Astros Minor League Player Releases

Another round of Astros minor league players were cut this morning:

LHP Joe Bircher
C Ernesto Genoves
RHP Gera Sanchez
IF Jesse Wierzbicki
IF Brandon Wikoff

I had just updated Bircher's profile for his birthday write-up next week:

Drafted in the 10th round in 2012 out of Bradley University, Bircher started the season with the Quad Cities team and ended it there, but spent a large chunk in between rehabbing in Florida. Over a total of 18 games (14 starts) between Quad Cities and the GCL, he had a 3.81 ERA and a 1.308 WHIP. Bircher thrived in the post-season. In two starts, he was 2-0 with a 0.90 ERA and a 1.100 WHIP.

Genoves was one of only three players left in the organization who had played in the Astros Venezuelan Academy before it was closed, the other two being Jose Altuve and David Martinez. Genoves showed early promise at the plate, but definitely struggled in Tri-City in 2013.

Wikoff was the 5th round pick in 2009. Used mostly as a utility infielder, Wikoff missed the 2013 season due to injuries he received in an automobile accident during Spring Training last year. He will be 26 in April.

Wierzbicki was the 24th round pick in 2011. The 25-year old started the season in Quad Cities and ended it in Lancaster, hitting a combined .259/.357/.384 with 25 doubles, two triples and eight home runs.

Sanchez was signed in 2012 as a non-drafted free agent. He also started the season in Quad Cities and ended it in Lancaster where he put up a 1.69 ERA and a 1.219 WHIP in six bullpen appearances. For the season, he was 4-2 with a 5.22 ERA and a 1.401 WHIP.

Happy Birthday - 11/24

Happy Birthday to ~

1B Jesse Wierzbicki (24)
Wierzbicki was drafted by Houston in the 24th round in 2011 out of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He spent the majority of his 2013 season with Quad Cities before being promoted to Lancaster for the final 25 games of the season. In 112 games between the two venues, Wierzbicki had a .259/.357/.384 batting line with 25 doubles, two triples, eight home runs and 63 RBI.

One former Astro with a birthday today ~

RHP George Throop (63)
A 16th round pick by the Royals in 1972, Throop came to Houston in an April 1979 trade. In 14 games for the Astros that season, he had a 3.22 ERA and a 1.559 WHIP.

Astros Minor League Roster Moves

In addition to the MUCH reported moves that brought RHP Josh Zeid and RHP Chia-Jen Lo up to the Astros and sent Hector Ambriz to Oklahoma City, there are a couple of other minor league moves to report.

Lancaster
1B Jesse Wierzbicki assigned from Quad Cities to Lancaster
1B Telvin Nash placed on the 7-day DL

Quad Cities
OF Danry Vasquez assigned to Quad Cities

GCL
RHP Luis Ordosgoitti assigned to the GCL (Ordosgoitti started the season on the DL)

Astros Minor League Recaps

Tuesday's Games
OK, yesterday I got a little cranky and I called out some starting pitchers. I'm not proud of it, but ... IT WORKED!!! Four out of five Astros MiLB teams won yesterday and the loss was close. It's so much more fun writing about wins than losses. Thanks guys!!!

Oklahoma City over Iowa 8-5
Thank you Asher Wojciechowski for starting off my day right. After the last couple of rough days for the farm system, the RedHawks didn't waste any time removing that losing taste from my mouth as they prevailed in a day game. Wojo gave up one in the first on a solo home run and one in the sixth on an RBI single, but put up four very pretty zeroes in the interim and struck out seven batters. Kevin Chapman, Alex Sogard and Rhiner Cruz combined to allow three runs (one earned) in two and a third before giving way to Jose Valdez who struck out the side to earn his 13th save of the season. The RedHawks took the lead in the bottom of the first on a Brett Wallace (3x4 BB 2R) two-run home run and managed to keep the lead the rest of the way, staying just ahead of Iowa. Cody Clark was two-for-four and scored a run. Andy Simunic drove in three via a single and sac bunt. There were five stolen bases in the game, with Che-Hsuan Lin and Jonathan Villar each getting two, and Simunic getting one.

Corpus Christi over San Antonio 6-2
Mike Foltynewicz got the start and his second AA win as he pitched five innings and allowed two runs on three hits and three walks while striking out five (and he reportedly lit up the radar gun to 100 and 101 on several occasions). He was followed by four scoreless innings from David Martinez (2H 4SO). Corpus took the lead in the third as Jon Singleton (2x4 BB) drove in two with a triple and then scored on a throwing error on the play. A Kiké Hernandez (3x4 2B 3B HR) home run in the fourth, a Justin Maxwell RBI single in the fifth, and a Domingo Santana home run in the eighth accounted for the rest of the scoring. Maxwell's RBI single broke an 0-for-19 streak. George Springer was one-for-five with a double, but struck out four times.

Lancaster over High Desert 3-1
Manager Rodney Linares burned incense and brought in some sacrificial KFC and it worked. The JetHawks 8-game losing streak is now in the rearview mirror! Luis Cruz (5H 2BB 5SO) threw the first five frames and did a terrific job, getting a key strikeout in the fifth to strand runners at second and third. Kyle Hallock (W, 4-1) threw the next three and a third and allowed one run in the ninth before giving way to Travis Ballew who converted his tenth save of the season as he erased the inherited runner on a double play. The 'Hawks did all of their scoring with two outs in the sixth inning, with runs coming across on a Preston Tucker (4x4 2-2B R) RBI single and a two-run M.P. Cokinos double. Joe Sclafani was two-for-four with two doubles and scored a run.

Quad Cities over Cedar Rapids 8-4
Starter Lance McCullers (4IP 5H 4R 2BB 6SO) would probably like to have the third inning back to do over as four of his five hits allowed and all of his runs came across in the frame. But the team had Lance's back and took the lead in the seventh to get him off the hook. Daniel Minor (3.1IP 3H 1BB 4SO) cruised to his fourth win of the season and John Neely pitched a perfect one and two-thirds to earn his 10th save of the season. It was mostly a small ball offense, taking advantage of errors and stealing bases (Rio Ruiz, Austin Elkins, Carlos Correa and Ruben Sosa all swiped bags) until Jesse Wierzbicki (3x5 4RBI 3R) put things out of reach with a three-run home run in the eighth. Correa was two-for-two with three walks and three runs scored; Jobduan Morales was one-for-four with two RBI; and Ruben Sosa was two-for-four.

DSL Rays over DSL Astros 7-6
Five pitchers worked for the Astros in this one and none of the performances really stood out one way or the other. The boxscore is here if you so desire. The lead changed on this one five times before the Astros finally ran out of outs. The bad news is that the Astros only had six hits. The good news is that four of them were doubles, including two doubles from 2B Arturo Michelina. RF Brauly Mejia was one-for-two with a double and two walks. C Marlon Avea doubled as well.

Player of the Day: Jesse Wierzbicki has been in a bit of a funk with the bat lately. It's great to see him break out in a big way and win the WTHB honors. Kiké Hernandez only lacked a single in his quest to hit for the cycle on Tuesday, an admirable feat, and earns honorable mention.

Pitcher of the Day: Luis Cruz gets all my love today and then some. The five shutout innings he tossed Tuesday night gave the JetHawks the chance to stay in the game, get the bats going and end their eight-game losing streak. The 'Hawks needed a stopper and they got one.

The Man, The Myth, The Moustache

There is currently a friendly competition at Quad Cities as several of the players are working on the facial hair component of their games. I can only surmise that this was inspired by the legendary caterpillar of Michael Dimock.

Ryan Dineen's offering is coming along quite nicely.

As is Jesse Wierzbicki's (but he's not exactly helped out by the light blonde hair).

Daniel Minor impressed me with this Fu Manchu that he assures me is only two weeks in the making.

He is followed in the pecking order by Catfish Elkins. I might rank Elkins higher, but with a nickname like Catfish, he needs to have more impressive whiskers (but he's working on it).

Lance McCullers is working on his as well and should benefit from his darker hair color (he and Elkins posed for this quick shot on my phone).

After that, the quality drops off considerably. Thankfully, Carlos Correa is better at fielding his position than he is at growing moustaches.

And finally I bring you the Rio Ruiz moustache, a work in progress. After I took this photo, he asked to see it, and then he ran off excitedly into the dugout, "You can see it! You can see it!" Ummm, yeah, well, kinda ...

Carry on gentlemen. I wholeheartedly approve. The quality 'stache and baseball go hand-in-hand. And baseball is nothing without tradition.

Astros Minor League Recaps

Monday's Games

Quad Cities over Burlington 12-2
The River Bandits put a hurtin' on Burlington early with 11 runs in the first three innings to remain undefeated for the season. So much for my theory that the QC team might struggle early in the season! Starter Joe Bircher allowed two runs on three hits in his first inning of work before settling in to shutout the Bees over the next four innings and was rewarded with the win. Vincent Velasquez faced the minimum number of batters over the last four innings while striking out six. CF Teoscar Hernandez went 4-for-6 with two doubles, an RBI and three runs scored; DH Chase Davidson was 3-for-5 with three RBI singles; and 1B Jesse Wierzbicki was 2-for-4 with five RBI, including an RBI double and a three-run home run. 2B Joe Sclafani contributed a two RBI double toward the effort to go with his three walks.

Lake Elsinore at Lancaster - Postponed due to dust. Really.

Jonas Dufek ‏@Jonasty41
The difference 5 minutes can make in Lancaster CA... #dusteverywhere pic.twitter.com/34TIPHkTV6


Corpus Christi over Tulsa 4-3
Down 3-2 in the bottom of the ninth with two outs, CF George Springer drew a bases-loaded walk to tie it and was followed with a walk-off single from DH Michael Burgess to seal the deal and get the Hooks their third straight victory. Jake Buchanan had a strong start, allowing two runs on three hits. He recorded nine ground outs and six strikeouts -- I like it! In Carlos Quevedo's first action since his promotion to Corpus, he allowed three hits (including a two-out homer) and struck out three over one and two-thirds innings. Pat Urckfitz closed it out with two and a third scoreless frames for the win. Springer was 2-for-3 with a double, two RBI, two walks, a run scored and a stolen base; Burgess was 3-for-5 with an RBI single; and 2B Kiké Hernandez recorded two walks, an RBI single and a stolen base. LF Austin Wates also swiped a bag. Although the Hooks only managed six hits in the game, they walked nine times including two walks each from Wates and RF Domingo Santana.

Nashville over Oklahoma City 1-0
Really great pitching from both sides as the two teams combined for only nine hits and three walks. Rudy Owens got his first start of the season and was rewarded with a loss despite allowing only one unearned run on three hits and a walk with two strikeouts in five innings. Jose Cisnero allowed only two hits and one walk while striking out three in the final three frames. My man 2B Jake Elmore was 2-for-4 with a double and stole a base. The only other RedHawks hits were singles from CF Robbie Grossman and LF Trevor Crowe.

Player of the Day: Teoscar Hernandez and Chase Davidson both had terrific games for Quad Cities, but I have to send a little extra love to Jesse Wierzbicki. Wierzbicki started out a little slow this season, but really busted out on Monday with his five RBI game.

Pitcher of the Day: Vincent Velasquez simply dominated in four no-hit innings. I really expect him to start moving up the prospect rankings this season.

Astros Minor League Depth - First Base

It's time to take a look at the Astros minor league depth, position by position, as we approach Spring Training. Today, we will look at the first basemen in the organization who had the best seasons in 2012.

The embedded chart shows first basemen in the organization ranked from high to low in terms of OPS. 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 not including players who spent time at the major league level in 2012, such as Brett Wallace.

Erik Castro, who barely leads this list over Jonathan Singleton, divided his time almost equally between 1B and DH in 2012. I would caution against those who are inclined to dismiss Castro as a prospect because of the "Lancaster effect" and the fact that he will be 25 going in to the 2013 season. He was 100% healthy in 2012 for the first time since injury sidetracked his career in 2010. I can certainly see Castro successfully moving up in the system in 2013. He may even get back to playing third base as well which would only add to his versatility and value to the organization. One key for him is to cut down on his strikeout rate.

At first glance, you may be unimpressed by Zach Johnson's .238 batting average, but look a little closer. Johnson was tied with Castro for an organization-leading 108 RBI. He got those RBI any way he could, including grounding into force outs and an organization-leading 14 sac flies, and productive outs don't exactly boost a player's batting average. His 38 doubles ranked in the organization behind only the 39 doubles hit by Brandon Barnes before his call-up to Houston. 

The only one of these players who is new to the organization is Michael Martinez, a 2012 draftee who had a solid debut season with Greeneville. Jesse Wierzbicki in his second season with the Astros and Rafael Valenzuela in his third year both had good seasons as well. Valenzuela was an integral part of the Lancaster team's late run to the playoffs and Wierzbicki was named MVP of the Tri-City team.

One surprise for me from this list was that Jean Batista actually spent more time at first base than he did at either of the middle infield positions as he has in the past. It may just be a temporary situation as players jockey for playing time, but interesting to watch in any event.

Jonathan Singleton, of course, just got popped with a 50-game suspension for testing positive for what has been widely reported as marijuana. He will be allowed to participate in Spring Training, and his suspension will start once the season begins.

One player who doesn't appear on this list who will bear watching in 2013 is Chase Davidson. He only played in a handful of games in 2012, all at DH, before sitting out the remainder of the season with an undisclosed injury. When I interviewed Jeff Luhnow in November, he mentioned that he was eager to see what Davidson could do once healthy.

Tuesday: Second Base

Happy Birthday - 11/24

1B Jesse Wierzbicki (24)
Originally from Georgia, Wierzbicki was drafted in the 24th round in 2011 out of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After a very respectable freshman season at Greeneville in 2011, Wierzbicki spent the majority of his 2012 season with Tri-City hitting .297/.376/.422 in 70 games. For the season, he had 12 doubles, four triples, six home runs, 45 RBI, 31 walks and 20 stolen bases in 78 total games. On August 23rd, he hit a two-run game winning home run for Tri-City in extra innings to hit for the cycle.

One former Astro with a birthday today ~

RHP George Throop (62)
A 16th round pick by the Royals in 1972, Throop came to Houston in an April 1979 trade. In 14 games for the Astros that season, he had a 3.22 ERA and a 1.559 WHIP.

MiLBY Awards

Voting for the minor league MiLBY Awards is now open and you have the chance to vote for a few future Astros.

PLAY - Austin Wates over the wall catch and Jake Goebbert collision at home plate

BREAKOUT PROSPECT - Mike Foltynewicz

GAME - Chris Devenski's no hitter and Jesse Wierzbicki's hitting for the cycle

PROMO - The Home Run Derby aboard the U.S.S. Yorktown which featured Lexington Legend's players Matt Duffy and Zach Johnson

I object most vehemently that the Lancaster Jethawks weren't nominated for Team of the Year, but I guess they can take solace in their California League Championship trophy!

Tri-City ValleyCats Season Recap

So far we have looked at the seasons for the DSL Astros, the GCL Astros, the Greeneville Astros, the Lexington Legends, the Oklahoma City Redhawks, and the Corpus Christi Hooks. Now let's take a look at the Short-Season A Tri-City ValleyCats. Here's a quick look at how the 2011 and 2012 teams compare.


2011 Wins-Losses/Win Percentage: 33-42/.440
2012 Wins-Losses/Win Percentage: 51-25/.671

2011 Runs Scored - Runs Allowed = Run Differential: 345 - 343 = 2
2012 Runs Scored - Runs Allowed = Run Differential: 414 - 251 = 163

2011 Team ERA & WHIP: 3.78 & 1.393
2012 Team ERA & WHIP: 2.75 & 1.170

2011 Team Batting Line: .247/.335/.349
2012 Team Batting Line: .271/.355/.391

Tri-City fell just one game short of winning the 2012 New York-Penn League Championship.

The 2012 Tri-City team improved over the 2011 team in every single area and they shone in the New-York Penn League as they led the league in batting average (a tie for first), on-base percentage, slugging, home runs and stolen bases. They ranked second in the league in runs scored, hits, RBI, walks, team ERA and saves, and were in fourth place in WHIP and strikeouts. It was also very telling that as a team, the batters ranked 13th out of 14 in strikeouts and the pitchers ranked 12th out of 14 teams in issuing walks. In other words, the batters didn't swing at bad pitches, and the pitchers threw strikes. You can't ask for much more than that.

There were several outstanding season performances from position players on the team. Let's just look at a few.

It is easy to see why 1B Jesse Wierzbicki was named team MVP as he was among the league leaders in runs (4th), RBI (tied for 5th), stolen bases (7th), hits (8th), OBP (9th), batting average (12th) and slugging (12th). He also led the Tri-City team in runs, hits and RBI, and the 23-year old finished the season with a .297/.376/.422 batting line.

21-year old C Tyler Heineman earned the New York-Penn League batting title with his league-leading .358 batting average. His on-base percentage (.452) ranked second in the league and his slugging percentage (.430) was ninth. He was also terrific behind the dish with a 41% caught stealing rate. He hit .304 in post-season play.

Since CF Andrew Aplin was promoted to Lancaster for the final 22 games of the season, he doesn't qualify as a league leader in the NYPL, but his .348/.441/.537 batting line would have him ranked at second in batting average, third in on-base percentage and first in slugging percentage if he did qualify. Despite being gone from the league for almost a month, he was still tied for third in the league in triples and was tied for fourth in the league in stolen bases. The 21-year old finished the season with a combined batting line of .313/.386/.493 with 13 doubles, seven triples, seven home runs and 24 stolen bases.

RF Preston Tucker is another player who does not qualify as a league leader in batting stats due to the number of games played, but he would rank highly as well with a .321/.390/.509 batting line. The 22-year old was, however, tied for fifth in home runs and seventh in RBI despite limited playing time.

2B Austin "Catfish" Elkins ranked fifth in the league in runs scored and eighth in stolen bases, and the 21-year old was in the top 20 in the league in hits, home runs and on-base percentage as well. He finished the season with a .272/.360/.398 batting line, 13 doubles, two triples, five home runs and 18 stolen bases. In the post-season, he hit .435 with a home run and four RBI.

SS Joe Sclafani was tied for eighth in the league in walks (first on the Tri-City team) and ninth in stolen bases  (fourth on the team) and was in the top 20 in the league in runs, hits and RBI. He is 22. Sclafani hit .273, stole a base and drove in six runs in the post-season.

Also of note were LF Dan Gulbransen who tied for 10th in RBI and 11th in home runs in the league and IF/OF Neiko Johnson who tied for 10th in stolen bases. Gulbransen hit .273 with a home run and three RBI in the post-season while Johnson hit .333.

As far as pitchers go, there are several that have me very excited about the future.

RHP Aaron West was seventh in ERA (2.04) and WHIP (0.957) out of all pitchers qualifying as league leaders and was tied for 11th in the league in strikeouts. He walked only nine batters in 61+ innings and ended the season with a fantastic 6.56 SO/BB ratio. In the post-season he had a 2.45 ERA and a 0.909 WHIP. He is 22.

LHP Brian Holmes flirted with no-hitters all season and came incredibly close to a perfect game as well. He ranked sixth in the New York-Penn League in strikeouts and was 11th in ERA (2.56) and eighth in WHIP (0.960). Holmes tied for third in the league with seven wins. He won't turn 22 until January.

RHP Brady Rodgers turns 22 today. He was tied with teammate Brian Holmes for third in wins in the league and was in the top 15 in ERA (2.89) and WHIP (1.139). Rodgers was also stingy with the walks as he gave up only 11 free passes in 62+ innings.

RHP Lance Day lacked the requisite number of innings to qualify as a league leader, but the 22-year old was 6-1 with a 2.73 ERA and a 1.139 WHIP in 11 games (8 starts).

LHP Kenny Long pitched so well with Tri-City (1.88 ERA and 0.628 WHIP in 17 appearances) that he merited a promotion to Lancaster where he put up a 1.12 ERA and a 0.625 WHIP in 12 appearances and got the final out to clinch the California League Championship. He is 23.

Other pitchers of note include 22-year old RHP Juri Perez. Perez did not pitch enough innings to qualify as a league leader, but his very stingy 1.81 ERA in nine appearances (8 starts) would certainly rank highly. He had a 2.16 ERA and a 0.840 WHIP in two post-season appearances. 24-year old RHP Blake Ford was tied for first in the league with 14 saves. 21-year old RHP Travis Ballew was 5-1 with a 1.62 ERA and a 1.026 WHIP in 23 appearances with 10.2 SO/9. 24-year old LHP Jeremiah Meiners was 4-2 with a 1.98 ERA and a 1.000 WHIP in 20 appearances. RHP Vincent Velasquez, at 20 years of age, was one of the team leaders in strikeouts with a 10.1 SO/9 rate.

Frankly, it's hard to single out the top pitching performers on your team when only two on the staff have ERA's higher than 3.35! This pitching staff wasn't just good, it was also very deep in talent.

I will look at the final team, the Lancaster JetHawks, later this week.

Minor League Recaps

Thursday's Games

DSL Athletics at DSL Astros - cancelled
I'm broken hearted that I won't have a DSL game to recap today.

GCL Marlins over GCL Astros 7-3
Agapito Barrios went to 1-5 for the season as he allowed five runs (four earned) on five hits over four innings of work. Ambiorix de Leon pitched two scoreless, followed by three innings from Alan Abreu in which he gave up two runs (one earned) on four hits. The Astros scored three in the bottom of the first for a promising start, but only managed to get four base runners the rest of the game. Edwin Gomez has been on a roll as of late, going two-for-four with a double and an RBI yesterday and hitting .389 over his last 10 games.  Luis de la Rosa and Yonathan Mejia both hit RBI doubles; and Teoscar Hernandez was two-for-three with a walk and scored a run.

Greeneville over Danville 7-3
With this win, the Greeneville crew has now worked their way closer to a possible playoff berth and is now only a half a game back with only five games left to play. They will need a little help from Johnson City, though, as there are no head-to-head matches left between the two teams. Daniel Minor got his third straight win in as many starts as he allowed three runs (only one earned) on four hits in seven innings. His ERA for August is 0.35. Michael Dimock allowed only one hit in his two innings. Greeneville matched runs with Danville until the Astros opened things up in the fifth and sixth with five runs. Brian Blasik, newly named Appy League All-Star, was two-for-five with two RBI and scored a run; Terrell Joyce drove in two; and Marc Wik was two-for-four with an RBI double and scored twice. Jean Batista, now with the ValleyCats, was also named an Appy League All-Star.

Tri-City over Brooklyn 2-1 in 11 innings
Brian Holmes got the start, giving up two runs on six hits and four walks over five innings of work. He was followed by three scoreless frames from Euris Quezada and two and a third innings from Travis Ballew (one run on two hits). Scott Zuloaga and John Neely (S, 3) faced one batter each to close things out. Ballew was credited with his fifth win in relief. Jesse Wierzbicki was a one man wrecking crew as he hit for the cycle, including a two-run bomb in the 11th that gave the ValleyCats the win, drove in three and scored twice. Wierzbicki is hitting .378/.439/.541 over the last 10 games.Preston Tucker was two-for-five and scored twice. He is hitting .347 in the 30 games he's played in so far this season.

Charleston over Lexington 10-9 in 11 innings
This one was a heartbreaker in more than one way. Down 8-3 going into the bottom of the eighth, the Legends took a 9-8 lead as they put up a six spot in the frame, but ultimately couldn't hold on as Murilo Gouvea was charged with the blown save and Gabriel Garcia was pegged with the loss. Lexington is now on an eight game skid. Starting pitcher Luis Ordosgoitti was less than sharp, allowing four runs on seven hits in only three innings and was followed by Evan Grills (three runs on three hits in three and a third) and Thomas Shirley (one run on two hits in one and two thirds). There was some good offense from the Legends in this one, but it wasn't enough to counter the sketchy pitching. Jordan Scott (2x5 RBI R), Zach Johnson (2x5 2B RBI), Brandon Meredith (2x5 BB R SB), Nolan Fontana (2x4 2B 3RBI 2BB 2R), Jobduan Morales (3x6 R) and Justin Gominsky (2x4 2RBI) all contributed to the cause. Zach Johnson now has 37 doubles and 107 RBI for the season.

Midland at Corpus Christi - suspended in the middle of the 5th
Corpus Christi was up 2-0 when the lights went out ... literally. The game will resume at 5:00 p.m. CST today and will be followed by the regularly scheduled game.

Lancaster over Rancho Cucamonga 10-0
David Martinez earned his eighth win in a combined shutout, as he allowed eight hits and two walks with six strikeouts. Chia-Jen Lo and Brad Dydalewicz kept the shutout alive through the final two innings. Grant Hogue was en fuego -- three-for-three with an RBI and two runs scored, including a steal of home.

Andrew Robinson ‏@ARob2627

One of the more impressive things I've seen on a baseball field was@grant_hogue stealing home tonight. #fastestkidalive

There was a lot of thievery going on as Drew Muren and Delino DeShields each swiped a bag as well. DeShields is now at 93 for the season. And not to be outdone, Carlos Perez (2x3 2-2B RBI BB 3R) displayed some decent wheels as well.

Jason Schwartz ‏@jasondschwartz

Catcher Carlos Perez just tagged and scored from 2nd base on a fly ball to right field. #speed #Astros

Oklahoma City over Iowa 2-1
Jose Cisnero had a solid start, giving up one run on three hits over six innings to earn his third win with the Redhawks. Brian Bass and Jose Valdez (S, 18) combined for three innings of scoreless relief. Cisnero also contributed offensively as he hit a two-run double for his first professional hit EVER. The Redhawks only managed three other hits in the game, all singles.

Player of the Day: If you hit for the cycle and get the game-winning run in with a two-run homer in extra innings, you too can be my Player of the Day. Jesse Wierzbicki, you're the man!

Pitcher of the Day: Seven innings of shutout ball? David Martinez it is!

Star of the Day: I'm creating a special category just for today for Jose Cisnero. He only allowed one run on three hits in his start and then drove in both of the team's runs with his first professional hit. That deserves a special acknowledgment.

Roster Moves - 6/12

Lexington
1B Jesse Wierzbicki was assigned to Lexington from Tri-City.

DSL Astros
OF Brauly Mejia was assigned to the DSL Astros.

Roster Moves - 6/2

Oklahoma City
OF Fernando Martinez optioned to Houston to replace OF Travis Buck who went to the DL.
RHP Jordan Lyles recalled to Houston.
UT Matt Downs optioned to Oklahoma City.

Lexington
RHP Richard Rodriguez assigned from the GCL Astros to Lexington.
1B Jesse Wierzbicki assigned from Lexington to Tri-City.

There are additional moves forthcoming late today. I will post those as soon as I am at liberty to do so.

Roster Moves

Lexington
2B John Hinson placed on the 7-day disabled list.
1B Jesse Wierzbicki assigned from extended spring training to Lexington.

Roster Moves

Oklahoma City
RHP Jordan Lyles optioned from Houston to Oklahoma City.
RHP Enerio del Rosario recalled from Oklahoma City to Houston.
The previously reported LHP Wes Musick move from Corpus Christi to OKC was also confirmed.

Also, according to a tweet from Joe Witkowski, 1B Jesse Wierzbicki is headed to Lexington, but this information HAS NOT been confirmed yet.

Happy Birthday - 11/24

1B Jesse Wierzbicki (23)
Originally from Georgia, Wierzbicki was drafted in the 24th round in 2011 out of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  In his first season with Greeneville, he put up some good numbers, batting  .265/.368/.444/.802 with 12 doubles, a triple, five home runs and three stolen bases over 162 AB's.  I look forward to seeing what he will do in a full season next year.

One former Astro with a birthday today

RHP George Throop (61)
Pitched in 14 games for Houston in 1979