Tweets of the Day

It's been an incredible experience to play in the @astros organization with such great friends and teammates. I only have the utmost respect
— Daniel Gulbransen (@DanGulbransen) July 16, 2014

For everyone in the organization from top down. The support and encouragement I've been given are astounding. Thank you @astros
— Daniel Gulbransen (@DanGulbransen) July 16, 2014

Dan the Yoga Man Leaves on a High Note

I know nothing other than this tweet from last night, but wanted to pass it along. I do know that Dan made a lot of friends and fans along the way.

Dan Gulbransen - who announced he’s retiring before game - singles, steals 2nd and scores in his final AB tonight.
— Jason Schwartz (@jasondschwartz) July 15, 2014

Astros Minor League Player and Pitchers of the Week: Week Ten

It's time to look back at Week Ten and acknowledge some winning performances for the week commencing Sunday, June 1st and continuing through Saturday, June 7th.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK

First my honorable mentions for the week! Those go to Oklahoma City's Kike Hernandez (.308/.308/.538); Corpus Christi's Nolan Fontana (.263/.481/.421); Quad Cities' Brett Phillips (.316/.350/.474); and Lancaster's Rio Ruiz (.333/.448/.500), Teoscar Hernandez (.323/.417/.645) and Tony Kemp .286/.444/.500). Also of particular note, Australian 1B Connor MacDonald has been thriving in June for the DSL Astros Blue team, hitting .318/.464/.500.

Looking at the numbers put up by Ruiz, Teo Hernandez and Kemp, and then adding in our two runners-up and our winner, it should be really easy to see why the Lancaster team won seven straight games to start the month. Here are my two runners-up:

1B Conrad Gregor (Lancaster)
.440/.516/.760
11R 2-2B 2HR 5BB 1SO 8RBI SF

SS Carlos Correa (Lancaster)
.381/.629/.667
11R 2-2B 2-3B 4RBI 13BB 4SO 6SB 1CS

Many might argue that Correa should be my winner with his eye-popping numbers, but one thing sets this next player apart ... hitting for the cycle gets you a leg up in the competition every time.

DH/OF Dan Gulbransen (Lancaster)
.474/.565/.842
5R 2-2B 3B HR 9RBI 3BB 4SO
Hit for the cycle on 6/5/14.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: DH/OF DAN GULBRANSEN

Dan Gulbransen's Grand Slam from 5/26/14

Photo by Jayne Hansen

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STARTING (TANDEM) PITCHER OF THE WEEK

I literally have nine different guys that I could have picked for this and most have something that sets them apart from the others so this is probably the most subjective of my picks so far this season. I can't even decide on a runner-up so I'm going with eight honorable mentions and one winner. Honorable mentions go to Oklahoma City's Nick Tropeano and David Martinez; Corpus Christi's Kyle Smith and Tommy Shirley; Lancaster's Kyle Westwood; Quad Cities' Edison Frias; and the DSL Blue team's Joselo Pinales and Erasmo Pinales.

Our winner started the season in the bullpen and has stepped up extremely ably to fill in for those on the DL. On Friday, he pitched deep into a game for the first time this season with excellent results. For the season he has a 3.21 ERA and a 1.071 WHIP; in his four starts, he has a 2.33 ERA and a 0.983 WHIP.

RHP Jordan Jankowski (Corpus Christi) - Win
0.00 ERA/.0.545 WHIP
7.1IP 3H 1BB 7SO

STARTING (TANDEM) PITCHER OF THE WEEK: RHP JORDAN JANKOWSKI

Jordan Jankowski - April 2014

Photo by Jayne Hansen

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RELIEF PITCHER OF THE WEEK

This category was a little more clear cut for me, but still several honorable mentions: Oklahoma City's Josh Zeid and Kevin Chapman; Corpus Christi's Alex Sogard and Richard Rodriguez; Lancaster's Jamaine Cotton, Daniel Minor and Juan Minaya; Quad Cities' Chris Cotton; and DSL Astros Blue team's Abdiel Saldana. I also want to send a special shoutout to Tyson Perez who is transitioning from Lancaster to Corpus Christi very nicely.

My runner-up is another Aussie playing for the DSL Blue team:

RHP Lachlan Madden (DSL Blue) - Save
0.00 ERA/0.429 WHIP
2.1IP (2 games) 1H 1BB 3SO
3 inherited runners/0 scored

My winner has shone all season long (and really should be at Oklahoma City, but nobody listens to me). For the season, he is 1-1 with a 1.57 ERA and a 1.174 WHIP in 18 appearances.

LHP Patrick Urckfitz (Corpus Christi) - Save
0.00 ERA/0.375 WHIP
2.2IP (2 games) 1H 0BB 3SO CS
3 inherited runners/0 scored

RELIEF PITCHER OF THE WEEK: LHP PATRICK URCKFITZ

Patrick Urckfitz- April 2014

Photo by Jayne Hansen

Astros Minor League Recaps

Results for Thursday, June 5, 2014

Happy Draft Day!

Omaha 6, Oklahoma City 3

W- Aaron Brooks (5-1)
L- Brett Oberholtzer (1-2)
S- Spencer Patton (12)

OKC home runs: Erik Castro (2, solo in 3rd)

The RedHawks lost their 2nd consecutive 6-3 decision in the series opener.

Brett Oberholtzer went 6 innings and gave up 5 runs (4 on homers) on 8 hits (2 solos and a 2-run), walked 1, and struck out 6. Jorge De Leon allowed a run on 2 hits and struck out 1 in the 7th, and Kevin Chapman struck out 1 in a 1-2-3 8th.

Erik Castro got OKC on the board with a solo homer in the 3rd. Marc Krauss hit an RBI double in the 6th, and Domingo Santana smacked an RBI double in the 8th. Austin Wates (15) and Kiké Hernandez (5) had steals, and Castro was the only RedHawk with a multi-hit game, going 2-4.

Game 2 of this series will be at 7:05 and will feature David Martinez on the mound. He'll face John Lamb.

Midland 3, Corpus Christi 2

W- Nate Long (6-1)
L- Mike Hauschild (1-1, 3-2 season)
S- Seth Frankoff (11)

CC home runs: Preston Tucker (14, solo in 6th)

The Hooks dropped their 4th straight, and dropped the series in the process, as they got burned by Midland's #9 hitter, Beau Taylor, who hit a pair of RBI doubles.

Delino DeShields, not hitting leadoff for the first time this season (5th), went 2-4 with an RBI single in the 1st. Preston Tucker was 1-1 with 3 walks; the 1 hit was a solo homer (14) in the 6th inning.

Mike Hauschild grinded his way through 5 innings and allowed 3 runs on 9 hits and struck out 5. Alex Sogard struck out 3 over 3 perfect innings.

The Hooks will look to avoid a sweep as Jordan Jankowski takes on Chris Jensen. First pitch is at 7:00.

Lancaster 16, Inland Empire 7

W- Brian Holmes (2-1)
L- Elliot Morris (1-1)

Lancaster home runs: Tony Kemp (4, solo in 1st), Teoscar Hernandez (11, solo in 1st), Dan Gulbransen (3, 3-run in 4th), Rio Ruiz (5, 3-run in 5th)

Sweep! After the 66ers scored 2 in the top of the 1st, the JetHawks scored 2 unanswered touchdowns. Everyone in the lineup had an RBI except for Conrad Gregor, who went 1-2 with 2 walks and 3 runs scored. Everyone had a hit except for Jordan Scott.

The JetHawks responded to IE's 2 in the 1st by having Tony Kemp and Teoscar Hernandez hit back-to-back solo shots in the bottom of the inning. And then the floodgates opened. Dan Gulbransen cleared the bases with a triple in the 3rd, then came home on a Ruben Sosa double. Roberto Peña added an RBI single in the 4th, and then Gulbransen unleashed a 3-run shot. Rio Ruiz decided to swat a 3-run homer of his own in the 5th. Gulbransen singled in the 6th, and Scott added a run in the frame by hitting a sac fly to score Gregor. Carlos Correa, after a hat trick of walks, hit an RBI triple in the 7th and scored on Rio's groundout. Gulbransen completed the cycle by leading off the 8th with a double. Teoscar had 3 hits and 3 runs scored. Kemp, Rio, and Peña had 2 each. Correa scored 4 times, which meant that he reached base in all of his plate appearances and scored every time he reached base. He also stole a base (18), too. So did Teoscar (20) and Ruben Sosa (13).

Brian Holmes went 7 innings and allowed 4 runs on 5 hits (2-run and solo homers), walked 2, and struck out 3. J.D. Osborne threw a scoreless 8th, but ran into some trouble in the 9th as he allowed 3 runs, 2 hits, walked 2, and struck out 1. He left with 2 on base. Mitch Lambson got the last 2 outs without incident.

The JetHawks are on the road for the weekend; they'll be playing 4 in Visalia beginning tonight at 7:00 Pacific. Zach Morton will face Braden Shipley.

Burlington 2, Quad Cities 1

W- Trevor Foss (2-4)
L- Tyler Brunnemann (0-2)
S- Alan Busenitz (8)

QC home runs: None.

Tyler Brunnemann shot himself in the foot when he uncorked a wild pitch in the bottom of the 8th, which allowed Angel Rosa to break a 1-1 tie.

Brian Holberton's RBI groundout in the 6th accounted for the only River Bandits run. Tanner Mathis and Chan-Jong Moon had 2 hits apiece.

Michael Feliz went 4 innings and got dinged by Kody Eaves to begin the bottom of the 1st. After that, though, he gave up just 2 more hits. Feliz also walked 4 and struck out 6. Chris Cotton allowed a hit and struck out 1 over 2 scoreless. Brunnemann pitched 2 innings, and that wild pitch turned out to be the difference. That run was unearned; he gave up 2 hits, walked 1, and struck out 1.

The Bandits will look to avoid the sweep tonight at 6:30. TBA will get the start for QC; he'll take on Ryan Etsell.

DSL Astros Blue 6, DSL Rays 2

W- Abdiel Saldaña (1-0)
L- Jose Disla (0-1)

Blue home runs: None.

The Blue team held the Rays in check as they've emerged on top in their division so far. It's a tight one... the other 5 teams are within 2 games of them in the early going.

Salvador Montaño started with 4 scoreless and allowed 4 hits, walked 1, and struck out 5. Abdiel Saldaña followed up with 3 scoreless, allowing 2 hits, walking 2, and striking out 1. The Rays spoiled the shutout bid as they got a pair (1 earned) off of Gabriel Valdez in the final 2 innings. He allowed 4 hits and struck out 1.

Hayden Timberlake opened the scoring with a sac fly in the 2nd, which was part of a 3-run inning. Edgar Lorenzo added an RBI double, and he would score on a Nestor Tejada single. Connor MacDonald added an RBI single in the 4th, and Joan Mauricio hit an RBI groundout. Mauricio brought home the final run of the morning with an RBI single in the 8th. He also hit a triple to lead off the 3rd, but was thrown out at home on a fielder's choice. Wander Franco went 1-2 with 2 runs scored and 3 walks. It's the 4th consecutive game in which he's walked more than once, and he's now the owner of an 11:0 BB:K ratio.

They're at the Rays' complex so they can play a game there.

DSL Yankees1 16, DSL Astros Orange 15

W- Jose Pujols (1-0)
L- Juan Cuevas (0-1)
S- Rafael Ordaz (2)

Orange home runs: None.

On the other hand, the Orange team is still on the schneid. At least the Marlins are there to keep them company. You can count on the DSL to provide some downright wacky stuff. The Orange squad blew a 14-1 lead. Argggggghhhhhhhhh.....

Cristopher Luciano is turning out to be an early bright spot for the Orange offense; he finished a homer shy of the cycle, going 4-4 with 4 RBI, 2 runs scored, and reached in all 5 of his plate appearances. The Orange team opened the scoring with a pair of RBI doubles from Ihan Bernal and Luciano in the 1st. Rodrigo Ayarza hit an RBI single in the 2nd. Luciano added a 2-run single in the 3rd, and a passed ball and a wild pitch later, he'd score himself. Jesus Bermejo scored on yet another wild pitch, and Ayarza finished the 6-run inning with a 2-run single.

They got 5 more in the 4th as Bernal scored on... a wild pitch. Vicente Sanchez added a 2-run single, and then another wild pitch scored Bryan De La Cruz. Wilson Amador hit an RBI groundout for the final run of the inning. Luciano hit an RBI triple for the final Orange run of the morning.

Let's just say that it wasn't the prettiest display of pitching. The two teams combined for 12 wild pitches, a passed ball, and 22 walks. Oh, and 31 runs. All 15 Orange runs were earned. Orange pitchers, on the other hand, had 8 unearned runs. Edwin Villarroel, Adonis Peña, Michael Richez, and Juan Cuevas all had rocky outings. Let's leave it at that. Please. The one guy who didn't was in the middle of all of them. Tomas Lopez, who made his first appearance ever after injuries wiped out his first 2 seasons, threw 2.1 scoreless and allowed 1 hit while walking 2.

Both teams are at it again, this time at the Astros complex.

Three Stars: Position Players

3.

Rio Ruiz, 3B, Lancaster

2-5, 3-R HR (5), 4 RBI, 2 R

2. Cristopher Luciano, 1B, DSL Astros Orange: 4-4, 2B, 3B, 4 RBI, 2 R, BB

1.

Dan Gulbransen, DH, Lancaster

Cycle (in 5 at-bats), 6 RBI, 2 R

Honorable Mentions: The other 7 guys in the Lancaster lineup, Rodrigo Ayarza, Preston Tucker, Delino DeShields, Erik Castro, Joan Mauricio, Tanner Mathis

Three Stars: Pitchers

3.

Chris "58%" Cotton, LHP, Quad Cities

2 IP, H, K

2. Salvador Montaño, LHP, DSL Astros Blue: 4 IP, 4 H, BB, 5 K

1.

Alex Sogard, LHP, Corpus Christi

3 IP, 3 K

Tweet of the Day

About to crush this yoga @DanGulbransen is our leader pic.twitter.com/zlwgs7zzSU
— Lance McCullers Jr. (@LMcCullers_41) May 3, 2014

Astros Minor League Recaps

Results for Monday, April 21, 2014

Memphis 7, Oklahoma City 4

W- Jorge Rondon (1-0)
L- Josh Zeid (2-1)
S- David Aardsma (1)

OKC home runs: Max Stassi (5, solo in 2nd), Robbie Grossman (1, solo in 8th)

Memphis has taken the last 2 since OKC took the opener. Robbie Grossman's solo homer made it a 5-4 game in the 8th, but the Redbirds scored 2 in the bottom of the inning to put the game out of reach.

Max Stassi opened the scoring with a solo homer in the 2nd; he's homered in 3 straight contests. He would add a sac fly in the 4th, and later in the inning, Domingo Santana chipped in with an RBI single. Ronald Torreyes and Gregorio Petit had 2 hits apiece.

With Collin McHugh on his way to Seattle, Nick Tropeano was flying solo in this one. He went 4 innings and allowed 3 runs on 6 hits (2 solo homers), walked 2, and struck out 3. Kevin Chapman allowed a hit, walked 1, and fanned 3 over 2 scoreless. Josh Zeid allowed a 2-run homer to Greg Garcia in the 7th, and Jason Stoffel allowed a 2-run double to Randal Grichuk in the 8th.

In the series finale, David Martinez and Bobby Doran will take on Scott McGregor at 11:02 A.M.

Corpus Christi 5, Midland 2

W- Brady Rodgers (1-1)
L- Shawn Haviland (0-1)
S- Pat Urckfitz (1)

CC home runs: Preston Tucker (4, 2-run in 3rd)

A 5-run 3rd proved to be all the Hooks needed on offense, while the pitching was solid across the board.

Brady Rodgers went 5 innings and allowed a run on 5 hits and struck out 4. Colton Cain allowed a run (inherited runner scored) on 4 hits and struck out 2 in 1.1; he gave way to Jorge De Leon, who did allow one of the 3 baserunners he inherited from Cain to score on a sac fly, but he was able to limit the damage in the 7th. De Leon then worked around a hit to throw a scoreless 8th. Pat Urckfitz finished it with a 1-2-3 9th.

Chris Epps began the 3rd-inning outburst with a sac fly. Joe Sclafani grounded into a force out that allowed Rene Garcia to score; he would come home on a single from Andrew Aplin, and then Tucker capped it off with his blast. The Hooks were outhit 10-6, but... that's not the column that comes into play when the win-loss record is concerned. Sclafani went 2-4 with a steal (1).

In game 2, Aaron West will take on Nate Long. First pitch is at 7:10.

Lancaster 9, Inland Empire 4

W- Kyle Smith (3-0)
L- Jairo Diaz (0-2)

Lancaster home runs: Dan Gulbransen (1, 2-run in 9th)

The JetHawks blasted off late with an 8-1 run, highlighted by a 6-run 9th inning, to take the opener. The offense was shackled by 66ers starter Ryan Crowley for 7 innings, but when the bullpen came out, the JetHawks went on a feeding frenzy.

Danry Vasquez hit a 1-out double in the 2nd and would score Lancaster's 1st run as he came home on a Dan Gulbransen single. They would initially tie the game at 3 thanks to a pair in the 8th. Ruben Sosa drew a 1-out walk, then scored on a Tony Kemp double. Kemp, who finished a home run short of the cycle in 5 at-bats, then stole 3rd (6) and scored the tying run on a wild pitch. Inland Empire briefly regained the lead in the bottom of the 8th, but Brandon Meredith ignited the huge 9th by drawing a walk to lead off the inning. He re-tied the game by scoring on a Vasquez triple, and then Roberto Peña chose a fine time for his 1st RBI of the season by ripping a double to deep left to put Lancaster up for good. Gulbransen also picked a fine time to hit his 1st home run of the season as well; the 2-run shot extended the JetHawks lead to 7-4. Kemp greeted Grant Gordon with a triple, and Teoscar Hernandez followed suit by sending Kemp home. Carlos Correa finished 2-4 and brought home Hernandez with a single for the final run of the inning. Vasquez and Gulbransen also finished 2-4.

Lance McCullers went 5 innings and gave up 3 runs on 7 hits, walked 1, and struck out 3. Kyle Smith was one out away in the 8th from throwing 3 perfect innings, but he issued a walk and paid for it when Zach Wright brought that run home with a double. That would be all the 66ers got off of Smith, who went 3 innings and struck out 3. Dan Minor finished the game by striking out 2 in a 1-2-3 9th.

Game 2 of this series pits Josh Hader and Chris Devenski against Alex Keudell. First pitch is at 7:05 Pacific.

Clinton 7, Quad Cities 6

W- Blake Holovach (2-1)
L- Zach Morton (1-1)
S- Emilio Pagan (4)

QC home runs: None.

The River Bandits dropped a tough one; they put up 4 in the top of the 7th to take a 6-5 lead, only to see the LumberKings score 2 in the bottom of the 8th to regain the lead.

The Bandits pounded out 15 hits, but it looks like they couldn't string some of them together, otherwise they'd have a huge offensive night. They had the bases loaded right off the bat in the 1st, but could only muster a run that was scored on a double play. Brian Holberton would score on an error in the 2nd as Thomas Lindauer reached on a force attempt.

Tanner Mathis led off the 7th with a single and came all the way around to score on a James Ramsay triple. Ramsay would score on an error that allowed Tyler White to reach. Again, the River Bandits had the bases loaded with no outs in the inning, but all they got out of that was another run that scored on another double play. White scored on a Holberton GIDP, and Brett Phillips gave QC the lead with an RBI single to finish the scoring. Phillips and Conrad Gregor both went 3-5; Ramsay and Mathis had 2 hits each. Thomas Lindauer was 2-5 with a double in his season debut.

Evan Grills went 5 innings and his only blemish was serving up a 3-run homer to Marcus Littlewood in the 3rd. He allowed 1 other hit and struck out 4. Michael Feliz gave up 2 runs on 2 hits while only getting 2 outs in the 6th. Zach Morton pitched 2.1 innings and allowed 2 runs in the 8th on a wild pitch and a double. He walked 1.

Adrian Houser and Gonzalo Sanudo will take the mound for game 2 of this series; they'll be taking on Eddie Campbell. First pitch is at 12:30.

Three Stars

3.

Kyle Smith, RHP, Lancaster

3 IP, H, ER, BB, 3 K

2.

Brady Rodgers, RHP, Corpus Christi

W (1-1), 5 IP, 5 H, ER, 4 K

1.

Dan Gulbransen, OF, Lancaster
2-4, 2-R HR (1), 3 RBI

Happy Birthday - 1/5

Happy birthday to ~

OF Dan Gulbransen (23)
Originally from Appleton, Wisconsin, Gulbransen was selected in the 16th round in 2012 out of Jacksonville University (FL). Gulbransen started his season at Tri-City, but didn't last there long as he was quickly promoted to Quad Cities and later to Advanced A Lancaster to end the season. In a total of 56 games, he hit .321/.385/.502 with 15 doubles, a triple and seven home runs.

One former Astro celebrates a birthday today ~

OF Milt Thompson (55)
Drafted in the second round in 1979 by Atlanta, Thompson came to Houston in a July 1994 trade with the Phillies. Thompson played for Houston in 101 games over two seasons in 1994 and 1995.  He was unable to duplicate his earlier success for Atlanta (.302 BA over 98 games), Philadelphia (.279 BA over five seasons), and St. Louis (.274 over four seasons) as he batted only .229 for Houston.

Astros Minor League Recaps

Tuesday's Games

Tuscon over Oklahoma City 13-6
This is the second straight start in which Asher Wojciechowski has scuffled. In five innings, he allowed seven runs (six earned) on eight hits and two walks while striking out four. Rhiner Cruz and Jose Cisnero were each charged with three runs out of the bullpen. George Springer's two-run inside the park home run in the first got things started for OKC. A Jose Martinez (2x4 R) sac fly RBI in the third, RBI doubles from Jon Singleton and Marwin Gonzalez in the fourth, and a Carlos Perez (2x4) RBI single in the sixth rounded out the scoring. Trevor Crowe went three-for-five with a double and scored a run, and Brandon Laird was three-for-four and scored twice.

Northwest Arkansas over Corpus Christi 10-1
This game was closer than the score would indicate, at least until the wheels fell off in the seventh inning. Mike Foltynewicz got the start and allowed three runs on six hits (two home runs) and three walks while striking out two. T.J. Geith finished off the sixth and started the seventh, but left the game in favor of Cameron Lamb with one out and two on in the frame. After issuing an intentional walk, Lamb served up a grand slam to Lane Adams. It was Adams second home run of the game. After Lamb re-loaded the bases on a single, walk, and hit batter, he allowed another run on a bases loaded walk. Lamb was victimized by Lane Adams yet again in the eighth inning as Adams hit his third home run of the night, a two-run shot, to give him seven RBI. He had hit a total of eight home runs in the prior 111 games of the season. The lone Hooks run came in the fifth as Preston Tucker (2x4 2B BB R) hit a lead-off double and scored later in the inning on an Erik Castro (2x4) single. Jonathan Meyer went two-for-three with a double and a walk.

Lancaster over Inland Empire 11-5
Luis Cruz (7IP 7H 4R 1BB 8SO) had a solid start and was rewarded with the win. He was followed by two innings from Kenny Long who allowed three hits, including a solo home run. The 'Hawks got the party started in the second inning with a grand slam from Nolan Fontana. Inland Empire came back with four in the top of the fifth to tie it, but Lancaster countered with five runs in the bottom of the frame on a two-RBI single from Tyler Heineman (1x4 BB 3R) and a three-run home run from Dan Gulbransen (3x5 2B HR 4RBI 2R). Gulbransen doubled in another run in the seventh and Delino DeShields (2x5 2B) had an RBI single for the final run of the evening. Chris Epps was one-for-four with a walk and scored twice. Andrew Aplin stole his 23rd base of the season and Delino DeShields got number 43.

Quad Cities - Off Day

New York-Penn League All-Star Game
AL All-Stars over NL All-Stars 4-3
The Tri-City representatives to the All-Star game were confusingly enough on the National League roster (although that is where they belong, as well as the rest of the Houston affiliates). Michael Feliz and Andrew Walter were each perfect in their one-inning appearances; however, Chris Cotton allowed one run on one hit as a couple of wild pitches came back to bite him in his inning of work. As the starting DH, Chan Moon went one for two and scored a run.

Johnson City over Greeneville 10-3
Frederick Tiburcio and Kevin Ferguson were ambushed to the tune of ten runs on fourteen hits (three home runs) over their combined five innings. Christian Garcia and Ryan Connolly followed out of the 'pen with scoreless outings. The Astros put up two in the second as Darwin Rivera scored on a fielding error and Brian Holberton scored on a Tanner Mathis sac bunt. The only other run came across in the fifth as Thomas Lindauer scored on a Angel Ibanez sac fly. The Astros were held to five hits, but that total included doubles from Ibanez and Wallace Gonazalez.

GCL Tigers over GCL Astros 6-4
Kent Emanuel pitched two innings in his third outing with the GCL and has still not allowed a run. Austin Nicely followed and allowed four runs on three hits and three walks in his three and a third innings. Devonte German gave up one run in the sixth and was charged with the blown save and the loss. Jean Batista (2x4) drove in all the runs with an RBI single in the first and a three-run home run in the third. The Astros never seriously threatened after the third. Luis Reynoso went two-for-four with a walk and scored twice.

DSL Astros over DSL Royals 2-1
Edwin Villarroel got his fourth win in a very nice start, pitching five shutout innings and allowing five hits and no walks. He struck out four. Robert Corniel, Yonquelys Martinez and Angel Heredia (S,10) all provided scoreless relief. The lone Royals run came off Starlyng Sanchez in the seventh inning. Hector Roa drove in one run in the sixth and the other came across as Randy Cesar scored from third on a double play. Kristian Trompiz went two-for-four and Arturo Michelena was two-for-three with a double, walk and a run.

Player of the Day: After playing in five road games, Dan Gulbransen got his first taste of Lancaster and seemed to like it pretty well as he drove in four and only lacked a triple for the cycle. I would be remiss if I didn't give honorable mention to Nolan Fontana for his grand salami.

Pitcher of the Day: The pitching on the DSL team has been solid all season with pitchers like Edwin Villarroel leading the way. In 12 starts, Villarroel is 4-4 with a 2.10 ERA and a 1.150 WHIP. He has walked only nine batters while striking out 38 in his 55+ innings.

Tweet of the Day

Jason Schwartz ‏@jasondschwartz
It’ll be a “shy”cle for Gulbransen tonight… 3x5, 2B, HR, 4RBI. Nice Hangar debut.

Astros Minor League Roster Moves

Apparently, there are a number of roster moves coming down today. I will update this post as I find out more information. Here is what I know right now.

Corpus Christi
3B Matt Duffy assigned from Lancaster to Corpus Christi
LHP Sergio Escalona placed on the restricted list (suspended for 50 games for violating MLB's Drug program)
1B Zach Johnson released
IF Raoul Torrez assigned from Oklahoma City to Corpus Christi
SS Jio Mier placed on the 7-day DL

Lancaster
RHP Jordan Jankowski assigned from Quad Cities to Lancaster
OF Dan Gulbransen assigned from Quad Cities to Lancaster

Quad Cities
RHP Juri Perez released
RHP Patrick Christensen assigned from Tri-City to Quad Cities
2B Tony Kemp assigned from Tri-City to Quad Cities
RHP Zach Morton assigned from Tri-City to Quad Cities

Tri-City
3B/1B Tyler White assigned from Greeneville to Tri-City
RHP Tyler Brunnemann assigned from Greeneville to Tri-City
RHP Troy Scribner assigned from Greeneville to Tri-City

Greeneville
LHP Kevin Ferguson assigned from GCL to Greeneville

Tweet of the Day

Kenny Long ‏@Booogggie
Thanks to yoga Dan @DanGulbransen for a great yoga class today @Lance_Day and quitter @catfish_elkins

An Interview with Astros OF Dan Gulbransen

I've been interested in catching up with Tri-City ValleyCats OF and Astros 2012 16th round draft pick Dan Gulbransen ever since I saw this tweet from Austin Elkins last August.

Austin Elkins ‏@catfish_elkins

Yoga with the cats led by @DanGulbransen #YogaMan #namastepic.twitter.com/2mWS5WqE

You don't often hear about baseball players doing yoga, but when I heard that some of the 2012 ValleyCats team were participating in classes led by Gulbransen, it was one of those "aha" moments for me. Core strength and flexibility should only help performance on the field and assist in keeping injuries at bay.

In addition to hearing about the yoga, I wanted to find out more about Gulbransen. When I was reading about him prior to sending him the interview questions, I was struck by the sincere praise of Gulbransen's work ethic and mental preparation, his pride in his defensive capabilities and his academic excellence.

His answers to my questions convey that intelligence, coupled with thoughtfulness and self-awareness.

WTH: When the new draft class comes in, it generally takes me a while to get everyone straight, but you quickly emerged as "the yoga guy" in my mind. How long have you been doing yoga? In what ways is yoga helpful for baseball players? I know that you recruited several of your fellow ValleyCats into participating in yoga sessions. Did you win over any skeptics? Any holdouts?

DG: I started doing yoga by following instructional DVDs while I was in high school mainly as a way to recover from football games. Throughout high school, I was a big weightlifter and started developing some lower back tightness and it was suggested that I do yoga as a part of my training. As I got into college, I had to take a yoga class as part of my activities courses at Jacksonville University and the instructor was awesome. Looking back, that was probably a main influencing factor in where my practice has taken me so far. It soon became apparent to my teammates that I was the yoga guy and then an assistant coach asked me to lead a Saturday morning class for the team after seeing what I was doing on my own. That was an adventure. All those events together have contributed to where I am now.

Yoga deals with the practitioner as a whole. Every person is unique and the practice of yoga molds itself to fit every individual’s needs. Everyone who practices yoga can benefit from the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual components that it has to offer. More specifically applied to baseball, movements are very repetitive in nature, so it’s incredibly beneficial for baseball players to engage in a yoga practice to work on bringing muscular balance into the body. I also think that yoga helps to bring space into the body so that movement becomes more efficient in nature. With the relaxing effects yoga has on the nervous system through its focus on the breath, it’s helpful in bringing attention into the present so that the game can be played one pitch at a time which is incredibly difficult to do.

Just as in college, some of the guys on the ValleyCats saw what I was able to do with my body and it generated some curiosity. There were a few instances throughout the year that some of the guys wanted to give it a try, and I tried to use those opportunities to share the benefits that I have come to appreciate through my practice.

I think that yoga has begun to be so mainstream that many people have tried it once or twice and those who haven’t tried it before are curious. At the same time, yoga is as unique as the individual – everyone is unique on and off the mat – so I would recommend that new yogis just keep an open mind and practice what they find helpful and let go of the things that don’t interest them.

WTH: The offensive results from your first professional season with Tri-City were a little mixed, but you definitely showed some good pop in your bat and also put up some good post-season numbers. What went wrong? What went right? What did you take away from the experience?

DG: There’s definitely an adjustment from the college to professional game. It was up and down for me personally, but it was a great help to be around teammates like I had in Tri-City. Looking back, I was trying to do too much. I was making mechanical adjustments and changes in my approach that kept me from just going out and competing in the batter’s box. That’s not to say that baseball isn’t a game of adjustments because it certainly is, but at some point it just comes down to getting a good pitch to hit and hitting it hard and I was more inconsistent than I would like in doing so. I’m excited about the progress I’m continuing to make this off-season and look forward to getting into spring training and seeing where it goes from there.

It’s hard to put a finger on what I exactly took away from the experience of my first half-season because there’s just so much. I guess what stands out most in my mind is just what it means to have a professional approach to the game from a day-in day-out perspective.

WTH: Years from now, what will you remember most vividly about Tri-City's run to the finals?

DG: It was an amazing group of guys to play with. We had great camaraderie. We were friends on and off the field and it definitely translated into the way we played together.

WTH: What have you been doing in the off-season to prepare for the coming year?

DG: I’ve been doing everything that I think would help me get to where I want to be. I’ve been working out at Jacksonville University with some very knowledgeable guys to help me with baseball activities on top of all the physical training that’s getting my body into the best shape possible.

WTH: What are your goals for Spring Training?

DG: I’m taking care of my preparation on a day-to-day basis, so as Spring Training approaches, I’m just going to get myself physically and mentally prepared for whatever may happen. With this being my first Spring Training, I’m just ready to put in whatever work is asked of me and then go above and beyond what’s expected.

WTH: Which pitcher from that stacked Tri-City team would you least like to face in the batter's box?

DG: With how good all the guys were in our staff, it could change on a day-to-day basis. I know watching from the outfield that I was happy not to be in the box many times, but without a doubt Kenny Long would be the pitcher I’d least like to face.

WTH: Was there one pitcher/player that you particularly enjoyed just sitting back and watching play/pitch?

DG: We had so many guys contribute throughout the year that it was really a collective effort. In the beginning of the year, it was really special being able to see what Andrew Aplin was able to do and then as we progressed later into the year Preston Tucker was a workhorse for us.

WTH: Who on the Tri-City team made you laugh?

DG: There were a lot of characters on the team but Austin Elkins could get me laughing pretty easily.

WTH: If you couldn't play baseball, what would you do?

DG: If I couldn’t play baseball, I would stay involved in athletics by becoming an athletic trainer or physical therapist.

WTH: Can you tell me one thing about yourself that most people don't know and might be surprised to hear?

DG: I’m a ninja at heart.

>>>>><<<<<

To see Dan in action, check out this video starting at about 45 seconds. Thank you for your time, Dan. Good luck in the new season. Namaste.

Happy Birthday - 1/5

Happy birthday to ~

Dan Gulbransen (22)
Originally from Appleton, Wisconsin, Gulbransen was selected in the 16th round in 2012 out of Jacksonville University (FL). In 55 games for Tri-City, he hit .218/.317/.354 with eight doubles, a triple and six home runs.

Only one former Astro with a birthday today ~

OF Milt Thompson (54)
Drafted in the second round in 1979 by Atlanta, Thompson came to Houston in a July 1994 trade with the Phillies. Thompson played for Houston in 101 games over two seasons in 1994 and 1995.  He was unable to duplicate his earlier success for Atlanta (.302 BA over 98 games), Philadelphia (.279 BA over five seasons), and St. Louis (.274 over four seasons) as he batted only .229 for Houston.

Minor League Recaps

Tuesday's Games

Greeneville over Bluefield 5-2
This was a good send-off for the G'ville Astros as they ended their season on a high note. The Astros scored early in support of Michael Feliz allowing him his first win since joining Greeneville to go with the five wins he earned in the GCL. And Feliz had a very good start as he pitched five shutout innings allowing three hits, no walks and five strikeouts. He was followed by scoreless outings from Cristian Garcia and Brad Propst before Zach Dando allowed two runs in his two-third innings of work. Jordan Jankowski earned a four-out save, his fourth while recording yet another three strikeouts. Jankowski has ended the season with 53 strikeouts -- 14.8 SO/9. Yep, he did that. Angel Ibanez had a great night at the plate, going three-for-four with an RBI single. Brian Blasik ended his MVP, All-Star season going two-for-four with an RBI double and hitting .318 for the season. Ernesto Genoves was two-for-four with an RBI; Rio Ruiz had an RBI triple; Ricky Gingras was two-for-four; D'Andre Toney scored two runs and swiped a bag; Mike Martinez had a sac fly RBI and a walk. In other words, just a good, solid team effort to put an exclamation point on the season.

Tri-City over Lowell 1-0
Great pitching efforts from Lance Day (W, 6-1) and Travis Ballew (S, 2) as Day allowed five hits and no walks with four strikeouts over seven innings and Ballew pitched a perfect two frames with three strikeouts. The ValleyCats only managed four hits, but they did draw nine walks, including four walks from Dan Gulbransen. The only Tri-City run scored on an M.P. Cokinos sac fly. Ryan Dineen had two of the four ValleyCat hits.

Lexington over Hickory 10-9
It may have been ugly but a win is a win, especially when you've lost 11 in a row. Mike Foltynewicz was very un-Folty like as he allowed five runs on seven hits and four walks in only three and two-thirds innings. Mitch Lambson allowed another two runs as did Murilo Gouvea. Tommy Shirley and Dayan Diaz (W, 5-4) were the only pitchers to stay out of the run column. The Legends managed thirteen hits to Hickory's fifteen, but Hickory's four errors helped. The lead changed hands more than once in this game and it was the lone run in the ninth that gave them their final lead. Nolan Fontana (2x5 R), Chan Moon (2x5 4RBI 2R), Zach Johnson (0x2 3BB 2R), Jobduan Morales (1x4 2RBI), Justin Gominsky (3x5 2B 3RBI), Teoscar Hernandez (3x4 2B BB R), Ruben Sosa (2x4 BB R), and Ryan McCurdy (0x2 2BB 3R) all contributed to the cause.

Frisco over Corpus Christi 2-1
Bobby Doran got the start, allowing one run on five hits with six strikeouts in five innings and Jake Buchanan got the hard luck loss as he allowed the second Frisco run in his three innings of work as the Hooks scored in the second and never crossed the plate again. The Hooks were limited to three hits and scored their only run on a Bobby Borchering sac fly.

Lancaster over Inland Empire 7-2
David Martinez (W, 9-5) pitched five and a third innings before allowing a hit. Only one man reached base against him prior to that via a Delino DeShields fielding error. He ended up giving up two runs on four hits over six innings and was followed by three frames of scoreless relief from Jorge de Leon (S, 4). The long ball played a big part in this one with six of the seven runs scoring on an Erik Castro two-run home run (25th) and a Telvin Nash grand slam (28th). Domingo Santana hit two doubles and drove in the other run. The JetHawks retained their three-game lead in the wild card with the win.

Oklahoma City over Albuquerque 6-5
With six pitchers and a total of 18 players playing for the Redhawks in this one, you're only going to get the highlights. Jose Cisnero allowed three runs in his four innings and Mark Hamburger added on two (one earned) without recording an out. Jose Valdez got his 20th save. A three-run home run from Matt Downs and a two-run home run from Matt Dominguez accounted for five of the six runs. A J.D. Martinez sac fly drove in the final run.

Player of the Day: Hit a grand slam, get player of the day honors. It's really that simple. Telvin Nash wins the prize. Honorable mention, however, goes to Dan Gulbransen for walking four times in the game; maybe he should get the Good Eye Award.

Pitchers of the Day: A combined five-hit shutout with no walks and seven strikeouts to allow your team to win a 1-0 game? That is impressive pitching. Lance Day and Travis Ballew get today's WTH love. Honorable mention goes to Michael Feliz for a dandy of a start and to David Martinez for five and a third no-hit innings.

Minor League Schedule and Recaps

[Note: If you're reading this from RSS, you may have missed the standings I put on the front page. As of this morning, seven of eight Astros minor league affiliates are at .500 or better. Corpus Christi is now tied for first place in the overall standings while lagging by only one game behind the Missions in the second half race.]

Sunday's Games

Asheville	Lexington	12:35 CST MiLB.tv	Winkler, Daniel (8-5, 4.75)
Greeneville	Kingsport	4:00 CST	Ramirez, Francis (1-0, 5.14)	Morris, Akeel (0-2, 10.29)
Tri-City	Lowell	4:05 CST	West, Aaron (1-0, 0.00)	Velette, Raynel (1-1, 4.35)
NW Arkansas	Corpus Christi	6:05 CST MiLB.tv	Marimon, Sugar Ray (0-0, 1.50)	Cosart, Jarred (4-4, 3.65)
Memphis	Oklahoma City	6:05 CST MiLB.tv	Lyons, Tyler (0-2, 7.47)	Galarraga, Armando (1-1, 2.16)
Lancaster	Modesto	8:05 CST	Tropeano, Nick (0-0, -.--)

Saturday's Results

DSL Astros over DSL Indians 3-2
Juan Hernandez gave up two runs in his five inning start, but Javier Saucedo got the win in relief as the Astros scored late. Randy Cesar (3x4), Jarico Reynoso (2x3, 3B), and Frederick Serrano (2x4, 2B) all had good days at the plate. The winning run came in courtesy of an Arturo Michelina walk-off single.

GCL Astros over GCL Nationals 3-2
Michael Feliz (W, 2-0) didn't get the start but did the heavy lifting, pitching six innings and allowing two runs. Erick Gonzalez got his third save of the season. Franny Polanco was three-for-three with two RBIs; Wallace Gonzalez was two-for-three with a double and a triple; and Darwin Rivera hit a solo home run.

Tri-City over Connecticut 14-5
Tri-City has now won eight in a row and they completely dominated Connecticut, leading from the first inning on and putting up three four-run innings. And I'm sure that starting pitcher Vincent Velasquez couldn't have been happier. Velasquez earned his second win, as he allowed one run on six hits with two walks and seven strikeouts over six innings. Relievers Brad Propst and Jamaine Cotton each allowed two runs. Big nights at the plate for Austin Elkins (3x4, 2R), Dan Gulbransen (3x3, 2B, HR, 5RBI, 2BB, 2R), Jesse Wierzbicki (2x4, BB, 2R); Joe Sclafini (2x4, 2RBI); and Jobduan Morales with a grand slam.

Asheville over Lexington 13-8
A seven-run seventh inning by Asheville was the nail in Lexington's coffin. Mike Foltynewicz (L, 9-2) had a rare subpar outing in his first loss since his first start of the season as he allowed six runs (five earned) over his six innings. Nate Pettus only managed to get one out in the seventh while allowing seven runs. He was quickly bailed out by Mitch Lambson in his first appearance since his promotion to Lexington. Luis Alvarez, a catcher, also pitched an inning and allowed no hits or runs. Matt Duffy was three-for-five with three RBIs; Justin Gominsky had two doubles; Roberto Pena was two-for-five with two runs; Ruben Sosa got two runs in his first appearance for Lexington; and Delino DeShields stole three bases to increase his season total to 57.


Memphis over Oklahoma City 20-6
Apparently, the Redhawks heard about Lexington having a catcher pitch in their game, so they decided to have a left fielder pitch in theirs! After a complete implosion by the OKC pitching staff, left fielder J.B. Shuck came in with one on and no outs, induced a double play and a ground out and got out of the inning unscathed. Which is more than can be said for OKC's other pitchers for the night. Brian Bass was charged with the loss after allowing six runs (one earned) over 4.2 innings. Brandon Barnes, Mike Hessman and J.B. Shuck were all two-for-five, with Barnes and Hessman hitting home runs.

Corpus Christi over Northwest Arkansas 13-7
The Hooks were gifted with lots of hits and lots of walks allowed by the opposing pitchers. As a matter of fact, four of the Hooks runs scored via the bases loaded walk. Really, that happened. Bobby Doran got his second win in as many starts for the Hooks as he put up a quality start. There were too many terrific hitting performances to list them all, but Austin Wates' three hits, and Jose Martinez' five RBIs and home run stood out.

Lancaster over Rancho Cucamonga 8-7
Lancaster struck early and hung on late. It looked as though this might be another one of "those" nights for Lancaster as starter Zach Grimmett (W, 3-5) gave up two in the top of the first, but he settled down nicely and allowed only two more runs over his next five. In the meantime the JetHawks bats went to work and chased out Rancho Cucamonga starter Angel Sanchez after only 2.2 innings as Lancaster scored all eight of their runs in the first three innings. Kirk Clark made it a bit more interesting than I would have liked by allowing three runs in relief to make it a one-run game, but Andrew Robinson nailed it down with his fifth save. Offensively, it was the Grant Hogue show as he went four-for-four with a triple, RBI, walk and scored three runs. Hogue is now hitting .611 for the JetHawks in 13 games. Kike Hernandez (two-for-three with a triple) and Domingo Santana (two-for-four with an RBI) also had good nights.

Game of the Day
Greeneville over Danville 13-4
This was a nice comeback for Greeneville after the 17-inning loss in their previous outing. The Astros led from the second inning on as the bats broke out in a big way. Richard Rodriguez earned his second win of the season. Jose Monzon provided some excitement with a three-run inside the park home run.

What went right: Hitting and lots of it.

What went wrong: 0-fer from Brian Blasik, lowering his batting average all the way down to .372.

Richard Rodriguez (W, 2-0) - 6IP 6H 2R 2BB 9SO
Scott Zuloaga - 2IP 4H 2R 0BB 2SO
Jordan Jankowski - 1IP 0H 0R 0BB 1SO

Ernesto Genoves - 3x5 2-2B RBI 2R
Mike Martinez - 2x3 HR 2RBI 2R
Ariel Ovando - 3x5 RBI SO 2R
Angel Ibanez - 2x4 RBI SO 2R
Jose Monzon - 3x4 HR 4RBI R
Jean Batista - 1x5 HR 2RBI R

Players of the Day: There were too many terrific performances to chose from. Let's let Dan Gulbransen's five RBIs, Jose Martinez' five RBIs, Jose Monzon's inside the park home run; Jobduan Morales' grand slam; and Grant Hogue's four-for-four night all share in the glory.

Pitchers of the Day: Vincent Velasquez edges out Richard Rodriguez, but J.B. Shuck and Luis Alvarez should also get honorable mention.