Catching up with Former Astro Daniel Minor

Former Astros RHP Daniel Minor has had many baseball adventures since he was first drafted by the Astros in the 9th round in 2012 out of Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi. His first experience was with the 2012 Greeneville Astros, a team that produced nine major league players, including such names as Carlos Correa, Joe Musgrove and Lance McCullers. In addition to those players, Minor played alongside another seven future major leaguers (including Josh Hader, Teoscar Hernandez, Vince Velasquez, Chris Devenski, Tony Kemp and others) the next season in Quad Cities. Between those and even more players in his time with the Lancaster JetHawks in 2014 and with the Corpus Christi Hooks in 2015, Minor played with around two dozen future big leaguers in his four years with the Astros.

Daniel Minor - September 2019

Photo by Jayne Hansen

Thinking back to 2012 in Greeneville, Minor said, “We really had an unbelievable stacked, talented team back then. You never really noticed because we were all still getting our feet wet with pro ball and it was such a wide range of ages.” But the next two years, things really started to gel for Minor and his teammates. “When we really started getting all together, that’s when we won Low A. And we won High A the next year. We had a minor league major league team. When you look now, it’s no wonder the Astros ran out of room coming up and had to release people that you didn’t think were going to be released. They just ran out of room because there was just so much talent in the system at that time between the draft and trades and all that,” said Minor. In addition to the League Championships in Quad Cities in 2013 and Lancaster in 2014, another highlight of Minor’s MiLB career was closing out a combined no-hitter with then roommate Josh Hader for the JetHawks in 2014.

Minor continued with his thoughts on that talented Astros system, “When I got drafted, it was like wow, we’re with the Astros. They’ve lost 100 games three years in a row. They’re going to be a lot of opportunities, but it was like an overnight turn. So much talent. Looking back, we had half a roster with major league players.” So, despite having a very respectable minor league career (3.57 ERA/1.286 WHIP over 4 seasons), Minor was squeezed out during the 2015 season, a move that Minor called a “gut punch.” After a couple of forgettable appearances in the American Association later that year, Minor took some time away from baseball to work on his degree.

While working on his degree in 2016, Minor said, “I started helping out with the Texas State baseball team and I was coaching youth baseball and starting to give lessons and I just kind of re-found the love for the game seeing children play because (it helped me) realize how I was building this up so much in my mind when it’s really, in the end, just a game.” So Minor decided to give it another shot in 2017 and his baseball adventures continued in the American Association, Mexico, Venezuela and most recently the Atlantic League.

“The Texas State pitching coach remembered me from playing against him in college and he kind of reached out to some people for me and that’s when Winnipeg got in touch with me and I went there for about a month, two months, just trying to get myself back in the door. I was throwing well (out of the bullpen). I was throwing pretty hard. And then ended up getting traded to Gary in the American Association around the middle of August (2017). They gave me the opportunity to be a starter. I had a really, really good month with them. We ended up making the playoffs.

“Then I went back to Gary the following year (2018). Pitched really, really well for two months, two and a half months. And then that’s when I got in touch with a Mexican team and signed and went down to play there. Played there the rest of the year. Finished down there in September. I pitched well there. And Omar Lopez (then an Astros minor league Manager) reached out to me about coming to Venezuela. That’s when I went down to Venezuela last winter and played. That was a really cool experience, getting to play in another country and see their culture and how they go about things. It was a really cool experience getting to play there.”

On playing in Mexico, Minor told me, “It was different. Just the culture, the fans. You have drumlines in the stands. People yelling. It was a really, really cool experience playing down there. They’re very, very, very passionate. In all honesty, the games are more exciting there or in Venezuela because the fans are more into it. Not like here in America where people are looking at their phones, not fully knowing what’s going on. They’re just very into the game and aware of the in-game situations of what’s going on. It was very good competition. The majority of places are actually higher elevation than the Colorado stadium. So it’s a big hitter-friendly league which I don’t think people realize. It was unbelievable watching people hit (because of the thin air and low humidity). So you had to learn how to pitch there. Down there, you make a mistake and it gets hit, you don’t even have to hit it hard for it to go a long ways.”

And despite all of the reported trouble in Venezuela, Minor never felt particularly concerned for his safety when playing there. He had to be careful (no “wandering around”), but the constant presence of security was more than enough to allay any concerns that he had. “I never really had a moment where I was worried or scared, but they definitely do a good job of making you feel like that by taking care of you and making sure that if something were to happen, there’s more than enough resources to where you’re going to be OK.”

As to the playing experience in Venezuela, Minor said, “Probably the most fun I’ve ever had. Stands were usually decently full, and the fans were just unbelievable. They were just into it because that’s one of the few positives they have in their country. They really take that stuff serious. It was very cool, going to different cities and people recognize you as a foreign player.”

As a side note, although it is highly dependent on the team, player experience and other factors, playing in Mexico and Venezuela can be much more lucrative than playing in minor league affiliated ball and independent league ball in the United States. It isn’t unusual to see players making almost $10,000 to $20,000 a month with more established players making even more.

After Minor played winter league ball in Venezuela during the 2018-2019 season, he wanted to head back to the States, though, despite an offer to play for more money in Mexico so he would have the opportunity to continue working toward finishing up his degree, and he ended up playing for the York (PA) Revolution in the Atlantic League. The Atlantic League has a three-year deal with MLB to experiment with different potential rule changes that started in 2019 and according to Minor and others that I have spoken with, those experiments did not always go smoothly. I went through each of these rule changes with Minor in order to get a better idea of how these changes affected the players who had to implement them. I found his thoughts on the matter both educational and elucidating. [Please note that the following commentary includes my personal observations and characterizations regarding the rules and may not necessarily be Minor’s opinions.]

Robo Ump

The rule change getting the most notice is the use of TrackMan data to determine balls and strikes a.k.a. the “Robo Ump.” Simply explained, a TrackMan system (basically Doppler technology) is set up to determine balls and strikes with the call being conveyed to the home plate umpire via earpiece; the umpire then signals the transmitted call on the field. Everybody should love Robo Ump, right? I mean who doesn’t want to have the umpire get the call right? So, I went to several Atlantic League games in the second half of the season last year and I can tell you from personal experience exactly who doesn’t like it. The pitchers. The hitters. The umpires. The fans. None of them like it. And there are a lot of reasons, depending upon who you talk with. Read on for Minor’s take on some of those reasons as well as my take from both personal observation and talking with Minor and other players involved in all of these rule changes.

One of the biggest issues is the inability to make adjustments. “If you take a ball and put it right on the edge (the corner of the plate) and you take it a millimeter off, that’s a ball. But then you take the ball and you move it over a millimeter, it’s a strike on TrackMan. So the computer can see that, but when you are a pitcher or a catcher or a hitter, you can’t physically see the difference in that. The catcher can have his mitt there, I throw it into his mitt and it can be a ball. He can set up in the same exact spot and I throw it into his mitt again and he doesn’t move and it can be a strike. But (that small difference on TrackMan), we as humans can’t see that. At least with an umpire, you can turn around and ask how much did that miss by? ‘Oh about an inch.’ And then you have an idea. Well then I’m going to move in by a little more than an inch and the catcher will give you a better target. So the catcher is having to put their mitt, earlier in the count, directly over the plate because you’re trying to make sure you’re throwing strikes because you can’t physically see where the edge of that zone is. And with up and down, it’s the same idea but again you don’t know looking where it’s crossing for the strike zone. You can see it over the plate but again, it could be a millimeter high and it can be a ball. It moves down a millimeter and you really don’t know what to swing at and what not to swing at. Again, with a regular umpire you can at least turn and get instant feedback,” said Minor.

“When you get to the lower part of the zone, you’re seeing balls bounce (in the dirt and still be called strikes). You can throw a nasty changeup. I’d see other people throwing curveballs that would just clip that very front of the zone, right at the front of the plate and then end up in the dirt and (the hitter) gets punched out. I enjoyed having the higher strike actually finally called because by the rule book it is a strike, but you don’t really see umpires call it up there at the major league level. But then you start getting the lower strikes too that you know crossed the zone but into the dirt. But we’re all with the same understanding that if it hits the dirt, you’re not going to call it a strike. But now with the TrackMan, if it hits the dirt, you can just be out of luck and you just struck out. I felt bad for hitters on the up and down, especially the down. Up they can make an adjustment. Down, that was just way too tough for them,” continued Minor.

Minor felt that the zone up and down overall benefited the pitcher and was tough for the hitter, and vice versa for the zone side to side. “As a pitcher, you like trying to nibble and see how much you can get off the plate, but then that just goes away completely because there is no nibbling. You’ve got to throw it to where you think the edge of that zone is to clip it.”

And according to multiple sources, there was a lot of confusion as to how the zone was actually determined and whether or not it was being programmed consistently throughout the league. The player’s height apparently factored into setting up the zone, but so did TrackMan data on players from their time in MLB (if applicable). One source said that the system was recalibrated for the playoffs and the players were discouraged from complaining about the change.

Minor confirmed some of this confusion, “I still do not know to this day what the parameters were for the strike zone. I heard it was the hitters (listed height). Well, if that’s the case, they can just go and lie about it. You’d have to have someone come in and measure them and then put it into the system. And then I also heard it was a set zone so the shorter people had a bigger zone and the taller people had a smaller zone. Then I also heard that people who had played in the major league had a smaller zone than people who hadn’t played in the major leagues. So we never really got a true answer about what the zone actually was.”

To complicate matters, human umpires are supposed to be able to override TrackMan on things like balls in the dirt and absurdly high strikes, but my understanding is that the umpires were discouraged from doing this so that the system could truly be tested and the league could get accurate data on how TrackMan worked. This may make sense from a viewpoint of testing the system, but my feeling is that it is hardly fair to those players in the Atlantic League who are working toward either getting back to the big leagues or getting there in the first place to be used as guinea pigs. In any event, I never saw one ball or strike call overruled by an umpire in the games I watched last season.

The biggest frustration for most of the players I talked with was just not knowing exactly where the strike zone was from day to day, hitter to hitter and ballpark to ballpark. Some players still benefited from the system with hitters getting more of the inside and outside calls to go their way and pitchers getting the high strike and balls in the dirt called. But for most players it was a mixed bag. Minor admits that the high strike zone helped him, but he was hurt when trying to establish the outside corners, but overall he was able to make adjustments to the system for the most part. His biggest concern with the system was the lack of communication and the inconsistency of the system. Robo Umps may be (and probably are) the future, but there are still many kinks to be worked out.

But there were several other rules being tested that, in my opinion, made little sense in an environment in which MLB’s stated goal is to speed up the game. The result of some of these rules was to increase offense. More runners on base = a longer game, something that I personally encountered in a late season 10-inning game that clocked in at over 4-1/2 hours. I asked Minor to weigh in on some of these rules and their real world results.

Stepping off the rubber to attempt a pickoff

This was, to me, the absolute worst experiment attempted in the Atlantic League in the second half. If a player had any speed whatsoever and got on base in any way, they just ran willy-nilly. It was absurd how many stolen bases I saw in one game. Minor described the situation, “If someone got on base from a walk, a single, a hit by pitch, you could expect them to be at second and third within a couple of pitches. Especially the fast guys, first to second, first pitch, second to third, pitch after that. I’m coming set and I’m just looking at them and they’re looking at me and I’m looking back at them like ‘I know you’re going to go’ and they’re, ‘yep, you know I’m going to go.’ They were taking huge leads because they knew the pitcher couldn’t do anything.”

One foul bunt with two strikes

This rule did nothing to speed up the game. As Minor aptly put it, “That literally adds another pitch to a hitter” and slows down the game.

Stealing first base

A player can “steal” first base on a wild pitch or passed ball if there is no one on first base. According to Minor, he really didn’t see this rule factor in much, if at all. But in any event, an extra runner getting on base due to this rule does nothing to speed up the game.

Eliminating the shift

A chalk line appears on the field at second base and the rule requires two infielders to be on either side of that line at the time the pitch is thrown. Minor didn’t really notice an appreciable difference one way or the other due to this rule, but again, it is a rule that favors the offense and which does nothing to speed up the game.

Check swing rule

There was also a check swing rule that was poorly defined, but which was intended to be more hitter-friendly. Since it was so poorly defined, it didn’t appear to be much of a factor.

However, there were a few rules implemented which were specifically intended to speed up the game.

Time between innings and pitching changes reduced

The time was reduced from 2:05 to 1:45. The time savings was more than offset by the extra offense in the games I saw. They were certainly not shorter and, anecdotally, I was told that the average game times increased 20 minutes under the new rules. I have no data to back that up, but I saw several very long games in the second half of the Atlantic League season.

Three-batter minimum

This is one change that should serve to speed up the game if only slightly, but lefty specialists may become an endangered species as a result (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing). I think this is probably the least controversial of all the rules that were tried out which is probably why it is being adopted by MLB this season.

No Mound Visits

The rule prohibited all mound visits from coaching staff and trainers with the exception of pitching changes and injuries. The catcher was not allowed to make a mound visit except to discuss signs and the umpire accompanied the catcher to the mound to confirm that signs were the only item discussed. My first instinct when seeing this rule was that there would suddenly be a lot of soccer-style fake injuries occurring to justify a mound visit (and that phenomenon could very well occur with the three-batter minimum as well). Apparently, there was some of that, but Minor had a really good take on another aspect of the mound visit that I hadn’t contemplated.

Minor said, “Actually if you have a struggling pitcher out there and he’s giving it up, giving it up, giving it up because he doesn’t have a second to talk to a pitching coach, he’s just going to keep continuing to struggle. That 30-second break can re-lock you in. How many times have you seen a pitcher, a coach go out and talk to them, and the next pitch he gets an out. It happens all the time. So that actual quick get-your-mind-right kind of thing actually benefits the pitcher, hitter, game speed because it allows you to refocus instead of just standing out there and just drowning and drowning and drowning.”

That inability to get a quick mound visit has, apparently, led to some phantom injuries and has resulted in catchers walking out to the mound just to say “same sign” so the pitcher can get a second to re-focus. Another consideration is that a quick mount visit could also eliminate the need for a new pitcher and that pitcher’s associated warm up time. So, although the no-mound-visit rule is intended to speed up the game, it may very well be having the opposite effect.

One final rule that I want to discuss is one that didn’t go into effect in 2019. Originally, the pitcher’s mound was supposed to be moved back from 60’6” to 62’6” at some point in 2019, but that change was delayed. I haven’t seen any updates on when (or if) it will be implemented. This is absolutely the most controversial of all the rule changes. The rule was originally proposed with the intention of cutting down on strikeouts, but the pitchers that I’ve talked with are adamantly opposed to the change. It is hard for me to see MLB players agreeing to such a major change to the game.

My first thoughts when this was proposed were a:) guys are going to try to throw even harder and are going to end up getting hurt, and b:) guys are going to be working against 20 years of mechanics and muscle memory and are going to end up getting hurt. Stop me if you sense a theme.

And that’s what Minor is hearing from pitchers he's talked with as well. “That’s what everybody was saying. We’re going to end up getting hurt. I’ve been practicing throwing my changeup for 20 years, my curveball for 20 years from 60’6” and I’m supposed to just on a dime reach in my body in a very small time period and throw that from further away. How many curveballs do you think bounce in the dirt already?”

Minor doesn’t think it’s going to be a walk in the park for hitters either. He asked a few players about it. “Isn’t it going to mess with ya’lls timing? You’re primed up to hit from 60’6”. You’re going to be early on everything now. If you swing early on my changeup, I’m going to throw you changeups all day and you’re never going to be able to stay back. And the second you try to stay back, I’m going to maybe throw, maybe sneak an 88 mph fastball past you because my velo's going to be lower because I’m going to be further back now.” It may be easier for hitters to catch up with a fastball with the new mound rules, but breaking balls could be even harder for them to hit. It is not a given that this will be to the hitter’s advantage.

And Minor added one other great point, “What happens to the guys who get signed (out of the Atlantic League) from 62’6”? And then they go to (affiliated ball) and they go back to 60’6”? You know how many hitters are just going to get blown away again? How many pitchers are going to have to readjust to getting the ball down?” It really isn’t fair to those players who are trying to get back into affiliated ball to be working from two separate sets of rules.

In any event, Minor won’t have to worry about the rules in the Atlantic League this coming season. He is working on finishing up his internship, the last step in finishing his Exercise and Sports Science Degree. The end of his internship coincides with the beginning of the American Association season so he will be headed to play with the St. Paul Saints in May with a degree in his pocket and a smile on his face (in addition to a brand new fiancé!).

I have always enjoyed talking with Minor and find his takes on different aspects of the game to be thoughtful and very, very smart. This time was no different. Thank you for your time, Daniel, and best of luck in 2020.

Also, check out my interview with long-time Astros Scout Jim Stevenson

A Conversation with Astros Scout Jim Stevenson

The one constant that I’ve found throughout my years of writing about baseball is this. Baseball people love to talk about baseball. This was definitely the case last week when I talked with Astros Scout Jim Stevenson. A professional scout since 1994, Stevenson previously scouted for Cleveland and Milwaukee and has been with the Astros since November of 2007, a remarkable tenure given the comings and goings of Astros staff over the last several years.

The 2007 draft was, in my mind, the worst draft in Astros history prompting a change to the scouting department. Bobby Heck was brought in as Director of Scouting under General Manager Ed Wade and Heck, in turn, brought in Stevenson to serve as an Area Scout. The five years in which Heck and Stevenson worked side by side were productive years, culminating with 11 drafted players peppering the 2015 Astros postseason roster. In addition, several players drafted under Heck were traded for players instrumental to the success of that team.

Jim Stevenson - Twitter profile photo

Since coming to the Astros, Stevenson (who lives in Tulsa) has been the Area Scout for Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and north and west Texas (roughly north of I-20). He has had several success stories, but none quite so prominent as 2015 Cy Young winner LHP Dallas Keuchel. As a Friday night pitcher in the SEC, it isn’t surprising to Stevenson that Keuchel went on to have success in the big leagues, but he says, “At the same time, we didn’t get a whole lot of looks at him. I really banged the table for that one and Bobby was great. He trusted me.”

But Stevenson is very excited about another of his signings who he sees as having the chance to be a real impact player. Unfortunately, that impact will not benefit the Astros. Stevenson signed OF Ramon Laureano in the 16th round in 2014 out of Northeast Oklahoma A&M College (the Astros were the only team to actually call him to talk). Laureano was traded to the A’s in November 2017 for RHP Brandon Bailey (who was claimed by the Orioles in the Rule 5 Draft in December). Laureano went on to make his MLB debut in August 2018 and has since made quite an impression. As Stevenson puts it, “He was hurt last year and still hit .288 with 24 home runs.”

Laureano’s performance came as a surprise to a lot of people but not to Stevenson. Stevenson has a close bond with Laureano that is uncommon between scout and player. They still keep in close touch and it has given Stevenson the opportunity to really get to know the type of player and type of person Laureano is. Needless to say, Stevenson wasn’t a fan of the trade.

Laureano had struggled badly to start the 2017 season in AA. According to Stevenson, Laureano was his own worst enemy in that he was putting so much pressure on himself to succeed and, in retrospect, getting invited to big league camp that year probably added to the pressure he was feeling. At this point, some in the Astros front office had cooled on Laureano, but Stevenson felt that the team had overlooked the X factor of Laureano’s makeup. “That’s what separates the guys who get to the big leagues and stick and the guys who don’t. It’s the makeup. We knew he had great makeup. Hinch called him a machine in Spring Training that year,” said Stevenson. Despite Laureano’s turnaround later in the season, the Astros chose to make a trade within their division that may very well come back to haunt them.

The period from August 2018 through August 2019 was a particularly gratifying time for Stevenson as five players he signed made their major league debuts. Four of those five were from the 11th round or lower. “Your success when you look at yourself and you pride yourself in who have you drafted and gotten to the big leagues and then second, who have you drafted and gotten to the big leagues that was a later round pick. Those are the guys that really give you pride and make you want to go out and work harder at finding other ones,” said Stevenson. In addition to Laureano (16th round), Stevenson also signed RHP Dean Deetz (11th round, September 2018 debut); RHP Josh James (34th round, September 2018 debut); IF Jack Mayfield (NDFA, May 2019 debut); and 3B Abraham Toro (5th round, August 2019). Stevenson continued, “I was blessed. Toro was a fifth rounder, but still he was from a juco, a Canadian kid, not a real high profile guy. That five guys went to the big leagues over two years was pretty special. It never happens.”

Of those debuts, Mayfield is definitely the best feel-good story of the bunch. Stevenson “begged and begged and begged” to take Mayfield all day on Day 3 of the draft in 2013, but he went unsigned. According to Stevenson, he kept after (former Astros Director of Decision Sciences) Sig Mejdal about Mayfield, “I said, Sig please, just sign this kid. He’s a great player. His makeup’s off the charts. He’s bilingual. His teammates will love him. His coaches will love him.” Ultimately Stevenson prevailed in getting Mayfield signed as a non-drafted free agent. “He was always a really good player. You want to talk about just a baseball player. His tools don’t stand out. Nothing he does is great. But what he does, he brings his A game every night. He makes all the plays that he’s supposed to make. And he’s got some pop in his bat. And he’s always liked being there in the moment, the guy that you want up at bat. At all the levels, he’s like the team MVP that goes unrecognized every year with every club. And he’s one of the greatest human beings in baseball,” said Stevenson.

I also asked Stevenson if there was a player that stood out as one who got away and he told me a very entertaining story about A.J. Burnett. Back when Burnett was drafted in 1995, the scouting world was a lot different than it is now. Stevenson described the days before social media, before the showcase events when “you carried a pocketful of dimes and quarters” because you relied on payphones to make phone calls. “You went and found guys on your own. And now everyone knows who the top kids are. It’s on social media. It’s on twitter. It’s on the baseball blogs. Now you know who the kids are,” said Stevenson. But in the mid 90’s it was different.

On scouting Burnett, Stevenson said, “I thought this is a guy that I’m going to get. Nobody knows about him and it’s (only) weeks before the draft. He comes out of a tiny little Christian school in the middle of Arkansas.” At that time, only a few small college coaches had seen Burnett plus a bird dog scout for the Royals who “couldn’t keep a secret” and tipped Stevenson off. “I went and saw him and I was like, oh my God. You can dream on this guy all you want. He was only (throwing) 90, 91, nothing great, but the kid was 6’4” or 6’5”. You could just dream on him. His arm worked. He could spin the curveball. He had a feel for the changeup. But he was so immature on the mound. He had no idea what he was doing. He was green.” Even so, Stevenson had seen enough that he called for his crosschecker to take a look at Burnett.

Stevenson continued the story, “So now it’s three weeks before the draft. I kid you not. A.J. was great that day (when the crosschecker came to see him). If you watched his mannerisms during the game … he was playing air guitar on the mound … you have to overlook all that. He didn’t even know what professional baseball was. I was working with the Cleveland Indians at the time. I was the area guy. And I sat down and talked to him and we had a great talk and I really got to know him.” Stevenson went back to see Burnett for one last game, got to the parking lot and saw the Scouting Director for the Mets. “And I’m thinking, Oh my God, what is he doing here? He and the area guy are going to see another guy in Arkansas. They were at the wrong field and happened to stumble into this kid by accident. Everything I had in me was kind of deflated. That was the guy that I thought, I’ve got this one for sure. They ended up taking him in the 8th round that year.”

“That was before the internet and all this stuff that goes on now where everyone knows who everyone is. And that was the fun of it when we started. You had to go find your own. Now they give me a list of a hundred guys and (tell me to) go find some juco guys if you want to. They give me all the top high school names and the top D1 guys (to scout). We don’t have any information on the juco guys and we don’t have any information on any D2, D3 guys so those guys I can go find on my own. But that’s what it used to be like in the whole draft. Now you go to high school games with the top tiers, there are 50-60 guys there (scouting).”

Scouting has changed a lot with the advance of analytics, but it’s not just the Astros. The changes are industry wide. Scouts are encouraged to turn in reports on as many players as they can with the front office doing more of the "sifting out" than the area scouts do. The scouts still look for the unheralded players out there, but the scout’s influence in getting players signed has diminished somewhat. Stevenson’s opinion still counts, but maybe not as much as it did in the pre-analytics days. But that won’t stop him from looking for that diamond in the rough, that guy that nobody knows about. It won’t stop him from banging the table on Day 3 to get a Josh James or a Jack Mayfield signed.

Stevenson has just rolled with all of the changes in the industry. The fact that he has lasted 12 years in an Astros organization that has seen scores of people come and go is evidence enough that he must be doing something right. “I love the Houston Astros. I love all the guys I work with. It’s not the Houston Astros have changed. The whole industry has changed,” said Stevenson. He’s looking forward to working with the new GM, but most of all he’s looking forward to the draft. “Our Super Bowl is the draft. That’s what I’m looking forward to. I still enjoy the hunt, the hunt out looking for that guy. You may not get him, but I like finding that guy every year who’s flying under the radar. Those are the fun ones, the late round guys. I’m going to keep going and hopefully find some this year.”

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I truly enjoyed my conversation with Stevenson. We ended up on so many tangents that I didn't even get to all of my questions. But I have a feeling I'll be talking with Stevenson again and can get some of those other questions answered plus others that may come up because baseball people love talking about baseball. Thanks for your time, Jim!

Astros Farm Report: 9-16

One final regularly scheduled Astros farm report to wrap up the season ...

Two teams (Fayetteville and Round Rock) made it to their respective League Championship Series, but ultimately neither team was able to bring home the hardware. The Astros minor league season officially ended on Saturday with Fayetteville's loss to Wilmington in Game 5. Despite a brilliant outing from MLB Pipeline 29th ranked Astro prospect Luis Garcia (6.1 IP 3H 1R 0BB 11K), Garcia was charged with the loss as the solo home run he allowed in the fourth inning proved to be all the run support Wilmington needed.

There will be one final minor league game on Tuesday as the Pacific Coast League Champion Sacramento River Cats will face the International League Champion Columbus Clippers for a one-game winner-take-all AAA Championship game on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. CT at the Memphis Redbirds Autozone Park. The game will be televised on FS1.

ROSTER MOVES/TRANSACTIONS

Here are the final roster moves for the minor league season. An ongoing list of all of the 2019 season transactions and roster moves can be found here.

9-14: IF Jack Mayfield recalled to Houston
9-13: SS Carlos Correa sent to Round Rock on a rehab assignment
9-7: SS/2B Anibal Sierra assigned to Round Rock from Corpus Christi
9-7: RHP Bryan Abreu recalled to Houston
9-7: RHP Colin McKee assigned to Round Rock from Corpus Christi
9-5: LHP Reymin Guduan released
9-5: OF/SS Myles Straw recalled to Houston
9-5: IF Osvaldo Duarte assigned to Round Rock from Corpus Christi
9-4: RHP Bryan Abreu assigned to Round Rock from Corpus Christi
9-4: RHP Forrest Whitley assigned to Round Rock from Corpus Christi
9-4: OF Ramiro Rodriguez (Quad Cities) activated from the IL
9-4: IF Michael Wielansky (Quad Cities) activated from the IL
9-4: 1B Zach Biermann assigned to Tri-City from Quad Cities
9-4: SS AJ Lee assigned to Tri-City from Quad Cities
9-4: RHP Jairo Lopez assigned to Quad Cities from Tri-City
9-3: LHP Reymin Guduan activated from the restricted list and designated for assignment
9-3: RHP Francis Martes assigned to Corpus Christi from Round Rock
9-2: LHP Cionel Perez recalled to Houston
9-2: C Garrett Stubbs recalled to Houston
9-2: OF Kyle Tucker recalled to Houston
9-2: OF Granden Goetzman (Corpus Christi) activated from the IL
9-2: OF Stephen Wrenn assigned to Round Rock from Corpus Christi
9-2: 2B/3B Enmanuel Valdez (Fayetteville) placed on the 7-day IL
9-2: RHP Francis Martes (Round Rock) activated from the IL
9-2: RHP Yeremi Ceballos assigned to Fayetteville from Tri-City
9-2: LHP Juan Pablo Lopez assigned to Quad Cities from Tri-City
9-1: RHP Francis Martes (Round Rock) sent to Quad Cities on a rehab assignment

2019 FINAL SEASON STANDINGS

AAA ROUND ROCK (Pacific Coast League/American Southern Division)
Division Winner
Won over Iowa in Semifinals 3-2
Lost to Sacramento in LCS 0-3

1st 84-56 .600 -.-GB L1

AA CORPUS CHRISTI (Texas League/South Division)

4th 66-73 .475 7.0GB L3

ADV A FAYETTEVILLE (Carolina League/Southern Division)
2nd half Division Winner
Won over Down East in the Semifinals 3-2
Lost to Wilmington in LCS 2-3

3rd 72-67 .518 15.0GB W2

LOW A QUAD CITIES (Midwest League/Western Division)
1st half Division Winner
Lost to Cedar Rapids in MWL Quarterfinals 1-2

2nd 79-57 .581 0.5GB W1

SHORT SEASON A TRI-CITY (New York-Penn League/Stedler Division)
4th 32-42 .432 9.0GB W3

ROOKIE LEVEL GULF COAST LEAGUE (East Division)
4th 25-26 .490 3.5GB W1

ROOKIE LEVEL DOMINICAN SUMMER LEAGUE (Northwest Division)
2nd 38-31 .551 2.5GB W2

INTERVIEWS

The following links are to the interviews I conducted during the 2019 season. Here is a full list of links to all of the interviews I've done since December 2011.

Colin McKee
Enoli Paredes and Cristian Javier
Cesar Salazar
Brett Daniels
Felipe Tejada
AJ Lee
Peyton Battenfield
Franny Cobos and Juan Pablo Lopez
Austin Hansen
Jake Adams
Nivaldo Rodriguez and Enmanuel Valdez
Colton Shaver
Brett Conine
Bryan Abreu and Ronel Blanco
Granden Goetzman
Osvaldo Duarte and Jose Urquidy
Stephen Wrenn

WATCH THIS SPACE

If you are a regular reader, you know that I have regularly featured players who I felt were flying below the radar this season, in other words, players who weren't considered top prospects. Two of those players (Nivaldo Rodriguez and Taylor Jones) have since been included on MLB Pipeline's Top Prospect List for the Astros at #26 and #28 respectively and I wouldn't be surprised to see others added to the list as some of the current top prospects graduate over time.

But one of the biggest impacts this season has been the emergence of several Latin pitchers who seemingly came out of nowhere. Coming into the season, Cristian Javier (#10), Jose Urquidy (#12), Nivaldo Rodriguez (#26), Luis Garcia (#29) and Jose Alberto Rivera (#30) were not ranked at all by MLB Pipeline. But some of us have been paying attention all along. I would advise against getting wrapped up in the MLB June Draft as the be-all and end-all of player acquisition. The Astros have done an excellent job on the international front and the fruits of those labors are really starting to show.

So my final Watch This Space of the 2019 season is to remind you not to forget about the Latin players in the system. This group below from Corpus Christi represented 188 appearances (61 starts), a 32-26 record with 23 saves, and a 3.06 ERA and 1.169 WHIP over 558.2 innings. They combined for 708 strikeouts (11.4 SO/9). Watch this space ...

(L-R) Enoli Paredes, Erasmo Pinales, Bryan Abreu,

Yohan Ramirez, Carlos Sanabria, Willy Collado,

and Cristian Javier

Getting to Know Hooks RHP Colin McKee

First drafted by the Astros in the 18th round in 2016 out of Mercyhurst College, RHP Colin McKee has really stepped up both his consistency and his effectiveness out of the bullpen during the current season. In 31 games for the Hooks in 2019, he is 2-2 with seven saves, a 1.92 ERA and a 1.103 WHIP. A couple side trips to Round Rock earlier in the season did not go quite as well, inflating those numbers to a still very respectable 2.65 ERA and 1.266 WHIP over a total of 57.2 innings. But one of the most impressive stats for me is that through 37 appearances, McKee has inherited 38 runners and has stranded all but eight of them.

Colin McKee - August 2019

Photo by Jayne Hansen

Corpus Christi Hooks Pitching Coach Graham Johnson said of McKee, "He's had a really good year. Every year, you can slowly see the delivery becoming more consistent and obviously the energy within his delivery is more consistent. You're just hoping that he continues to build off that and I think when he stays in the things that he's trying to do consistently, I think you see the performance be consistent. He's always been that way in his work and you're just kind of waiting for everything else to catch up with the work he's been doing. He's had a tremendous year and I think it's a tip of the cap to him just continuing to refine the things that we're asking him to refine."

Asked about his improvement this season, McKee feels that his focus on that consistency from outing to outing has really paid off, "I think that was the big step this year as opposed to last year. It was kind of a mixed bag whether I'd come out and be really sharp or take a batter or two to get into the game. This year I've been a lot better starting from pitch one being sharp." He has also been working on attacking hitters with his fastball early, "getting into advantageous counts and then just executing when I get to two strikes with either quality offspeed pitches that are competitive but expanding the strike zone or elevating the fastball and putting guys away with that."

Obviously, that's always easier said than done, but one thing that really helped McKee was his trip to Puerto Rico to play winter ball in late 2018. In 10 appearances, McKee was 1-0 with five saves, a 0.00 ERA and a 0.484 WHIP. The success of his winter campaign went beyond that excellent stat line, though. McKee explained, "I think it really helped. You don't have Track Man there. You don't have Edgertronic. You don't have a coach dissecting what you do on a day-to-day basis. So you have to kind of teach yourself, like what feels good and what you need to do to get yourself ready to perform."

McKee continued, "It's a competitive environment. You've got to be your own coach. You've got to tinker with yourself. You learn a lot about yourself as a pitcher I think when you're down there. And I really liked it. It was beneficial. You've got to learn how to make the adjustments without having somebody else (telling you that) you've got to have your wrist here instead of there or stay behind the ball or load your hips. There's a ton of different mechanical things that a coach can see, but you have to learn how to feel it and that was really beneficial for me."

McKee spoke of his time on the island, "It was a learning experience and to learn that culture was fun. I enjoyed it a lot." But traveling through Puerto Rico for road games was a reminder that not all of the island has recovered from the hurricanes in 2017. "It made you feel for the people down there," said McKee. He wouldn't hesitate to repeat the experience, but not right away. "I'm probably not going to go the first half, give the arm a break. This year my workload's been higher than in years past and I'm kind of feeling it at this point in the year. I'm not injured, but it's August and some bumps and bruises and stuff. So I'm looking forward to giving my body a little bit more of a break. I'm thinking about, maybe for the second half. Puerto Rico, I know their season goes into January so maybe go down for that just to get some work before spring training."

McKee isn't one to make excuses for himself, but he did admit that the MLB ball being used in Round Rock took a little getting used to, "The way I throw my slider/cutter, it's all based on how it comes off my index finger and the feel of it coming off the different balls is definitely different and it's just something I have to adjust to. It kind of took me a while because my slider is my best pitch and not having that as consistent (in Round Rock) as it was (in Corpus), it was kind of difficult to make the adjustment."

McKee enjoyed other aspects of Round Rock a little better, "All the guys up there are awesome. Obviously, there's a ton of vets up there. There are guys who've played in the bigs and stuff. Like some of those (bullpen) guys have been around the block and they know what it takes to get professional hitters out, especially at that level and in the PCL which is an offensive paradise. Just being with them and kind of learning their mindsets and their mentalities was beneficial."

To keep moving forward as a player, McKee knows that he will have to keep building on what he's done this year and try to get his walk rate down, a rate that has sometimes been hampered by intentional walks and "unintentional intentional walks" issued as the game situation might dictate, particularly working around inherited runners. He is also working on a new weapon, "I have the fastball (low to mid-90's) and I have the hard cutter/slider and I've been working on a bigger slurve type pitch. Mixing that in to batters to get them off the timing of the harder fastball and the harder cutter, I think that's going to be a good step in the development. (The slurve) is just a kind of a different timing pitch that I'm not quite as comfortable with yet so I don't throw it nearly as high percentage wise. Like the last two times I've come in with guys on base  and it's kind of a tighter situation so I'm more comfortable throwing the fastball and the slider combo."

McKee is not a stranger to hard work. When I saw him last season in Fayetteville, I was impressed by both his strength and his work ethic (and the fact that he does not skip leg days in the gym!). Johnson told me that McKee has always been a hard worker. McKee, Patrick Sandoval (now with the Angels) and Ronel Blanco were on Johnson's field during his first spring training and he would watch their competition to see who could outwork the others. He would practically have to drag them off the field. "(McKee is) a tremendous worker and that's what you're expecting. You've seen his talent level rise every year and it's because of the work that he puts in," said Johnson. With the kind of work and preparation McKee puts in, it is probably not a coincidence that he hasn't spent time on the IL since his rookie year.

Colin McKee - May 2018

Photo by Jayne Hansen

Off the field, there are no real surprises in the activities that McKee enjoys, from playing video games to golf and deer hunting to watching the NBA, NFL and the NHL (particularly his hometown Penguins) to hanging out with his girlfriend. Right now he's been enjoying playing with his host family's dogs as he mourns the recent loss of his childhood pet of almost 20 years back home. The fact that McKee is a dog person is probably the least surprising thing I learned about him. Personality-wise, McKee is extremely affable. I've never seen him with a frown on his face. He's good natured and humble and really easy to like.

But I was able to find one surprising fact about McKee. "I never really aspired to be a professional baseball player. I went to a Division 2 school and just played baseball to help pay for school. I was studying biology. I wanted to go to med school. And then I just started to throw a little bit harder, got good at baseball and ended up getting picked up and I'm still playing. I was never a prospect out of high school. I was throwing 86-88 at the most. Just kind of grew a little bit at the gym." A teammate of McKee's during his sophomore year (Dan Altavilla of The Mariners) took him under his wing and encouraged him to spend more time in the gym, throw long toss and such. "And then I started taking it a little more seriously after that," said McKee.

Yeah, I didn't see that one coming, Dr. McKee. Thank you for your time, Colin, and best of luck as your career continues.

Getting to Know Enoli Paredes and Cristian Javier

Right-handers Enoli Paredes and Cristian Javier of the Corpus Christi Hooks have a lot in common. They are both from the Dominican Republic. Both were signed for bargain basement prices well after their original eligibility. Both have rapidly ascended the prospect rankings this year. (On MLB Pipeline, Javier went from unrated prior to the season to #10 currently while Paredes rose from a pre-season ranking of #28 to a current ranking of #14.)

Enoli Paredes (Top) and Cristian Javier (Bottom)

August 2019

Photos by Jayne Hansen

And both have had very successful seasons. Through this point in the season, Paredes has a 2.64 ERA and a 0.981 WHIP in 20 appearances (11 starts) between High A Fayetteville and AA Corpus Christi (38 BB:121 K in 88.2 IP). Javier has some eye-popping numbers as well. He has a 1.75 ERA and a 0.984 WHIP in 24 appearances (16 starts) between Fayetteville and Corpus Christi and he leads the Astros minor league affiliates with his 154 strikeouts (55 walks) in 102.2 innings of work.

Corpus Christi Pitching Coach Graham Johnson highlighted some of their differences, "They're both extremely exciting to watch for different reasons. Enoli's just kind of a flamboyant personality. You actually can see it come out in his mechanics and his movements on the mound and even his in-between pitch movements. It's got a little bit of flair to it, a little bit of drama that comes with it. Electric arm, electric body, electric movement, electric stuff. That's kind of the perfect word I would use to describe him. You look at him (Paredes is listed as 5'11" and 168 pounds), and you don't really expect this big time power stuff to be coming at you."

Johnson continued, "Where Javier, it's almost you enjoy watching him more because of results. I don't want to say he always does the same thing, but he's super consistent in his attack in terms of what he's trying to do and it's very successful in terms of that. Both are very, very fun pitchers to watch and (both) go about their business in a very good way."

As Johnson mentioned, Paredes does have a flamboyent personality while Javier is more on the quiet side, but Paredes's personality is infectious and everyone around him gets caught up in that energy, including the quieter Javier. They are both a lot of fun to watch, both on and off the field.

Getting to Know Quad Cities Catcher Cesar Salazar

With the recent drafting of catchers Korey Lee and C.J. Stubbs and the evolving talent of several other catchers in the Astros system, the catching depth has gone from more than a bit thin to fairly robust. For me, one of the more intriguing catching prospects is Cesar Salazar, a Mexican-born catcher who was drafted by the Astros in the 7th round in 2018 out of the University of Arizona. Salazar's excellent defense was the reason he was drafted, but the Midwest League All-Star has shown a solid bat in 2019 as well, hitting .262/.323/.371 with 16 doubles, one triple and three home runs through 71 games with Low A Quad Cities.

Cesar Salazar - July 2019

Photo by Jayne Hansen

When I talked with Salazar in late July, I asked him what was clicking for him this season. He said, "I feel like just trying to do the same thing offensively. What was hurting me, especially last year I tried a bunch of different stuff. I tried to make changes real quick instead of just feeling them out first. This year in spring training, my hitting coaches helped me a lot, just refining my swing and helped me realize what works for me and what doesn't work for me. Rafael Pena, our hitting coach, has been doing a really good job with me, with keeping me on track, a trustful pair of eyes on what I'm doing offensively. And defensively, I feel pretty comfortable with my defense. I just try to take charge, help my pitchers, try to be the best leader I can be."

Asked to give a scouting report on himself, Salazar told me, "I think being a leader out there on the field. I take a lot of pride in working really good with my pitchers. That could be on a scouting report. He knows how to handle a pitching staff. He knows how to call pitches. He knows how to make a pitcher comfortable by receiving, blocking, etc. I think for hitting ... good hand-eye, good contact, just has to improve power. That's going to be my main thing to work on during the offseason, a little more weight, try to get a little more juice on the bat. Hitting the ball hard more consistently. That's probably the scouting report."

It was Salazar's leadership and his take charge attitude that I quickly recognized in him when I first saw him in Tri-City last season. It is a trait that is appreciated by coaches and pitchers alike. Salazar's Quad Cities teammate RHP Brett Daniels said of Salazar, "I love throwing to him. I threw to him in Cape Cod and then last summer and now this is my third season with him. I love when Sally catches me. First of all, he knows me. I've shook him off twice this year. Both times they've led to hits. So I don't do that. Every time he always comes up and says, 'This is why I did it. I saw something.' I just trust him. He gets me a lot of pitches and he knows when to get on me. I think last time I threw to him he came out there and he said, 'This isn't you. Come on, make an adjustment.' And somehow I always get out of a jam when he does it." Another pitcher on the squad, RHP Felipe Tejada, was very complimentary of Salazar's ability to get rid of a ball fast, a trait that is evidenced in his 37% caught stealing rate for the season to date.

In response to those comments, Salazar said, "I think I have a pretty good idea what I'm doing and I think I there's a reason why I call pitches. I like to think that. I put thought process into every pitch I call. It's nice having pitchers like that who have that much trust in a catcher. I'm grateful that I've shown them that they can trust me. It's super nice and good to hear those two good pitchers talking good about me."

More praise came from Quad Cities Pitching Coach Erick Abreu, "Sally is wonderful because he came with already a lot of knowledge from college. He just came trying to get better. He's always asking questions, how he can do his job better, how he can help these pitchers the most. And he's a wonderful, wonderful catcher. And also he helps out the team a lot with his bat. I cannot ask more from him." And from Manager Ray Hernandez, "He does everything well. He's a really good catcher behind the plate. And he's really starting to find his swing. Pena's got him really going. He looks the part right now and I think he's probably ready for the next challenge here pretty soon."

Salazar knows what he will need to do to keep moving forward, "I feel like I need to keep improving my offense. My offense will be what separates me from getting where I want to be or not getting where I want to be. I know what I can bring to the table defensively and I think I just need to keep working on my offense, keep developing and keep trusting the process, trusting my hitting coaches and just keep working my butt off."

Knowing that Salazar was born in Mexico, but attended high school and college in Arizona, I asked to hear more about his background. "I was born and raised in Hermosillo. I went to Tuscon my second half of my sophomore year in high school. I played for a travel team since I was 12 years old. It was run by Luis Valenzuela. He's my second dad. He's the one that helped me go through the process of finding where to stay in Tuscon, going to high school, trying to get me showcased for college or pro scouts or whatever. And that was my dream. I really wanted to go to state just to get a scholarship to go to college and start my education," said Salazar.

Salazar continued, "One of my dreams is fulfilled. I lived the college experience. Those were the best three years of my life. I was born and raised in Mexico. 16 years old, I moved to Tuscon. The host family that I lived with in Tuscon, they didn't speak any Spanish so I had to put myself in that tough and uncomfortable situation to actually learn the language. It was a tough year, year and a half to learn it, but it paid off. My family is still in Hermosillo. They were actually here last week. We had nine games at home and they saw that and wanted to come watch me play so that was really refreshing seeing them. I hadn't seen them since February so that was pretty cool, pretty neat of them to do that."

The Quad Cities team had a rough spring in which the vast majority of their home games were played on the road due to flood waters surrounding their home ballpark which is situated on the Mississippi River. Of the early season, Salazar said, "It was an experience. I'm not going to lie. It was tough not being able to have any games at home, play in front of your home crowd. It is what it is. We just went to every single ballpark and tried to play as best as we can. I don't know how to explain it. We just tried to do our job. Yes, it sucked, whatever, but in the ballpark, we'd just focus on what's in front of us, which is the next game, which is practice, which is the weight room. I think we did a really good job. I think it showed because of the first half season that we had. But I think we just sucked it in. We still played baseball. This is what we dream of doing. And we did it."

Now that the team is back home, Salazar is enjoying the experience, "Good crowd. The facilities are awesome. The locker room is fantastic. The weight room is good. Our city is good. Like it's really comfortable. It's nice coming from Tri-City. Tri-City gets a really good amount of fans. You really feel their support. And coming into Quad Cities, the fans showing the same amount of support. We get pretty good crowds every night. It's pretty fun."

Salazar calls himself a "social person" who you won't find staying in and playing Fortnite like some of the other guys and someone who enjoys doing things with other people. Given the opportunity, he says, "I like to go hiking. I did that a lot when I was in Arizona. I play tennis when I'm back home. I'm a huge tennis fan so I would go with my dad and just swing the racket for a little bit. Just spend time with my family. Spend time with my friends. I did enjoy that when I was back home. I would love to go fishing. I haven't been since my sophomore summer. I would like to do that a little more because I really enjoyed it but we don't really have a place to fish back home."

In the offseason, you will likely find Salazar playing tennis or racquetball with his dad. "I love those two sports. I love watching it on TV. It's something that refreshes my mind when I'm back home. I can go with my dad or somebody and just play tennis and swing the racket for a little bit."

It turns out that his love for tennis almost took Salazar in another direction, "When I was 15 years old, I almost gave up baseball to play tennis. I was a good tennis player. I was actually runner up in state in Mexico. I was pretty good. I had this debate for like a month. What should I do? What should I do? What should I do? I like tennis, but I like baseball. And I finally realized that tennis wasn't going to get me very far in my sports life. I think I made the right decision."

I would say that tennis's loss is baseball's gain. Salazar's intelligence, confidence, talent, passion and leadership qualities make him a perfect fit at catcher and will carry him a very long way.

Thank you for your time, Cesar, and best of luck as the season continues.

Other recent interviews
Felipe Tejada
Brett Daniels

Getting to Know Quad Cities RHP Brett Daniels

RHP Brett Daniels, drafted in the 17th round in 2018 out of the University of North Carolina got off to a great start in his first professional season with short season A Tri-City last year, going 3-0 with a 1.62 ERA and a 0.840 WHIP in 33.1 innings. He has gone on to show that those early results were not a fluke as he has compiled a 1.87 ERA and a 1.220 WHIP in 82 innings for Low A Quad Cities in 2019. A side trip to AA Corpus Christi in April as a temporary fill-in elevates his season numbers a bit, putting him at a 2.30 ERA and 1.267 WHIP over a total of 90 innings (44 BB:91 K).

Brett Daniels - July 2019

Photo by Jayne Hansen

I asked Daniels about his success this season and he gave a lot of credit to his team, "A big part has been our defense. I would say they're picking me up in some big spots, getting me out of a lot of jams here recently. Earlier in the year I think I was able to put away a lot of guys, strike out a decent bit of guys. Then I hit a little bump in the road, started walking some people, but I was still striking guys out, getting out of jams, like bases loaded or a couple guys on. But now the defense is helping me out. I'm not getting as many strikeouts right now, but the balls that they're putting in play, they're making outs." As a side note, Daniels walked 18 batters in 23.2 innings in June while walking only 20 batters in the remaining 58.1 innings he has pitched with the Quad Cities team.

Quad Cities Pitching Coach Erick Abreu was quick to credit Daniels himself with his successful season. "What I like most about him is his work ethic. He's very consistent with his routine, He knows what to work on. He comes everyday to the field and just does his job. He's very consistent. He came a long way improving his delivery and pitch shapes and he's just a real good kid," said Abreu.

Daniels throws fastball, changeup, slider and curveball with the changeup being his best offspeed offering. His fastball sits in the low 90's right now and Daniels said of the fastball, "It's a little harder now than it was at the beginning of the season. Tweaked some things and worked on some things and finally getting some velo back."

Quad Cities Manager Ray Hernandez would like to see Daniels get a little bit stronger, but has been very happy with what he's seen out of Daniels this season. "He's just really mature. He's gone through North Carolina so he's a college guy and he makes good pitches. He knows how to work through lineups and he's been everything we've needed when he gets the ball," said Hernandez.

Daniels's college career at UNC didn't exactly go according to plan with a ball to the elbow and a hurt back derailing parts of his freshman and sophomore years, but things eventually worked out. Daniels described it, "Come back in my sophomore spring, get an opportunity the third week in and I get out of a bases loaded jam. Come in two days later. Same thing, bases loaded, no outs. Get out of a jam. After that, I pitched two or three times a weekend for the rest of my career. It started off weird and then after that, it picked up. I started getting confidence and just went from there." Primarily a reliever in college, Daniels has segued into more of a starting role since signing with the Astros last season.

When asked to give a scouting report on himself, Daniels told me, "I would say strength is being able to throw all my pitches for strikes in pretty much any count. That's what we preach here. Being able to throw any pitch 3-1. You don't want to just lay a fastball in there. And just pound the zone, other than that little bump where I started walking people, for the most part, I've thrown strikes. What I need to work on is increasing velo, also putting guys away." As far as intangibles go, he said, "I don't show a lot of emotion out there. I'm pretty poised. I don't let things get to my head. I just try to stay next pitch."

Quad Cities catcher Cesar Salazar obliged me with a scouting report on Daniels as well, "He really knows how to use, especially with his fast ball, the top and bottom of the zone. He uses his spin as a good weapon because he's got good spin with his fastball. He can get a lot of strikeouts with a fastball up, paints the bottom of the zone too. Offspeed he can throw for strikes whenever he wants, especially his changeup. That's his bread and butter. He has probably one of the better changeups that I've ever caught. Like I said, he's not afraid to throw it."

As far as what Daniels feels he needs to work on, he said, "I think right now, just being able to put guys away, two strikes. Right now I'm leaving the ball over the plate a little bit too much. 0-2, 1-2, 2-2 really. And then just developing all my pitches, making them better. Definitely the slider is the main focus right now. Just pretty much making all my pitches better, increasing velo ... I think everybody wants to do that."

During off days during the season and over the offseason, you will frequently find Daniels on the golf course. Last offseason, he worked in construction, a lot of it helping to clean up following the hurricanes that affected his home state of North Carolina in 2018, but although it paid well, he admits that an easier job would be welcomed for the coming winter. In the meantime, I feel certain that a promotion to Fayetteville would also be welcome to get him closer to family and to his girlfriend there.

Daniels talked a little about the early part of the season when the Quad Cities team was temporarily homeless because of the Mississippi River flood waters surrounding Modern Woodmen Park, "It was definitely something I've never done before. You just kind of have to make do and be positive. The coaches were great about it. If we needed a lower day because we just drove overnight and then next morning pick back up, drive another hour or two someplace else, they'll give us a low day. They were good about that. I thought the biggest thing was working out. I think that was one of the toughest things, not having our home weight room. And also you're not able to really get into a routine of things. Everything's kind of changing every day, every week. So now, I think that's the biggest thing that's helped a lot of us is getting in that routine."

Daniels may like a good routine, but he also seems pretty comfortable just going with the flow. In speaking about his Management and Society major from UNC, he admitted that he wasn't sure what he wanted to do with it, "I didn't have a Plan B. People asked me that all the time in college and I was like, I don't know. We'll figure it out when we get there." Daniels laid-back attitude, his North Carolina accent, his good humor and his modest self-appraisal combine to make him very likable. Coupled with his excellent season, he is definitely someone who is very easy to root for.

Thank you for your time, Brett, and best of luck as the season continues.

Another recent interview
Felipe Tejada

Getting to Know Quad Cities RHP Felipe Tejada

When I was in Tri-City last season, I couldn't help but notice RHP Felipe Tejada. There was a lot of down time because of rain delays during that trip and Tejada filled the void with his larger than life personality. I joked that I could follow him around all day with a camera.

Felipe Tejada - July 2018

Photo by Jayne Hansen

This season Tejada has stood out for me for a different reason. In 15 appearances (six starts) for the Quad Cities River Bandits, Tejada is 6-0 with a 2.25 ERA, a 1.150 WHIP and has held opposing hitters to a .184 batting average. He has walked 30 and struck out 68 in 60 innings of work.

Felipe Tejada - July 2019

Photo by Jayne Hansen

The 21-year old Tejada was signed by the Astros out of the Dominican Republic in September 2014 and Quad Cities Pitching Coach Erick Abreu (formerly a coach in the DSL) has seen him from the start, "I've had Tejada for the last four years. Another kid that came a long way from the Dominican Republic. He's such a hard worker. He got strong. He improved his velo. He added his sidearm slider and two-seam. He competes really well. Big heart out there. Really good kid too. He is very positive always. Always trying to help his teammates. Always trying to get better."

One of the keys to Tejada's great season is his vast pitch repertoire. Quad Cities Manager Ray Hernandez said of Tejada, "Tejada's been really good. He's put a few (good games) together now. He can do everything." Hernandez joked, "He's got 15 pitches he can go through from three different arm slots. No, he's got two arm slots. He's got a lot of pitches, got a lot of things he can do to right handed hitters and left handed hitters. He's developed really well with Abreu."

I also asked Quad Cities catcher Cesar Salazar to weigh in with what he thought of Tejada. He told me, "He throws a bunch of pitches. He has a full, full arsenal of pitches. He has two arm angles and he pretty much masters both arm angles. He can throw strikes from both of them and he can throw all five pitches for strikes. And he's not afraid to throw them in any count. I think that works a lot in his favor. He has a lot of confidence in his pitches and he likes to attack the strike zone a lot. I think the ability for him to throw all five pitches in any count, that makes him so good."

Now, on to the interview ...

Thank you for your time, Felipe, and best of luck as your season continues!!

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Getting to Know Tri-City IF AJ Lee

Middle infielder AJ Lee, drafted by the Astros in the 34th round out of the University of Maryland in 2019, got off to a great start to his professional career, hitting .286/.432/.371 during June. He has since come down to earth slightly and is currently slashing .250/.370/.381 with five doubles, two home runs and 10 stolen bases in his first 25 games. That OBP and stolen base total currently represent the team lead for the short season A Tri-City squad.

AJ Lee - July 2019

Photo by Jayne Hansen

Ozney Guillen, Tri-City ValleyCats manager, has been impressed during the early going with Lee's approach to the game, "The confidence that he has is awesome and I think he's taken really well to everything we do here. He's done a really good job of being able to implement that into his game. He's driving the ball a lot more than he used to in college so that's always a plus. He's awesome to work with. Always wants to learn. Always want to push forward. The good thing is that he knows he's a 34th rounder and he's not fighting against it. He's just going along with the current and getting better and just trying to do everything the right way."

I also found Lee to be very relaxed in his approach to the game. Of his early success, he said, "I think the biggest thing for me is just playing the game that I've always been playing, getting on base a lot, stealing some bases, spraying the field, not trying to do too much. I think just staying (within) what I can control and what I do has helped me a lot so far. So I'm just going to keep sticking with it and see what happens."

Asked what a scout might say about him, Lee said, "I think they would say that my strengths are (that) I have a pretty high baseball IQ; I'm pretty versatile on defense; I can spray the ball around the yard; and I can use my legs a little bit with the speed. The weaknesses are probably the power. The power's definitely not the best. I mean there's a little bit there, but it's not something that jumps off the page to you. I think the biggest thing for me is just having a high knowledge of the game and understanding situations and just having that good baseball IQ and being able to use it."

AJ Lee - July 2019

Photo by Jayne Hansen

The one thing that Lee is working on in order to set himself apart is his consistency on the field, "There's been glimpses where I'm really good and there's times when I'm really bad. So just trying to find a consistent spot and stay there, something that works for me everyday and just puts me in a more consistent spot to be successful. Again, not trying to do too much, but just trying to find what works for me on a night in and night out basis."

In a change of subject, I had to ask Lee about his twitter handle "Squish Lee." Yeah that was a nickname I got in 2017 from a couple of the older guys on my Maryland team. It's just based off an old TV show we used to watch. I said I wanted to be like a character and they just changed my name up. His name was Smash so they just started calling me Squish because I'm a lot smaller than him. It kind of just stuck and it seems to be following me," said Lee.

Lee learned much more in his time at the University of Maryland than just baseball. "It was good. I had an amazing four years there. Had an amazing staff there. It was definitely one of the best decisions I've ever made. I wouldn't trade those four years for anything. I definitely grew as a baseball player, as a man. They taught me a lot of things there that I'm going to carry with me throughout my entire life. It's helping me on the field and off the field. I can't thank them enough for all they've done for me there, Rob Vaughn and the staff there. It was a great four years and I was glad I was able to experience it, especially with them."

Lee called his draft experience "very, very relaxed." He told me, "When I got the call that I'd been drafted, I was eating Chipotle with my girlfriend in my apartment back in Maryland. We were just hanging around. I was actually in the middle of my food when I got the call. My parents didn't know or anything. I was shocked so I called them. I think they were more excited than I was. I didn't really know how to react right away. Then I went to see my grandparents to tell them the news. Spent the next couple of days before I left just seeing people in my family before I left, just to see them one last time before I was gone for a couple months. It was really relaxed. It wasn't any pressure at all." He had been in contact with the Astros in the weeks leading up to the draft so it didn't come as a complete surprise. "But again, it was no pressure on me. I was going to be happy either way it went so I just tried not to pay too much attention to it and not put too much pressure on myself," said Lee.

Of his experience as a pro thus far, Lee said, "I would say the biggest surprise is just the culture thing. Not necessarily within the Astros organization culture-wise, but the culture of stepping into a new locker room with a bunch of guys that you don't really know. You've got guys speaking different languages. So at first it was a little bit of a shock to me, but I adjusted pretty quickly. I'm starting to learn some Spanish so I can talk to these guys a little more. It's been a fun ride so far. I'm just excited to continue and keep it going."

Off field, I didn't get much out of Lee about his interests, but he enjoys spending time with his friends and his girlfriend (who conveniently lives in New York and has been able to visit Lee in the Troy, New York location of the ValleyCats).

But I did find out a little about his major (Family Science) and what Plan B would have been had he not been drafted by the Astros. If he hadn't been picked up, he said, "Honestly, I wanted to work with underprivileged kids, like inner-city kids, just give them a resource that maybe they don't have just to try to get them higher education, get them involved in sports or something like that."

It was refreshing to talk with a player who doesn't let himself be defined by the game of baseball. He is working hard and enjoying the ride, but ultimately, he seems to know that his success in life is not solely dependent upon baseball. His ability to sit back and enjoy the game without putting undue pressure on himself, his ability to play hard and smart and still have fun, could ultimately be just the right formula to help a 34th rounder stand out from the crowd. But just because he doesn't take things too seriously doesn't mean that he doesn't care ...

He played 183 games as a Terp

In his last, @AJ_Lee02 went 4-for-5 and homered in his last at bat

He was greeted by every person in the dugout

He deserved it. He earned it. pic.twitter.com/LeoUV7PzCw

— Maryland Baseball (@TerpsBaseball) May 25, 2019

Thank you for your time, AJ, and best of luck as the season continues to unfold.

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Getting to Know Astros/Tri-City RHP Peyton Battenfield

RHP Peyton Battenfield, drafted this year out of Oklahoma State University in the 9th round, has gotten off to a remarkable start in his professional career. Granted it is still a fairly small sample size, but his 1.00 ERA and 0.778 WHIP in his first six appearances (6 BB:19 K in 18 IP) for Tri-City is arguably the best start of any of the Astros 2019 drafted players thus far. He has held batters to a very stingy .131 batting average.

Peyton Battenfield - July 2019

Photo by Jayne Hansen

When I spoke with Battenfield last week in Tri-City, he attributed his fast start to pitch command. "Commanding all my pitches. I'm taking all the data that we get with each one of my pitches and I try to improve on my secondary pitches every week. Just being able to throw a lot of strikes, get ahead in counts, I think that's been really beneficial."

Battenfield throws a low 90's fastball that tops out at 94 or 95, a curveball, changeup and a cutter/slider that is a work in progress. Of that last pitch, Battenfield said, "We haven't really figured out a name for it yet because that's the pitch I'm working on right now the most, just trying to get consistent movement with that pitch." He's also working on the curveball to generate a harder pitch with more movement, and he cites his changeup as his best offspeed pitch currently due to the consistency and movement of that pitch. His fastball doesn't have downward movement on it as is often the case with taller pitchers like the 6'4" Battenfield. "My fastball fights gravity. Most of the time if a ball has a low spin rate, it will drop. Mine actually fights gravity and will stay up," said Battenfield.

As to other things he's working on, he told me, "I'm always working on commanding the ball, throwing it right where I want it to go." Of his delivery, Battenfield said, "(There are) always areas to improve, always a way to be more efficient to throw harder, throw better quality strikes more consistently. But I feel comfortable right now with what I'm doing."

Tri-City Pitching Coach John Kovalik had high praise for Battenfield, "The great thing about Peyton is that we've seen a lot of growth in him as a pitcher since he's been here, but also (he's) just an extremely high character player. Really, really high character. Extremely professional. Handles his business the right way. And I think that's a big reason why he gets the results that he does on the field is because he knows how to show up to the park everyday and get it done. Just an overall good human being. He's been an absolute pleasure to work with. He's got some really, really good stuff already so with him, it's more just refining how he uses it. But overall, he's been really receptive to everything I've thrown at him and, like I said, just an overall pleasure to work with."

Asked what a scout might say about him, he said, "Hopefully they would think that I'm aggressive. I attack the zone. I'm not scared of anything. It doesn't matter the situation I come in. I'm prepared to take whatever situation it is and do the best that I can. Things I need to improve on is definitely my slider. I still throw it in games. I was getting swing and miss on it, but I'm still not getting the right movement that I want on it. Hopefully they just see that I'm aggressive and attack hitters."

Tri-City Manager Ozney Guillen echoed that scouting report in his assessment of Battenfield, "He's more polished. He went to a good college, a big time D1 so he's used to the pressure. The good thing is that he's not scared to pitch. A lot of times, you see guys that get drafted and they come here and that's kind of the problem is that they're a little scared of the environment or just suddenly out of their comfort zone but he's done very well and I think he'll keep moving on up very quickly."

Battenfield didn't play much during his freshman year in college, but his role expanded the next two years, "My sophomore year, I got a bigger role as a guy who was coming out of the 'pen more consistently. I had the same role this past year. I was the guy that they would go to if we were in trouble or if we needed long relief. I was anywhere from a long relief to short relief to closer, just anywhere they needed me." Battenfield showed marked improvement in his junior year, something he attributes to changing his arm slot. "My ball moves completely different (with a higher arm slot). My velo went up. My secondary pitches were sharper. That helped out a lot with getting people out," said Battenfield. Although he was almost exclusively a relief pitcher in college, the Astros have already had him start two games out of his six appearances.

Peyton's brother Blake was drafted in 2017, also out of Oklahoma State University and is currently pitching for the White Sox AA affiliate in Birmingham. The two brothers high school and college careers overlapped a bit, giving them the experience of playing on the same teams together, "I got to play in my freshman season with him. I sat out most of that season for when they'd go on road trips, but at the end of the year, I made the travel roster so I got to play with him and win a Big 12 championship as an eight-seed in a Big 12 tournament. So that was really fun because I got to win a state championship with him in high school and then, my freshman year, I got to win a Big 12 tournament championship. That's something cool to (share) with your older brother." (The Battenfield brothers have two younger sisters as well.)

Having a brother who has traveled the minor league road before you can come in handy and that is not necessarily limited to brotherly advice, "It wasn't necessarily advice about how this process works or anything. It was more (that) this last summer, I got to travel down and see him and talk to him about throwing different pitches in different counts and just the TrackMan data that we get, how it helped him out, helped him figure out where he needed to pitch in certain spots to be the most effective. I think that I definitely got some help on (that). And just seeing how, throughout the last two years, how it's gone for him whenever he's lived in different spots, how his days work. That way I was a little prepared for it instead of coming in blind. It wasn't necessarily one little thing. It was just like combined over the last few years."

Despite knowing what to expect, Battenfield was still a little surprised by how laid-back minor league life feels compared to college, "In college, I feel like you went to class and then after class, you went to baseball, and then baseball went until dinnertime and then you went to dinner and then you went and studied and you went back to your room and you fell asleep and you repeated the same thing the next day. So here, since it's my job, I don't have to be here until 1:00 or 2:00 most days. I get to sleep in and if I don't get to sleep in, I get up and run some errands and do some things. There's definitely not as much stuff to do even though I'm here for 8-10 hours a day. It's just different."

Off the field, Battenfield looks forward to spending time with his fiancé Grace (who based on his Instagram feed is drop-dead gorgeous, by the way). And he has a little bit of a unique hobby, "I like building things. I've actually built two guns. That's kind of an expensive hobby that I have. I do enjoy doing that. It's something me and my cousin do back home because we like to go out to some land and target shoot. I actually really enjoy being able to sit down for a little bit and just basically close my mind off and just worry about building something." Another somewhat surprising fact about the blonde-haired Battenfield is that he is of Cherokee heritage.

But none of that really gives you much insight into his personality. After watching him for three days on and off the field, I was most impressed by what a great teammate and person he is. He was always upbeat and quick with a smile. He was the first to cheerfully volunteer to help out the pitching coach with something or form a line to high-five some kids during pre-game activities. During the game, he would dance to the music, join in on Y-M-C-A or instigate rally caps in the dugout. In short, I think he will be making a lot of fans during his baseball journey.

Y-M-C-A

Rally Caps

Thank you for your time, Peyton, and best of luck as your season continues to unfold.

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