Happy Birthday - 2/20

Happy Birthday to ~

LF/DH Telvin Nash (24)
Drafted in the third round in 2009 out of high school in his native Georgia, Nash spent his 2014 season with the AA Corpus Christi team. In 84 games, he hit .227/.330/.484 with four doubles, 22 home runs and 49 RBI.

OF Rodrigo Ayarza (20)
2014 was Ayarza's first season in the Astros organization, having played the previous two seasons in the Rangers organization. In 61 games in the Dominican Summer League, he hit .274/.387/.359. He is originally from Panama.

Former Astros with birthdays today ~

RHP Bill Gullickson (55)
A first round pick by Montreal in 1977, Gullickson came to Houston as a free agent in December 1989. In one season for the Astros in 1990, he was 10-14 with a 3.82 ERA and a 1.459 WHIP in 32 starts. In 1991, after being released by Houston, he went 20-9 for Detroit. Gullickson came in second to Steve Howe in Rookie of the Year voting in 1979.

RHP Jason Hirsh (33)
A second round pick by Houston in 2003, Hirsh started nine games for the Astros in 2006, going 3-4 with a 6.04 ERA and a 1.567 WHIP.  He was traded, along with Taylor Buchholz and Willy Taveras, to the Rockies for Miguel Asencio and he-who-must-not-be-named in December of 2006.

Happy Birthday - 2/20

Happy Birthday to ~

LF/DH Telvin Nash (23)
Drafted in the third round in 2009 out of high school in his native Georgia, Nash spent a second season in Lancaster, but last appeared on July 18th. In 62 games, he hit .246/.357/.500 with 10 doubles, 16 home runs and 48 RBI. Nash made a solid improvement in batting average and on-base percentage and lowered his strikeout rate by almost 10 percentage points. He was hitting .324/.432/.585 in his final 10 games.

Former Astros with birthdays today ~

RHP Bill Gullickson (55)
A first round pick by Montreal in 1977, Gullickson came to Houston as a free agent in December 1989. In one season for the Astros in 1990, he was 10-14 with a 3.82 ERA and a 1.459 WHIP in 32 starts. In 1991, after being released by Houston, he went 20-9 for Detroit. Gullickson came in second to Steve Howe in Rookie of the Year voting in 1979.

RHP Jason Hirsh (31)
A second round pick by Houston in 2003, Hirsh started nine games for the Astros in 2006, going 3-4 with a 6.04 ERA and a 1.567 WHIP.  He was traded, along with Taylor Buchholz and Willy Taveras, to the Rockies for Miguel Asencio and he-who-must-not-be-named in December of 2006. He pitched in one game for Amarillo in the Independent League in 2013.

Happy Birthday - 2/20

Happy Birthday to ~

LF/DH Telvin Nash (22)
Drafted in the third round in 2009 out of high school in his native Georgia, Nash spent the 2012 season at Lancaster where he hit 19 doubles, 29 home runs and drove in 75 in 106 games. He finished the season with a .224/.316/.494 batting line and struck out 198 times to 47 walks. He hit two home runs and had five RBI in the post-season.

Former Astros with birthdays today ~

RHP Bill Gullickson (54)
A first round pick by Montreal in 1977, Gullickson came to Houston as a free agent in December 1989. In one season for the Astros in 1990, he was 10-14 with a 3.82 ERA and a 1.459 WHIP in 32 starts. In 1991, after being released by Houston, he went 20-9 for Detroit. Gullickson came in second to Steve Howe in Rookie of the Year voting in 1979.

RHP Jason Hirsh (31)
A second round pick by Houston in 2003, Hirsh started nine games for the Astros in 2006, going 3-4 with a 6.04 ERA and a 1.567 WHIP.  He was traded, along with Taylor Buchholz and Willy Taveras, to the Rockies for Miguel Asencio and he-who-must-not-be-named in December of 2006.

We also have a birthday in the Astros blogging community ~

Deputy Jason (33)
Jason Phelps, writer for Astros County, celebrates his birthday today as well!

Happy Birthday - 2/20

1B/LF Telvin Nash (21)
Drafted in the 3rd round in 2009 out of high school in his native Georgia, Nash took a little detour in his development as he missed almost 2 months of the 2011 season after breaking the hamate bone in his left hand early in the season.  He finished the season at Lexington with a .274/.380/.488/.867 batting line with 18 doubles and 14 home runs over 78 games.  He is currently ranked as the number 10 prospect in the Astros system on my consensus list.

RHP Livan Hernandez (37)
Born in Cuba and originally signed by the Marlins as a free agent in 1996, Hernandez signed as a free agent with the Astros on January 31, 2011.  Known as a workhorse, Hernandez has pitched at least 199 innings in 11 seasons.  In 1997, he was runner up to Scott Rolen in Rookie of the Year voting as he was 9-3 in 17 regular season starts and 2-0 in the NLCS and 2-0 in the World Series, earning him MVP honors in each series. He also won a Silver Slugger award in 2005 and All-Star honors in 2004 and 2005.

Former Astros with birthdays today ~

RHP Bill Gullickson (53)
Gullickson pitched one season for Houston in 1990, going 10-14 with a 3.82 ERA and a 1.459 WHIP in 32 starts.  In 1991, after being released by Houston, he was 20-9 for Detroit.

RHP Jason Hirsh (30)
A second round pick by Houston in 2003, Hirsh started nine games for the Astros in 2006, going 3-4 with a 6.04 ERA and a 1.567 WHIP.  He was traded, along with Taylor Buchholz and Willy Taveras, to the Rockies for Miguel Asencio and he-who-must-not-be-named in December of 2006.

We also have a birthday in the Astros blogging community ~

Deputy Jason (32)
Jason Phelps, writer for Astros County, celebrates his birthday today as well!