Astros Minor League Depth - Relief LHP

As Spring Training approaches, I've been looking at the Astros minor league depth, position by position. Today, we look at the left-handed relief pitchers in the organization who had the best seasons in 2012.

The embedded chart shows the pitchers ranged from low to high in terms of WHIP. I have noted their current age and the last level at which they played. I am not including Xavier Cedeno as he spent a significant portion of 2012 at the major league level.

I know that Kenny Long's stats are based on a small sample size, but holding opposing batters to a 0.99 batting average while leading the system in strikeout rate (15.3 SO/9) over 29 appearances was wow-worthy nonetheless. After being drafted in the 22nd round in 2012, Long made 17 appearances at short-season Tri-City before skipping Lexington altogether and landing at Hi-A Lancaster for his final 12 appearances of the season.

Mitch Lambson has intrigued me for a while and I like him even better after his 2012 season in which he showed me that he can be just as effective against right-handed batters as he is against lefties. Jeremiah Meiners has also been someone I find interesting. It is note-worthy, however, that he's only made it as far as short-season A in his third season in the organization. I was hoping to have seen him challenged at a higher level in 2012.

Theron Geith came to the Houston organization (after the minor league season was over) as the PTBNL in the Ben Francisco trade to Tampa. He spent his second season in professional ball with Hi-A Port Charlotte in the Florida State League. He more than held his own vs. right-handed batters with a 0.975 WHIP and .227 batting average against righties.

Thomas Shirley, the 2010 9th round draft pick, put up good numbers after sitting out most of 2011 due to injury. If he can stay healthy again in 2013, he should start moving up through the system.

Javier Saucedo spent his second season in the organization repeating in the Dominican Summer League. He frequently pitched in long relief and had one spot start toward the end of the 2012 season. I wouldn't be surprised to see him stretched out to get additional starts in 2013. I assume that he will make the transition to the Gulf Coast League this season. If he can cut down on his walks, he could be an interesting prospect to watch in the coming year.

Pat Urckfitz has pitched parts of four seasons at Lancaster. He struggled to be effective at the higher levels for portions of the 2011 season and ended up spending the entire 2012 season back at Lancaster. He will need to prove that he can consistently succeed at the higher levels. 2013 could be make or break for him. Another pitcher I will be watching closely in 2013 is Evan Grills. Grills struggled during the second half of his season at Lexington, but at only 20, it is far too early to give up on him.

Kevin Chapman got into a groove in the 2012 season as he thrived in the 8th inning set up role. Chapman teamed up with closer Jason Stoffel to provide a very effective one-two punch out of the bullpen for Corpus Christi.

Alex Sogard's numbers don't look very impressive at first glance, but they are skewed by a rough month after his promotion to Corpus Christi. In 24 appearances from June forward, he had a 2.63 ERA and a 1.195 WHIP. That the Astros front office thought enough of him to send him to play in the Arizona Fall League after last season should tell you something as well.

Tuesday: Lefty Starters
Coming Thursday: Catchers

Astros Minor League Depth - Starting LHP

As Spring Training approaches, I've been looking at the Astros minor league depth, position by position. Today, we look at the left-handed starting pitchers in the organization who had the best seasons in 2012.

The embedded chart shows the pitchers ranged from low to high in terms of WHIP. I have noted their current age and the last level at which they played. I am not including Dallas Keuchel as he spent a significant portion of 2012 at the major league level.

One thing stands out for me when looking at this list. Only three pitchers (Wes Musick, Brett Oberholtzer and Luis Cruz) pitched for the Houston organization before 2012. Cruz is the only one who played in the system before 2011. Except for Edwin Villarroel, a 17-year old NDFA signed from Venezuela prior to the season, the rest were either drafted in 2012 or traded for in 2012. It's easy to see why GM Jeff Luhnow was aggressively pursuing left-handed starters in deadline trades last year.

Brian Holmes, a 13th round draft pick in 2012, is easily one of my favorites from the 2012 draft. He held hitters to a .165 batting average and flirted with no-hitters a couple of times during the short season. At the other end of the list is Joe Bircher, the Astros 2012 10th round pick. Bircher had an uneven freshman season, but I look for him to be more consistent in 2013.

The Astros super-sized their lefty ranks by trading little lefty Wandy Rodriguez for Rudy Owens (6'3" 230#) and Colton Cain (6'3" 255#) in July. Cain struggled somewhat at Lancaster after the trade, but he only turns 22 today so he has time to work that out. Owens, on the other hand, did well in his time at Oklahoma City after the trade and will be headed to Spring Training to challenge Erik Bedard for a job with the big club.

Another pitcher who will be headed to Spring Training to challenge Bedard is Brett Oberholtzer. I am higher on Oberholtzer than some of the other bloggers. He finished the season at Oklahoma City very strongly; he's a workhorse who pitched the second most innings in the Astros minor league system (37 more innings than Bedard in 2012); and he is highly motivated.

David Rollins (Blue Jays trade) and Blair Walters (Brett Myers trade) were also obtained in 2012 deadline deals. Rollins only made six starts for Lexington after the trade but handled the transition well. Walters struggled after his in-season promotion to High A for the White Sox and then for Houston. Look for him to start the season back at Lancaster.

Luis Cruz, one of the longest tenured Astros farm hands, was drafted out of Puerto Rico in 2008. He just turned 22 in September. Edwin Villarroel caught my eye with what he was able to accomplish at only 17 even before Luhnow mentioned that Villarroel stood out in Luhnow's recent visit to the Dominican Republic. Luhnow was impressed by Villarroel's "stuff" but was equally impressed by the command he showed at such a young age.

Wes Musick started the season at Lancaster, stopped at Corpus Christi briefly and ended up in Oklahoma City where he last pitched June 19th before injury derailed his season. Kyle Hallock, the Astros 10th round pick in 2011, also had his season cut short as he had surgery to remove loose bodies in his elbow. He had an excellent freshman season in 2011. I will be eager to see what he can do in 2013 when he is once again healthy.

Coming Wednesday: LH Relief Pitchers

WTH 25-Man Roster - Lefty Starter

As posted over the weekend, 1B Jonathan Singleton was the second player picked for the WTH roster.  Go here for more info on the What the Heck 25-Man Roster.

Today, let's pick a Lefty Starter.  As I did with our first right-handed starter, I picked only lefties used primarily as starting pitchers who had a minimum of 120 IP for full-season teams and a minimum of 50 IP for short-season teams.  I included Xavier Cedeno even though he was converted to a reliever later in the season because he was very effective as a starter and even though he is currently at the major league level.  If any player on the WTH roster makes the MLB club out of Spring Training, we will replace that player.

With that said, we don't have as many choices, but they are all worthy of the WTH 25.  I was able to see several of Keuchel's starts on MiLB.tv and I was immediately struck by his composure on the mound.  He seems very much in control.  On paper I am quite impressed with Kyle Hallock's performance.  Van Hekken had good results with his 9-6 record.  And, as stated earlier, Cedeno was quite good as a starter at Corpus before he made the switch to relief.  Not an easy task, but please look over the numbers and vote.