jordan Jankowski (25)
Drafted by Houston in the 34rd round in 2012, Jankowski started out exclusively out of the bullpen in his first season in 2012 with a great deal of success. Since then, he has been used both as a starter and a reliever and, although he started the 2014 season out of the bullpen in Corpus Christi, he has already evolved into a spot start/long relief role. In 10 games (1 start) this season, Jankowski has a 4.30 ERA, a 1.261 WHIP and 10.2 strikeouts per nine innings of work.

One former Astro celebrates the day as well ~

1B/DH Carlos Pena (36)
Originally drafted by the Rangers in the first round in 1998, Pena signed with Houston as a free agent in December 2012. Pena hit .209/.324/.350 in 85 games with the Astros prior to being released at the end of July 2013. Pena had a Silver Slugger, Gold Glove and All-Star appearance to his name during his time playing for Tampa Bay.

Happy Birthday - 5/17

Happy Birthday to ~

1B/DH Carlos Pena (35)
Originally drafted by the Rangers in the first round in 1998, Pena signed with Houston as a free agent in December 2012. Pena has a Silver Slugger, Gold Glove and All-Star appearance to his name during his time playing for Tampa Bay. In the 2013 season, he is hitting .231/.335/.358 through 40 games.

RHP Jordan Jankowski (24)
Drafted by Houston in the 34rd round in 2012, Jankowski had a great deal of success out of the bullpen at Greeneville in 2012, going 4-0 with a 2.23 ERA, a 1.082 WHIP with four saves in 23 appearances. This season, Jankowski is a part of the piggy-back rotation and is 2-0 with a 2.87 ERA and a 1.213 WHIP in eight appearances (five starts).

Roster Moves

Jeff Luhnow and first baseman Carlos Pena appeared at a joint press conference this afternoon to announce that Pena had been signed to a one-year deal with the Astros. The 34-year old journeyman first baseman was a free agent after having spent the 2012 season with the Rays organization. A first round pick by the Rangers in 1998, he has played in parts of 12 major league seasons, all but one of which were for American League teams. Pena led the American League in home runs in his All-Star year of 2009 playing for Tampa Bay. He also has a Silver Slugger and Gold Glove to his name. He is expected to play some first base, but will primarily be called upon to serve as the DH in the Astros first season in the American League. Pena had a distinct fall-off in his numbers at the plate in 2012. His major league stats can be found here. As the 40-man roster is currently full, a corresponding move will need to be made but it hasn't been announced yet. I will update my off-season transaction list when that detail is released.

UPDATE: Mickey Storey was designated for assignment in order to clear a 40-man roster spot (for the second time this off-season) for Carlos Pena. Henceforth, Storey shall be referred to as the Rubberband Man.

Also, Baseball America posted that the Astros have signed 24-year old minor league RHP Ricky Martinez having acquired him from the Cardinals for cash considerations. According to Mike Tauser over at Farmstros, Martinez is the son of the Astros new Bullpen Coach Dennis Martinez.