Astros Minor League Depth - Lefty Starters, Part 2

[4/13/14 UPDATE: Joe Bircher is no longer in the organization.]

In an ongoing series on the Astros minor league depth, we last looked at the lefty starters in the organization who ended the season at Advanced A or higher. Now up, those lefties who ended the season at Low A or one of the short season teams. Again, I'm sorting these from low to high by WHIP. One pitcher who may be considered a starter (and is not on this list) is Sebastian Kessay. He started early in the season, but after missing almost a month was used exclusively out of the bullpen.

Four of these pitchers pitched under 30 innings so their numbers can be taken with a grain of salt. Kent Emanuel (2013 third round draft pick) and Austin Nicely (10th round) are the highest profile pitchers of those with limited innings. Emanuel was used extensively (some say too much) during his junior year for North Carolina and into the College World Series so it was no surprise that he was limited. Baseball America listed Emanuel as the Astros #23 prospect in their recent Prospect Handbook. Nicely was one of the younger signings, having been drafted out of high school, and is likely being brought along slowly.

Also limited in innings pitched were Starlyng Sanchez and Ambiorix de Leon. Sanchez only started playing for the Dominican Summer League Astros at the end of July and only became a starter in his final two outings. De Leon was shut down in mid-July.

Joe Bircher (10th round 2012 pick) and Brian Holmes (13th round 2012 pick) both started in the tandem rotation in Quad Cities and both ended up missing a good chunk of the season due to injuries. Holmes was terrific in his final four appearances after coming back from rehabbing the injury. Bircher struggled for consistency after returning from his rehab, but shone in the post-season. Bircher only walked 16 batters in 78 innings. Holmes had a very healthy 3.76 SO/BB ratio and held batters to a .208 average, .198 against right-handed hitters.

Brian Holmes - April 2013

Photo by Jayne Hansen

Josh Hader also pitched for Quad Cities after he came over to the Astros from Baltimore in the July 2013 Bud Norris trade. In five starts after the trade, Hader was 2-0 with a 3.22 ERA and a 1.164 WHIP and dominated in the post-season. Even better, the 2012 19th round draft pick did all of that at 19 years of age (he will turn 20 in April). Batters hit only .209 against him for the season and only .182 against him at Quad Cities. Baseball America has him as #14 in the Astros system.

Two of the three lefty starters who finished the season with Tri-City were drafted in 2013. Chris Cotton (14th round out of LSU) only made eight appearances before being shut down for the season in early August, but he definitely impressed. Cotton only walked two batters in 31 innings and had the highest strikeout to walk ratio of any starter in the Astros system. Randall Fant (29th round out of Arkansas) held his own in his freshman season, but actually fared better when used on the relief side of the tandem rotation, putting up a 2.79 ERA and a 1.086 WHIP and holding batters to a .219 average.

Chris Cotton - July 2013

Photo by Jayne Hansen

The third pitcher who ended the season at Tri-City was 2010 10th round draft pick Evan Grills. Grills is another pitcher who did better in relief than as a starter. When used in relief in the tandem, he had a 1.65 ERA, a 0.988 WHIP and held hitters to a .214 batting average. Grills was drafted out of high school and will only be turning 22 in June.

Two 21-year old extreme groundball pitchers were fixtures in the Greeneville rotation in 2013. Jordan Mills, drafted in the 28th round in 2013 had an excellent first professional season. And Chris Lee, drafted in the fourth round in 2011, made a big step forward in his third season. Lee was used almost exclusively as a starter, making only one relief appearance. After seeing Lee pitch last August and interviewing him, he officially landed on my radar and also made the Prospect Handbook as #24 in the system.

Chris Lee - August 2013

Photo by Jayne Hansen

The final pitcher from the list is an 18-year old Venezuelan who was a part of the very successful Dominican Summer League rotation in 2013. Edwin Villarroel, who will be 19 in May, made big strides in lowering walks and increasing strikeouts in his second professional season. 

Astros Minor League Depth - Lefty Starters, Part 1

[4/13/14 UPDATE: Wes Musick and Kyle Hallock are no longer in the organization.]

In a continuing look at the Astros minor league depth, today we're going to cover those left-handed starting pitchers who ended their seasons at Advanced A Lancaster or above. As always, I tend to make a few judgment calls when categorizing the pitchers. For example, Blair Walters started the season in the tandem rotation but ended it working exclusively out of the bullpen so I will be including him with lefty relievers. Conversely Tommy Shirley was not used extensively as a starter until late in the season and I am including him with the starters. The following pitchers have been sorted low to high by WHIP.



Wes Musick leads the list in terms of WHIP and Rudy Owens is toward the bottom of the list in that regard, but neither mark is particularly meaningful as both pitchers were derailed by injury early in the season and were shut down. I don't know the nature of Musick's injury, but it is the third year in a row that he has missed significant amounts of time. Owens was set back by a fractured foot early in the season, but was healthy enough to put up impressive numbers playing in the Dominican League over the winter. In 10 starts, he was 3-2 with a 2.68 ERA and a 0.988 WHIP. Musick came to Houston from the Rockies organization in 2010 for Matt Lindstrom and Owens was a part of the July 2012 trade with the Pirates for Wandy Rodriguez.

Also obtained in that July 2012 trade with Pittsburgh was Colton Cain. Cain started the season in Quad Cities and did not have a good April (vast understatement), but he righted the ship and went 8-3 with a 2.78 ERA and a 1.247 WHIP the rest of the way and was rewarded with an August promotion to Lancaster.

I'm not sure what to make of Kyle Hallock's 2013 season. Coming off an injury-shortened season in 2012, Hallock was moved between teams five times in 2013 and had mixed results. The Astros 2011 10th round draft pick had better results earlier in the season, including pitching the first five innings of a combined no-hitter for Lancaster in May, but he got pounded later in the season. Hallock may very well be headed to the bullpen as he generally fared better in that role during the 2013 season.

Hallock's tandem partner while in Lancaster, Luis Cruz, pitched the final four innings of the May no-hitter. Cruz, who just turned 23 in September, was drafted by Houston out of Puerto Rico in the ninth round in 2008. Not only did Cruz throw the back end of the no-hitter in May, he also tossed a complete game two-hit shutout in his penultimate appearance with Corpus Christi after being promoted there in August. Cruz led the Astros minor leagues with his 150 strikeouts in 130+ innings pitched, and was added to the Astros 40-man roster ahead of the December Rule 5 draft.

Luis Cruz - May 2013

Photo by Jayne Hansen

David Rollins also received a late-season promotion to Corpus Christi, and although he did not dominate at the level like Cruz, he mostly managed to hold his own (although there was one bad outing to end the regular season that I'm sure he'd like to get back). Rollins came to the Astros in the big July 2012 10-player trade with the Blue Jays. He ranked third in the Astros minor league system in strikeouts in 2013 with 137 in 136+ innings. It is worth noting that he fared extremely well in the hitter-friendly California League, putting up a sub-4.00 ERA and a 1.161 WHIP in 97+ innings despite his penchant as a flyball pitcher. An ERA that low pitching for Lancaster is the exception rather than the rule.

David Rollins - September 2013

Photo by Jayne Hansen

Which brings me to Tommy Shirley. Shirley, the Astros 2010 ninth round draft pick out of Xavier University, made a couple of spot starts for Lancaster early in the 2013 season, but was mostly used out of the bullpen until later in the season. Shirley had great numbers for the season and even managed a sub-4.00 ERA at home at The Hangar. He ended the season very strongly and I look forward to seeing him build on that success in 2014.

Later this week, we'll look at those lefty starters who ended their seasons at Low A or on one of the short season clubs.