Former Astros in Foreign/Independent Leagues: 2018 Update

Time for an update on former Astros playing internationally or with the Indy League clubs as a few more players have come and gone since my original post. I'm including a few stats on selected players which are generally through 7/5/18. If you see any former Astros or former Astros farm hands that I missed, leave a note in the comments and I'll include them in my next update.

Each year MLB affiliates pick up players from independent baseball. Last year, RHP Kevin McCanna (Astros 2015 13th round pick; 2015-2016 Astros farm system) started his season with the independent Sioux City Explorers club, but was picked up by the Diamondbacks organization and 1B Conrad Gregor (Astros 2013 4th round pick; 2013-2016 Astros farm system) was picked up by the Red Sox from the New Jersey Jackals. And 3B  Bobby Wernes (Astros 2015 30th round pick; 2015-2016 Astros farm system) had signed with the Traverse City Beach Bums, but was picked up by the Rockies organization before playing a single game for the Bums. There are several players on this list that could very well make their way back into affiliated baseball ... I wish them all the best of luck!

David Rollins - June 2014

Photo by Jayne Hansen

JAPAN CENTRAL LEAGUE

Hiroshima Carp
LHP Geronimo Franzua (2011-2013 Astros farm system)

Yakult Swallows
OF Nori Aoki (2017 Astros)
.306/.399/.459 in 68 games

JAPAN PACIFIC LEAGUE

Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles
1B/DH Japhet Amador (2013-2014 Astros farm system)

Fukuoka Softbank Hawks
RHP Dennis Sarfate (2007 Astros)
It is Sarfate's 8th season playing in Japan.

Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters
3B Brandon Laird (2012-2013 Astros system)

Saitama Seibu Lions
IF Kaz Matsui (2008-2010 Astros)

Chiba Lotte Marines
3B Matt Dominguez (2012-2015 Astros)

KOREAN BASEBALL ORGANIZATION
(Not updated because Baseball-Reference info is missing)

Doosan Bears
OF Jimmy Paredes (2010-2013 Astros system)

LG Twins
RHP Henry Sosa (2011-2012 Astros system)
Sosa is in his 7th season with the KBO.

MEXICAN LEAGUE

Diablos Rojas del Mexico
RHP Gonzalo Sanudo (2013-2016 Astros farm system)
C Carlos Corporan (2011-2014 Astros)
RHP Juan Robles (2015-2018 Astros farm system) - signed 7/4

Guerreros de Oaxaca
RHP Arcenio Leon (2005-2012 Astros farm system)

Leones de Yucatan
RHP Paul Clemens (2011-2014 Astros system) - signed with South Maryland Blue Crabs 5/11
OF Leo Heras (2013-2016 Astros farm system)
OF/2B Ruben Sosa (Astros 2011 23rd round pick; 2011-2014 Astros farm system)

Olmecas del Tabsco
2B Anderson Hernandez (2010 Astros)

Pericos de Puebla
LHP Mitch Lambson (Astros 2011 19th round pick; 2011-2015 Astros farm system) - now playing in the American Association
C Bernardo Heras (2016-2017 Astros farm system)
C Hank Conger (2015 Astros)

Saraperos de Saltillo
LHP Raul Valdes (Astros 2014)

Sultanes de Monterrey
RHP Edgar Gonzalez (2012-2013 Astros)
C Luis Flores (2015 Astros farm system)

Tecolotes de los Dos Loredos
RHP Gerardo Sanchez (2012-2013 Astros farm system)
2B J.C. Thompson (2011-2012 Astros farm system)
RHP Fernando Nieve (2001-2008, 2011 Astros system) - signed 7/3

Tigres de Quintana Roo
OF Jason Bourgeois (2010-2011 Astros)
RHP Lupe Chavez (2015-2016 Astros farm system) - signed 7/3

Toros de Tijuana
RHP Hector Ambriz (2012-2013 Astros)
3B Jio Mier (Astros 2009 1st round pick; 2009-2015 Astros farm system)

ATLANTIC LEAGUE

Lancaster Barnstormers
IF Rico Noel (2018 Astros farm system)
LHP Tommy Shirley (Astros 2010 9th round pick; 2010-2016 Astros farm system)

York Revolution
1B/OF Michael Burgess (2013 Astros farm system)
RHP Zac Grotz (Astros 2015 28th round pick, 2015 Astros farm system) - contract purchased by the Mets organization 6/10
RHP Jay Gause (Astros 2014 10th round pick; 2014 Astros farm system)

New Britain Bees
LHP Kevin Chapman (2012-2016 Astros system) - contract purchased by the Tigers organization 5/20
RHP Sam Gervacio (2005-2011 Astros system)
RHP Mark Hamburger (2013 Astros farm system)
LHP Andy Van Hekken (2008-2011 Astros farm system)
IF Reid Brignac (2017 Astros farm system)

Long Island Ducks
LHP Ashur Tolliver (2017 Astros system)

Pennsylvania Road Warriors
LHP Luis Cruz (Astros 2008 9th round pick; 2008-2015 Astros farm system)
1.70 ERA/1.108 WHIP in 25 games (37 IP)
C Marlon Avea (2011-2016 Astros farm system) - released 4/24
OF/1B Edwin Gomez (2012-2013 Astros farm system)

Somerset Patriots
LHP Brett Oberholtzer (2011-2015 Astros system) - contract purchased by the Rockies 4/24

Sugar Land Skeeters
RHP Jared Mortensen (Astros Rule 5 draft pick in December 2016; appeared in 3 games for Fresno in April 2017) - released 4/24
RHP Felipe Paulino (2003-2010 Astros system)
RHP Mitch Talbot (Astros 2002 2nd round pick; 2003-2006 Astros system) - contract purchased by the Cleveland organization 5/23
OF Luke Scott (2004-2007 Astros system) - released 4/23
OF Willy Taveras (2004-2006 Astros system) - released 4/23
2B Colin Walsh (2017 Astros farm system) - signed 5/5

South Maryland Blue Crabs
RHP Paul Clemens (2011-2014 Astros system) - signed 5/11

AMERICAN ASSOCIATION

Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks
RHP Travis Ballew (Astros 2012 23rd round pick; 2012-2015 Astros system)
2.78 ERA/1.237 WHIP in 23 games (32.1 IP)
LHP Sebastian Kessay (Astros 2013 22nd round pick; 2013-2017 Astros farm system)
2.25 ERA/1.275 WHIP in 7 starts (40 IP)

Gary Southshore Railcats
RHP Daniel Minor (Astros 2012 9th round pick; 2012-2105 Astros farm system)
2.62 ERA/1.121 WHIP in 11 starts (68.2 IP)

Sioux Falls Canaries
LHP Joe Bircher ( Astros 2012 10th round pick, 2012-2013 Astros farm system)
IF Tyler Wolfe (Astros 2016 39th round pick; 2016-2017 Astros farm system)

Winnipeg Goldeyes
OF Reggie Abercrombie (2008-2009 Astros system)
LHP Mitch Lambson (Astros 2011 19th round pick; 2011-2015 Astros farm system) - signed 6/14

Kansas City T-Bones
C Christian Correa (2015-2017 Astros system) - traded to Sussex County in the Can-Am League 5/16

Sioux City Explorers
OF Jay Austin (Astros 2008 2nd round pick, 2008-2012 Astros farm system)
.345/.410/.453 in 37 games
RHP Andrew Thurman (Astros 2013 2nd round pick, 2013-2014 Astros farm system) - released 5/15
1B Dex McCall (Astros 2014 31st round pick, 2014-2017 Astros farm system)
.297/.372/.388 in 45 games

Texas Airhogs
LHP Michael Freeman (Astros 2015 7th round pick; 2015-2017 Astros farm system) - released 5/16
LHP Sean Stutzman (2016-2018 Astros farm system) - signed 6/30

Chicago Dogs
RHP Tyson Perez (Astros 2011 17th round pick; 2011-2017 Astros farm system)

St. Paul Saints
RHP Andrew Thome (2015-2018 Astros farm system) - signed 7/3
LHP Chris Nunn (2018 Astros farm system) - signed 7/2

CAN-AM LEAGUE

Ottawa Champions
RHP Austin Chrismon (Astros 2013 26th round pick, 2013-2015 Astros farm system)

Rockland Boulders
RHP Ryan Deemes (Astros 2015 36th round pick; 2015-2017 Astros farm system) - released 6/21 (torn UCL; having TJ surgery)
C Marcus Nidiffer (2010 Astros farm system)
1B Conrad Gregor (Astros 2013 4th round pick; 2013-2016 Astros farm system) - signed 5/23
.320/.425/.493 in 41 games

Sussex County Miners
LHP David Rollins (2012-2014 Astros farm system)
1.25 ERA/0.912 WHIP in 9 starts (64.2 IP)
C Martin Figueroa (Astros 2017 32nd round pick; 2017 Astros farm system)
.416/.536/.511 in 45 games
C Christian Correa (2015-2017 Astros system) - traded from the American Association

Trois-Rivieres Aigles
RHP Chris Murphy (Astros 2015 24th round pick; 2015-2016 Astros farm system)
C Anthony Hermelyn (Astros 2015 4th round pick; 2015-2017 Astros farm system)

FRONTIER LEAGUE

Schaumberg Boomers
RHP Kyle Westwood (2013 13th round pick; 2013-2015 Astros farm system)
On the suspended list

Washington Wild Things
OF Hector Roa (2012-2016 Astros farm system)
.302/.339/.473 in 44 games

Windy City Thunderbolts
RHP Devin Raftery (2016-2017 Astros farm system)
1.96 ERA/1.093 WHIP in 18 games/1 start (23 IP)

Evansville Otters
LHP Austin Nicely (Astros 2013 10th round pick; 2013-2016 Astros farm system)

River City Rascals
RHP Reggie Johnson (2016-2017 Astros farm system) - released 5/18
RHP Lucas Williams (Astros 2016 40th round draft pick; 2016-2017 Astros farm system) - released 5/17

Lake Erie Crushers
LHP Ben Smith (Astros 2014 17th round pick; 2016-2017 Astros farm system) - released 6/13

PACIFIC ASSOCIATION

San Rafael Pacifics
C Ricky Gingras (Astros 2012 18th round pick; 2012-2014 Astros farm system)

Sonoma Stompers
LHP Cole Watts (Astros 2017 31st round pick; 2017-2018 Astros farm system)

Pittsburg Diamonds
C Gabriel Bracamonte (2014-2018 Astros farm system)

PECOS LEAGUE

Ruidoso Osos
SS Jose Fernandez (2010-2016 Astros farm system)

Trinidad Triggers
LHP Jose Orta (2016 Astros farm system)

Astros Minor League Recaps

Results for Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Fresno was off

The Grizzlies welcome the Tacoma Rainiers to Chukchansi Park for their final home series of the 2017 season. David Martinez takes the mound in game 1, which starts at 7:05 Pacific.

Midland 8, Corpus Christi 4

W- Heath Fillmyer (10-4)
L- Framber Valdez (4-5, 6-8 season)

CC home runs: Ramon Laureano 2 (9; solo in 6th, solo in 8th), Kyle Tucker (13, 22 season; solo in 4th)

The Hooks launched 3 homers, but they were all solo shots... they probably needed some more firepower in this one.

Ramon Laureano went 2-4 and launched two solo shots in the 6th and the 8th inning. Kyle Tucker smacked one in the 4th. Myles Straw went 2-4 with an RBI single in the 5th and stole a base, his first at the AA level. Straw now has 37 stolen bases this year.

Framber Valdez went 4.2 innings and allowed 3 runs on 8 hits (2-run homer), walked 2, and struck out 5. Ralph Garza Jr. allowed 4 runs on 3 hits and walked 3 in an inning of work. Nick Hernandez allowed one hit, a solo homer, in his 2.1 innings. Hernandez also walked 2 and struck out 4. Ryan Thompson worked around a hit to throw a scoreless 9th, striking out 1.

Forrest Whitley takes on Casey Meisner at 7:05.

Buies Creek 7, Lynchburg 3

W- Abdiel Saldaña (1-0, 6-2 season)
L- Sean Brady (1-1)

BC home runs: None.

The Carolina Stros snapped their 4-game slide on Tuesday by scoring the last 7 runs of this game in response to a 3-run homer from the Hillcats in the top of the 1st inning.

Brett Adcock went 4 innings and Lynchburg's one scoring play was that homer. He went 4 innings and allowed one other hit, walked 3, and struck out 4. Kevin Hill struck out 1 in a 1-2-3 5th to bridge the gap to Abdiel Saldaña, who shut it down over the last 4 innings by walking 1 and striking out 5.

Buies Creek put up 4 in the bottom of the 1st thanks to a 2-run double from Randy César and a 2-run single from Anthony Hermelyn. César lashed another double in the 3rd and ended up scoring on an error that allowed Taylor Jones to reach. Alex De Goti doubled to lead off the 6th and came home on a sac fly from Ronnie Dawson. Jones capped off the evening with a sac fly in the 7th that scored César, who went 3-4 on the night. Yordan Alvarez went 2-4 and scored a run.

Hector Perez will start the series finale. First pitch is at 7:00 Eastern.

Beloit 3, Quad Cities 0

W- Zack Erwin (6-4)
L- Ronel Blanco (5-4, 5-5 season)

QC home runs: None.

For the first time since May 17, 2014, Quad Cities failed to record a hit in a baseball game.

Daz Cameron and Luis Payano both drew a walk.

Ronel Blanco allowed an unearned run on 2 hits, walked 5, and struck out 1 in 4.2 innings. Patrick Sandoval went 3.1 innings and allowed 2 runs on 3 hits, walked 1, and struck out 4.

The Banditos and Snappers meet for the final time in 2017 at 7:00.

Connecticut 5, Tri-City 2

W- Oswaldo Castillo (2-2)
L- Carlos Hiraldo (1-5)
S- Drew Carlton (7)

TC home runs: None.

The ValleyCats were done in by 4 errors on Tuesday.

Jake Meyers went 2-3 and scored both Tri-City runs, coming home on a Gabriel Bracamonte infield single in the 6th and again in the 8th on J.J. Matijevic's single.

Carlos Hiraldo went 4.1 innings and allowed 4 unearned runs (1 inherited runner charged to him) on 6 hits and struck out 7. Tyler Ivey was the first man out of the Tri-City bullpen and allowed a run on 3 hits while striking out 5 in 3.1 innings of work. Luis Ramirez got the last out of the 8th.

The ValleyCats and Tigers will conclude their series at 7:05 Eastern.

Greeneville 4, Johnson City 1

W- Jairo Solis (1-1, 3-2 season)
L- Alvaro Seijas (4-2)
S- Tim Hardy (1)

Greeneville home runs: None.

The Appy Astros opened up a crucial series with a victory thanks to some fine pitching.

Jairo Solis won his first Appy League start by allowing an unearned run on 3 hits, walking 1, and striking out 6 in 5 innings of work. Tim Hardy allowed 2 hits and fanned 8 over the final 4 innings to earn the save.

Greeneville scored twice in the 3rd on a Gilberto Celestino RBI single and a Roman Garcia sac fly and did so again in the 7th when Wilson Amador ripped an RBI double and came around to score on a single from Juan Piñeda. Amador went 2-3 and was the only player on either side to finish with a multi-hit game.

GCL Mets 3, GCL Astros 2 in 10 innings

W- Luis Mateo (1-3)
L- Brendan Feldmann (1-1)

GCL home runs: None.

The Palm Beach Stros scored twice in the opening frame... but that was all they could muster up on offense.

Hector Martinez and Angel Tejeda both drew bases-loaded walks in the 1st inning. Carlos Machado finished 2-4 and scored one of the runs.

Nivaldo Rodriguez went 4 innings and allowed 2 runs on 4 hits, walked 2, and struck out 7. Devin Raftery was the first man out of the bullpen, allowing a hit and striking out 5 in 3 innings. Brendan Feldmann pitched 2.1 innings and allowed the winning run (which was unearned) on 2 hits and struck out 4.

DSL Athletics 7, DSL Astros Blue 2

W- Eliel Ramirez (3-1)
L- Jean Reyes (0-2)
S- Carlos Sanchez (4)

Blue home runs: None.

Kendy Moya went 2-4. Rhandall Sanchez and Leonardo Gonzalez scored on wild pitches in the 5th inning.

Jean Reyes pitched 2 innings and allowed 2 runs on 2 hits, walked 4, and struck out 2. Jervic Chavez allowed 3 runs on 3 hits, walked 4, and struck out 1 in 4 innings, and Christopher Javier allowed 2 runs (1 earned) on 2 hits, walked 2, and struck out 1 in 2 innings.

DSL Rangers1 5, DSL Astros Orange 4

W- Domingo Peña (1-0)
L- Jose Alberto Rivera (2-3)
S- Ediberto Encarnacion (2)

Orange home runs: None.

Both teams scored 4 runs in the 6th... but the Rangers also scored a run in the 4th.

Gerry Castillo and Renaigel Martis hit RBI singles in the 6th and they both scored on Sean Mendoza's single. Michael Garcia went 2-4.

Jose Alberto Rivera allowed a solo homer, which was the only hit he allowed in 3.2 innings. He also walked 2 and fanned 5. Christian Mejias allowed 4 runs on 6 hits (3-run homer), walked 3, and struck out 5. Yulian Frontado allowed a hit, walked 1, and struck out 1 over 2 innings.

Wednesday's Stars

All photos are from Jayne unless stated otherwise.

Abdiel Saldaña, RHP, Buies Creek

W (1-0, 6-2 season), 4 IP, BB, 5 K

Randy César, 3B, Buies Creek

3-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 3 R

This is his mugshot on MiLB.com.

Devin Raftery, RHP, GCL Astros

3 IP, H, 5 K

This is Tim Hardy's mugshot on MiLB.com.

Greeneville Astros pitchers: W 4-1 @ Johnson City

9 IP, 5 H, unearned run, BB, 14 K

Jairo Solis (not pictured): W (1-1, 3-2 season), 5 IP, 3 H, unearned run, BB, 6 K

Tim Hardy: Save (1), 4 IP, 2 H, 8 K

This is his mugshot on MiLB.com.

Jake Meyers, OF, Tri-City

2-3, 2B, 2 R; scored both of Tri-City's runs

Corpus Christi Hooks outfielders

Ramon Laureano: 2-4, 2 solo HR (9)

Myles Straw: 2-4, RBI, SB (1, 37 season)
Kyle Tucker: Solo HR (13, 22 season)