Happy Birthday - 6/15

No future Astros with birthdays today, but a couple of former Astros celebrate today ~

IF Jake Elmore (27)
Drafted by the Diamondbacks in the 34th round in 2008, Elmore came to the Astros organization as a waiver claim in November 2012. In 52 games for Houston in 2013, Elmore hit .242/.313/.325. He was selected off waivers from Houston by the White Sox in November 2013 and was subsequently dealt to Oakland.

LHP Andy Pettitte (42)
Originally drafted by the Yankees in the 22nd round in 1990, Pettitte came to Houston as a free agent signing in December of 2003 and pitched for the Astros from 2004 to 2006, going 37-26 with a 3.38 ERA and a 1.230 WHIP. He did a bunch of good stuff for the Yankees before he came to Houston and after he left. He retired; he unretired. He used human growth hormone and fessed up about it. He said Clemens did something dicey too, but he might have misremembered. Yada yada.

Astros Roster Moves

UPDATE: According to this tweet from J.J. Cooper of Baseball America, the Astros protected Domingo Santana, Asher Wojciechowski and Luis Cruz from the Rule 5 Draft by adding them to the 40-man roster:

Astros added OF Domingo Santana, RHP Asher Wojchiechowski, LHP Luis Cruz to their 40-man roster.
— JJ Cooper (@jjcoop36) November 21, 2013

Most surprising exclusions are RHP Jake Buchanan and C Carlos Perez. I had thought either Perez or fellow C Rene Garcia would be protected to preserve catching depth, particularly after last season's catching woes with so many injuries.

Several people have indicated some surprise regarding the inclusion of LHP Luis Cruz. I'm not terribly surprised after talking with Manager Rodney Linares, Pitching Coach Don Alexander and Morgan Ensberg about Cruz in May in Lancaster. They were all quite effusive in their praise of him. And don't forget what Kevin Goldstein had to say about Cruz in this recent MiLB.com article, "I adore him."

As of mid-afternoon, the Astros have made the following moves in advance of adding players who will need to be protected from next month's Rule 5 Draft:

RHP John Ely released
IF Jake Elmore claimed off waivers by the White Sox
OF J.D. Martinez removed from the 40-man roster and outrighted to Oklahoma City
IF Ryan Jackson claimed off waivers from St. Louis

There are currently 34 players on the 40-man roster. I will update this post as additional moves are made, as well as this ongoing list of all off-season Astros transactions.

As a reminder, this is what I wrote about those players who may be taken in the Rule 5 Draft if they are not protected.

Happy Birthday - 6/15

IF Jake Elmore (26)
Drafted by the Diamondbacks in the 34th round in 2008, Elmore came to the Astros organization as a waiver claim in November 2012. In three games with the major league club so far this season, Elmore hit .364/.364/.455. He is currently playing in Oklahoma City where he has hit .279/.364/.403 with 11 doubles, 4 triples, 3 home runs and 13 stolen bases in 58 games.

No future Astros and only one former Astro with a birthday today ~

LHP Andy Pettitte (41)
Originally drafted by the Yankees in the 22nd round in 1990, Pettitte came to Houston as a free agent signing in  December of 2003 and pitched for the Astros from 2004 to 2006, going 37-26 with a 3.38 ERA and a 1.230 WHIP. He did a bunch of good stuff for the Yankees before he came to Houston and after he left. He retired; he unretired. He used human growth hormone and fessed up about it. He said Clemens did something dicey too, but he might have misremembered. Yada yada.

Tweet of the Day

Jake Elmore ‏@JElmo10
If you want to eliminate your dating life, shop here. pic.twitter.com/b1ToEnWTG4

Tweet of the Day

Jake Elmore ‏@JElmo10
How's everyone's women's softball bracket looking?

Roster Moves

Houston
2B Jose Altuve activated from the Bereavement List

Oklahoma City
2B Jake Elmore assigned from Houston to Oklahoma City

Lancaster
IF Jean Batista assigned from Extended Spring Training to Lancaster

Astros Minor League Recaps

Tuesday's Games

Quad Cities River Bandits

-Off day. The River Bandits will begin a seven-game home stand today, playing the first three games against the Midwest League-leading Cedar Rapids Kernels (21-8).

Lake Elsinore Storm 8, Lancaster JetHawks 5

Lancaster lost the lead twice on Tuesday and couldn't muster the bats for a third comeback, recording only one hit after the seventh frame. The second comeback though, was spearheaded by Andrew Aplin (2X5 R HR RBI) in the seventh with his homer to lead off the inning. That homer also marked Aplin's 27th RBI (tied for the most in the California League). David Rollins led things off on the mound and through his five innings, allowed 4 runs (1ER) on five hits while striking out half a dozen. Rollins saw scoring against him in the second and fifth frames, but every other inning he pitched in was a 1-2-3 set. Tyson Perez (1-1) came on to pitch next and kept things scoreless through the sixth and seventh, allowing one hit each inning. Perez only made it one out into the eighth however and finished with three runs (2ER) on six hits, one K and the loss. Kenny Long finished out the game for the JetHawks and allowed a hit that scored an unearned run in the ninth, while striking out a pair. Tyler Heineman also went two-for-five at the plate Tuesday, with a double, run scored and RBI.  

Corpus Christi Hooks 5, San Antonio Missions 10

The Hooks jumped out to a four-run lead in the bottom of the first but that was erased by the end of the inning. Eight innings, five pitchers and one scored run later, Corpus Christi was moving on to their off day. Matt Heidenreich (2-3) got the start on the hill and one and a third innings later his night was at a close, having allowed six runs on seven hits with a walk and the loss. Jorge De Leon was the fifth and last pitcher of the game for Corpus, working the bottom of the eighth and also was the only hurler to not see a run scored during his shift. De Leon faced 5 batters, allowed 2 hits and struck out the same. Austin Wates quietly hit two-for-three Tuesday while George Springer hit one-for-three with a walk, two runs scored and swiped two bags. Springer now has nine stolen bases this season.

Tacoma Rainiers 1, Oklahoma City RedHawks 6

Oklahoma City nearly won this one in shutout fashion at home on Tuesday, thanks in large part to starting pitcher Jarred Cosart (4-0) who struck out 10 in his five and two thirds innings of work. Cosart also walked a trio while giving up six hits-all singles. Josh Zeid (1.1 IP 2SO) and Rhiner Cruz (1IP SO) followed on the mound, respectively and combined for two and a third innings of perfect pitching. Kevin Chapman came on to finish out the game on the rubber and after giving up a homer to the first batter he faced, retired the final three batters in order, striking out one. Jake "The Lumberjack" Elmore was a homer short of the cycle Tuesday, finishing three-for-four with two runs scored, a double and a triple. Brett Wallace batted two-for-four with a run scored and three RBI-two on his eighth-inning, two-run homer. Marc Krauss hit one-for-four in the game with a run scored and RBI on his seventh homerun of the year-a solo shot to lead off the fourth inning.

Player of the Day: Jake "The Lumberjack" Elmore is at it again and gets to wear the WTHB crown today. Any time you have a 3X4 game and end up a just a homer short of the cycle you've had a special game. So here's to the Elmore and his lumber, good job.

Pitcher of the Day: It's obviously Jarred Cosart. So obvious in fact, I couldn't even think of a way to be witty about it. This guy threw five and two thirds innings of shutout ball while striking out 10 in front of the home crowd. If he has any room left on his back to pat, here's another for the honors of the day.

Tweet of the Day

Jake Elmore ‏@JElmo10
"We can check surviving an Earthquake off the bucket list" - @MarcKrauss25

Astros Minor League Recaps

Friday's Games

Peoria Chiefs 4, Quad Cities River Bandits 1 (10)

Despite being K—ed 14 times on Friday night and committing three errors, Quad Cities took this game into extra innings at home and lost it in the 10th frame. Teoscar Hernandez was the only River Bandit with multiple hits, going three for five at the plate with a strike out. Hernandez's BA so far is a team leading .394. Rio Ruiz had a rough go of it Friday at the ballpark, not only committing 2 of the 3 errors for Quad Cities, but also striking out four times in five ABs. Mike Hauschild started on the mound for the River Bandits Friday and allowed just a run on three hits in five innings of work. Hauschild also struck out a pair and walked one. Colton Cain came on for the next three frames and gave up three hits of his own, walked one and K—ed three. John Neely collected his first loss of the season (0-1) after coming on in the ninth inning. Neely allowed 1 earned run in the 10th and then 2 more scored on a Ruiz fielding error. Michael Dimock faced the last batter of the 10th and whiffed him.

Lancaster JetHawks 1, Modesto Nuts 4

The JetHawks win streak was snapped at five games Friday night at John Thurman Field. Luis Cruz started the game with authority for Lancaster, striking out nine Modesto batters over his four and two thirds frames of work., allowing three hits and walking two. Cruz was charged with an earned run after Jonas Dufek, who came on for the last out of the fifth because Cruz had surpassed his pitch count, allowed a hit that scored an inherited runner. Aaron West tallied his first loss (0-1) after allowing three runs on six hits through two and two thirds frames. West also struck out three and walked one. At the plate, the JetHawks bats were set to "silent" as the team collected 4 hits all game and no extra base hits. The lone run for Lancaster came off of a Brandon Meredith bases-loaded sac-fly in the fourth that scored Nolan Fontana.

Corpus Christi Hooks 3, Springfield Cardinals 6
Corpus Christi also had their win streak snapped at five on Friday night. Matthew Heidenreich (1-1) took the loss after pitching the first two innings. Heidenreich allowed four runs on four hits, walked two and struck out one. Ruben Alaniz threw for three frames starting the fifth inning and allowed the other two runs on three hits with a strike out of his own. The Hooks tried to mount a comeback in the fifth inning and stopped one run short of tying it at four all. George Springer was two for four on the night with his fourth double of the season, two RBIs and a walk. Ben Orloff went two for three with a double, run scored and a walk as well. Big Michael Burgess had a tough night at the plate, striking out four times and collecting a walk. The Hooks struck out 12 times in the game.

Memphis Redbirds 10, Oklahoma City RedHawks 6

Friday night saw a disappointing loss for Oklahoma City's home opener. The RedHawks were down seven runs before they scored their first in the fifth inning and by that time it was too much to overcome. Brett Oberholtzer (0-1) took the loss after going the first three frames on the bump and giving up six runs (5 ER) on six hits, walking two and striking out one. Josh Zeid came on to pitch the ninth inning and struck out two in a perfect frame. The bats were hot for Oklahoma City Friday despite the loss. They out hit their opponents 16-15 and had six players with multi-hit games. Nobody swung a mightier stick than Jake Elmore, who went four for five with two doubles and two runs scored. Elmore's BA is now an even .500 on the season. Marc Krauss was another standout, batting two for five with three RBIs and a run scored on a solo homer in the eighth inning.    

Player of the Day: Jake Elmore, hands down. Not only am I giving him the nod but I'm nicknaming him too. I'm dubbing this guy Jake "The Lumberjack" Elmore because, well one, it sounds cool and two, he did things with his lumber on Saturday night that would make a beaver blush.

Pitcher of the Day: Two guys get the nod today. Of course, Luis Cruz is in the mix for his dominating performance on Friday. He basically averaged two Ks per inning of work—that's honor worthy. Josh Zeid also shares the nod for his perfect frame in the face of a 10-6 scoreboard adversity on Friday—that's just manly.

Astros Minor League Recaps

Sunday's Games

Quad Cities over Kane County 3-1 in 13 innings
With Saturday's extra inning affair, that's 24 innings of baseball in less than 24 hours as Quad Cities completed a four-game sweep of Kane County to start the season. Brian Holmes got the start and allowed a very stingy two hits and no walks with one strikeout over five. He was followed by Jordan Jankowski as his tandem partner. Much as I reported yesterday about Mike Hauschild, Jankowski was used exclusively out of the bullpen last season so I wasn't necessarily expecting him to be used as a starter. Jankowski allowed the one Kane County run on four hits and a walk with one strikeout in three and two-thirds innings. John Neely and Cameron Lamb combined for scoreless relief, with Lamb getting the win. The River Bandits were held to six hits, but three of those were for extra bases including a triple from CF Teoscar Hernandez who went on to score the go-ahead run in the 13th on a wild pitch. DH Chase Davidson and C Jobduan Morales (2-for-5, RBI) both doubled in the game.

Lancaster over High Desert 10-4
This game was closer than it sounds until the JetHawks blew it open in a 5-run bottom of the eighth in which the team hit for the cycle with singles from LF Preston Tucker (2-for-4, HR, 3RBI, 2R), RF Drew Muren (2-for-4, HR, 2RBI, 2R) and SS Nolan Fontana (2-for-3, 2B, 2BB, 3R); an RBI double from CF Andrew Aplin (3-for-5, 2B, 2RBI); an RBI triple from 3B Matt Duffy; and a two-run home run from 1B Rafy Valenzuela, his first of the season. It was a wild one with the wind blowing out at 33 mph, making it an adventure for the outfielders and playing a factor in the three home runs and three triples hit in the game although Andrew Aplin and Drew Muren both managed to record outfield assists. Starter Aaron West allowed four runs on eight hits and a walk while striking out five in his four and a third innings while his tandem partner Luis Cruz pitched four scoreless frames with two hits, two walks and six strikeouts.

Corpus Christi over Tulsa 3-2
Starter R.J. Alaniz allowed the only two Tulsa runs and their only walk in his three and two-thirds innings while Matt Heidenreich, his tandem partner, had an excellent two-hit, three-strikeout outing and was rewarded with the win. Heidenreich was sandwiched by perfect innings from Jorge de Leon and Jason Stoffel (S, 2). 2B Kiké Hernandez' first home run of the season barely cleared the wall, but it still counts. Kiké went 3-for-4 with two RBI, including an RBI double in the eighth that proved to be the game winner. 3B Jonathan Meyer is also having a great start to his season, going 2-for-4 with two doubles and scoring a run. CF George Springer (1-for-3, BB) and C Carlos Perez (2-for-4) also doubled.

Oklahoma City over Memphis 14-10 in 11 innings
Brett Oberholtzer was his own worst enemy in his first start of the season as his two errors and hit batter came back to bite him as he gave up seven runs (three earned) in four and a third innings. Kevin Chapman allowed two of Oberholtzer's runners to score. I'm assuming that Kyle Hallock was intended to be the second half of the tandem, but he only made it through one and a third innings and was charged with two runs as Jose Valdez allowed both of Hallock's runners to score. 2B-3B Jake Elmore led the hit parade, going 5-for-6 with a walk, a two-run home run, three RBI and three runs scored. 1B Marc Krauss hit a solo shot and walked three times, and DH Trevor Crowe banged out a three-run bomb to put the game out of reach in the top of the 11th. 3B-1B Brandon Laird was 3-for-7 with a double and two RBI. CF Robbie Grossman (2-for-4, RBI, 3BB, 3R), RF Jimmy Paredes (3-6, RBI, R), and LF Che-Hsuan Lin (0-for-3, 2BB, 2RBI, 2R, 2SB) also had very good games. On a side note, Ruben Sosa, a 22-year old 2B/LF who has never played above Low A, was assigned to Oklahoma City. He came in to pinch run in the ninth in his first game at OKC, scored a run, stayed in to play second base and hit a double in his one at bat. One final note - Jonathan Villar has yet to collect his first hit of the season.

Player of the Day: How can you not award player of the day honors to a guy who goes 5-for-6 with a walk and a two-run bomb? Jake Elmore, come on down.

Pitchers of the Day: It's another tie. Brian Holmes started off the new season with an excellent outing and gets extra brownie points from me for issuing zero free passes. Luis Cruz did just that. He cruised through four innings with his six strikeouts serving as exclamation points for his outing.

Tweet of the Day

Jake Elmore ‏@JElmo10
Alarm clock, I hate you.

Tweet of the Day

Jake Elmore ‏@JElmo10

The deepest sleep imaginable is the ten minutes in between alarms after you hit snooze

Tweet of the Day

Jake Elmore @JElmo10

Holy cold front Florida!

Bonus Tweet of the Day

Courtesy of Jake Elmore's girlfriend, Kristen Keogh, we get to see some of Elmore's dance moves (about 30 seconds in).


Kristen Keogh ‏@KristenKeogh

Before the Harlem Shake was a thing @JElmo10 did this dance....http://youtu.be/EFeYNUk5p7Q 

Tweet of the Day

Jake Elmore ‏@JElmo10

You know Spring has started when 8 o'clock rolls around and you are brushing your teeth getting ready for bed.

Tweet of the Day

Jake Elmore ‏@JElmo6

Has anyone ever cleaned a pan with soap and not cleaned the soap off well enough? then cooked eggs directly after? If not, it's not advised.

Tweet of the Day

Jake Elmore ‏@JElmo6

Watching Cinderella, because I can. #noJudgementZone#NotAshamed

Astros Minor League Depth - Shortstop

Over the next few weeks as we approach Spring Training, I'll be looking at the Astros minor league depth, position by position. Today, we look at the shortstops in the organization who had the best seasons in 2012.

The embedded chart shows shortstops in the organization ranked from high to low in terms of OBP. I have noted their current age, the last level at which they played and, if they spent significant time at multiple positions, that information is included as well. I am including Jake Elmore's minor league numbers since he is new to the system so that you can see how his 2012 minor league numbers compare.

Nolan Fontana leapfrogged rookie league and short season A ball in his first season and went directly to playing for the full season Lexington club where he led the organization in OBP thanks to 65 walks in only 49 games. He will ultimately have to show more aggressiveness at the plate, but it was a solid first season by any measure. Jake Elmore and Ben Orloff also showed very patient approaches at the plate. Both players drew walks more often than they struck out in 2012.

Carlos Correa had an uneven season thanks to a slow start with the GCL team. However, once he got to Greeneville, he turned on the afterburners and hit .371/.450/.600 in his final 11 games and exhibited stellar defensive capabilities. Another young player to watch is Luis Reynoso. Reynoso was one of the few bright spots offensively on the DSL team in 2012. He just turned 18 in September as did Correa.

Jonathan Villar was having a good season offensively and appeared to be catching up to AA pitching when his fist came out on the losing side after an unfortunate encounter with a door. The tools are there, but he still has a ways to go, both offensively and defensively. But one thing he has a very good feel for is the stolen base. He swiped 39 bags in 86 games and was caught only eight times. Another player exhibiting some wheels was Joe Sclafani. In his first season in the organization he stole 16 bases in 70 games and was caught three times.

Jiovanni Mier was having a great comeback season when injury put a large dent in his season. He came back strong after the injury, though, and continued his progress with a very successful Arizona Fall League season. Alex Todd was one of the players to fill in for Mier; he put up good numbers at Lancaster after starting the season in Lexington. [UPDATE: After posting this, I found out that Alex Todd retired from baseball during the off-season.]

Monday: First Base
Tuesday: Second Base
Coming Thursday: Third Base

Roster Moves

In addition to yesterday afternoon's news that Jordan Schafer has been claimed off waivers by Atlanta, the Astros announced several other moves last night.

RHP Kyle Weiland was outrighted to Oklahoma City. LHP Fernando Abad, LHP Sergio Escalona, RHP Edgar Gonzalez and RHP Jose Valdez were also outrighted to Oklahoma City but are unrestricted free agents. (It was also noted that IF Matt Downs, who had been removed from the 40-man roster a couple days ago, is an unrestricted free agent as well.) Only two of these players were on the 40-man roster since Weiland and Escalona were on the 60-day DL so this effectively brought the running total down to 34 on the 40-man roster.

Two players, however, were added to the 40-man roster bring it back up to 36. RHP Sam Demel and 2B/SS Jake Elmore were claimed off waivers from the Diamondbacks. The 25-year old Demel, a third round draft pick by Oakland in 2007 and a native of Channelview, Texas, had significant major league experience with the Diamondbacks in 2010 and 2011, but made only one appearance at the major league level in 2012. In 72 major league appearances, he has a 4.95 ERA and a 1.586 WHIP out of the bullpen. In 56 appearances for AAA Reno this season, he had a 4.07 ERA and a 1.236 WHIP. Elmore, also 25, was a 34th round pick by Arizona in 2008. He spent the majority of his season at Reno as well, hitting .344/.422/.465 with 30 doubles, nine triples, one home run and 32 stolen bases in 108 games. He walked 74 times to 54 strikeouts. Elmore got his first call-up to the bigs on August 11th and hit .191/.247/.250 in 30 games.

I will update my ongoing list of off-season transactions (that I have linked on the front page) later today.