Showing posts with label Mark Appel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mark Appel. Show all posts

Monday, February 5, 2018

Astros Farm Report: 2/5

Catching you up on the latest Astros MiLB offseason news ...

WISHING A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO

Alex Winkelman - August 2017
Photo by Jayne Hansen

2-6: RHP David Paulino (24)
2-7: RHP Ronaldo Marrero (22)
2-8: LHP Jervic Chavez (21)
2-8: OF Jonathan Lacroix (21)
2-8: LHP Alex Winkelman (24)
2-11: 3B Adrian Tovalin (22)

ROSTER MOVES/TRANSACTIONS

I've only seen one roster move since last week's post.

1-31: 3B Richard Slenker (GCL) released

Slenker was drafted in the 28th round in 2017 out of Yale and was a senior sign. He only played in 9 games in 2017, missing almost three weeks in July which normally signals an injury issue.

You can check the cumulative Astros offseason transaction list here to see if you've missed any of the posted moves this offseason.

NEWS AND LINKS

It's been a pretty quiet week as teams gear up for Spring Training. One of the most interesting developments was the announcement by former Astros prospect Mark Appel that he would be taking a break from baseball. If you haven't already, you can read the story here. Brian McTaggart also weighed in. And now I guess it's my turn to weigh in.

Mark Appel - May 2015
Photo by Jayne Hansen

I first met Appel in 2013 and interviewed him in 2014 on the very day that he later became ill and ended up in the hospital for an emergency appendectomy. Although the injuries he's suffered over the years since he was drafted and the pressure of being a number one pick are certainly factors that led him to this place in his life, I am firmly convinced that his highly analytical side also hampered him. I would really have liked to see him get out of his head and bash a few more walls (as outlined in the first story above). The times that I saw him simply enjoying himself in the years in which I observed him were few and far between.

I would love to see Appel come back to the game at some point. Perhaps he will flourish later in an environment in which expectations have been lowered substantially, but that will have to include his own expectations of himself. I think he's taking an important first step in letting life take him in a different direction. If he feels the pull to come back to the game, if he can reconnect with what he once loved about it, if he can once again learn how to have fun playing baseball, only then will he be ready to take the mound again. Appel is a wonderful young man and I'm happy to have had the opportunity to meet him and talk with him. I wish him nothing but the best and I really think, for now, he is making the right decision.

In case you missed it, I started a "Beyond the Top 30" series, looking at both those Astros players who are considered Top 30 prospects and others at each position who may not be top talents (or may grow to be), but will be interesting to watch nonetheless. So far we've looked at ...

Shortstops
Second Basemen
First Basemen
Third Basemen
Center Field - Coming this week (I lied last week, but it really is coming this week!)

Friday, August 7, 2015

Bonus Tweet of the Day

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Happy Birthday - 7/15

Wishing a Very Happy Birthday to ...

RHP Mark Appel (24)
Appel was born July 15, 1991 in Houston, Texas, and was drafted by the Astros in the first round (first overall) in 2013 out of Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. He is currently playing for the AAA Fresno Grizzlies.

Mark Appel - May 2015
Photo by Jayne Hansen

LHP Carlos Hiraldo (19)
Hiraldo was born July 15, 1996 in Altimira, Dominican Republic and was signed by Houston as an international free agent in November 2013. He is currently playing for the Gulf Coast League Astros.

OF Ramon Laureano (21)
Laureano was born July 15, 1994 in Miami, Florida, and was drafted by Houston in the 16th round in 2014 out of Northeast Oklahoma A&M College. He is currently playing for the Low A Quad Cities River Bandits.

OF/Baserunning Coach Tim Garland (45)
Garland was born July 15, 1970 in Baltimore, Maryland. He is in his third season coaching in the Astros organization, his first as an outfield coach for the Quad Cities River Bandits and a baserunning development specialist for the Astros minor league system.

Sunday, July 12, 2015

Tweet of the Day

Sunday, June 28, 2015

Tweet of the Day

Monday, April 27, 2015

Tweets of the Day


Friday, April 17, 2015

Astros Minor League Recaps

Results for Thursday, April 16, 2015

Let's play.... 1.5 (I guess) in Quad Cities!

Fresno with the...

Organization sweep! Double brooms! 
 

Fresno 5, Salt Lake 4

W- Dan Straily (2-0)
L- Alex Sanabia (0-2)
S- James Hoyt (2)

Fresno home runs: None.

The Grizzlies stormed out of the gate with a huge 1st inning and held off the Bees to get the sweep.

Fresno put up 4 runs in the 1st on 3 straight doubles from Matt Duffy, Preston Tucker (his drove in 2), and Matt Dominguez. Nolan Fontana tripled to lead off the 4th and scored on an Alex Presley groundout. The two of them, along with Domingo Santana, finished with 2 hits. Everyone in the lineup had a hit except for Max Stassi, who went 0-1 as he walked, had a sacrifice, and got plunked.

Dan Straily went 5 innings and allowed 3 runs on 10 hits, walked 1, and struck out 2. Richard Rodriguez was the first man out; he allowed a run on 2 hits and walked 1. Darin Downs allowed a hit over 1.1 scoreless, and James Hoyt, in his first attempt to put that nightmare on Wednesday behind him, did so by working around a hit to record the final 2 outs of the game.

The Grizz hit the road for the first time this season; first stop, Sin City. Luis Cruz gets the start in game 1... he will take on Tyler Pill at 7:05 Pacific.

Corpus Christi 8, Springfield 0

W- Mark Appel (2-0)
L- Mike Mayers (0-2)

CC home runs: Telvin Nash (3, 3-run in 5th)

The Hooks, playing in front of their home crowd for the first time this season, put on a show on offense and their pitchers shut the Cardinals down.

A week ago, the Corpus offense torched Springfield starter Mike Mayers for 5 runs in 2 innings; this time, they knocked Mayers around for 5 runs in 4.1 innings. Leo Heras led off the 3rd with a triple. One batter later, Brandon Meredith got things started with a triple of his own to bring Heras home. Meredith came home on a Carlos Correa single. Telvin Nash struck out in his first 2 at-bats entering the 5th inning, but the third time proved to be the charm as he pulverized a Mayers pitch for a 3-run home run. Heras swatted another triple in the 8th; this one drove in a run. He would score on an error that allowed Meredith to reach. Tony Kemp ripped a double for the final Corpus run, as Meredith scored. Correa (RBI single), Heras (2 triples), and Meredith (RBI triple) all finished with 2 hits.

Mark Appel and two relievers combined on a 5-hitter. 2013's #1 tossed 5 shutout innings, allowing just 2 hits, walking 1, and striking out 4. Travis Ballew pitched 2 scoreless and allowed a hit, walked 1, and struck out 1. Dan Minor closed it out as he allowed 2 hits and struck out 2 over 2 scoreless.

Game 2 of this series has Kyle Westwood taking on Thomas Lee at 7:05.

Lancaster 10, High Desert 7

W- Michael Feliz (1-1)
L- Luis Parra (0-2)
S- Frederick Tiburcio (1)

Lancaster home runs: A.J. Reed (1, solo in 2nd), Chase McDonald (1, solo in 7th)

The JetHawks got the win in their first game away from The Hangar.

This was apparently a weird game all around. Let's let Jason Schwartz explain. The first two tweets happened in the middle of the 2nd inning.

And then...
Well, at about 9:50 Pacific time, we had that explosion.

With that out of the way, let's get to the actual game. The JetHawks put up 6 in the 4th to take a 7-3 lead and got some runs late to reinforce that lead.

A.J. Reed put Lancaster on the board in the 2nd with his, and the JetHawks', first home run of the season. Think about it... the JetHawks played an entire homestand in one of the biggest hitter's parks in professional baseball without hitting a home run. And in their first road game, they hit their first 2 home runs of the season. Baseball!

In that 6-run 4th, Brett Phillips kicked things off with a 1-out double, and he came around to score on an error after a Chan-Jong Moon single. James Ramsay added an RBI double, and then Danry Vásquez followed that up with an RBI single; another error allowed Ramsay to come home. Reed ripped an RBI double, and Jose Fernandez finished off the scoring in the inning with an RBI single. Chase McDonald led off the top of the 7th with a homer, and then Phillips tripled with 1 out and scored on a Moon sac fly. J.D. Davis drove in the final Lancaster run of the evening with an RBI single in the 8th. Ramsay (2 2B, RBI, 2 R, SB [1]) and Phillips (2 2B, 3B, 2 R) both finished 3-5. Reed finished 2-4 with 2 RBI and 2 runs scored, and everyone in the lineup had a hit. Davis and McDonald extended their hitting streaks to 5 games.

Zach Morton pitched 4 innings and allowed 5 runs on 7 hits (solo and 2-run homers), walked 2, and struck out 4. Michael Feliz tagged in for 3.2 innings and the only hit he allowed was a solo homer to Ryan Cordell in the 7th. Cordell also scored an unearned run off of him in the 5th after a Davis flub in the field. He walked 2 and struck out 6. Frederick Tiburcio got the 4-out save, striking out 1.

In game 2 of this series, Evan Grills and Troy Scribner will take on Tyler Smith at 6:35 Pacific.

Resumed game: Quad Cities 6, Beloit 4

W- Bryan Radziewski (1-0)
L- Kevin Johnson (0-1)
S- Keegan Yuhl (1)

QC home runs: D.J. Fisher (3, 2-run in 7th)

Beloit solved its lighting problems, and D.J. Fisher delivered an electric moment after the game resumed. OK, that was terrible. I'll stop.

After play resumed, the River Bandits got a couple of 2-run innings. In the 6th, they got a couple of RBI doubles from Mott Hyde and Bryan Muniz, who was making his season debut. Then, Fisher homered for the 3rd consecutive game with his 2-run blast in the 7th. He finished 2-4 with 2 runs scored. Alfredo Gonzalez went 2-4, and Jamie Ritchie scored 2 runs.

Chris Lee went 4 innings and allowed 3 runs (1 earned, 1 inherited runner charged to him) on 5 hits, walked 1, and struck out 4. When the game was suspended, there was a runner on 1st base for Beloit that Lee was responsible for. Bryan Radziewski allowed that run to score on a force out after play resumed. It was bit hairy as the Bandits committed 2 errors in the 5th inning, but other than that run, the Snappers offense was rendered useless by Radziewski, who struck out 6 over 4 near-perfect innings. Keegan Yuhl gave up a run on 2 doubles in the 9th, but he was able to close the game out.

Regularly scheduled game: Quad Cities 5, Beloit 1

W- Joe Musgrove (2-0)
L- Jordan Schwartz (0-1)
S- Eric Peterson (1)

QC home runs: None.

The Banditos also took the regularly scheduled game, which was shortened to 7 innings because of the suspension of Wednesday's game. They scored 1 run in 5 of the 7 innings.

Ryan Bottger grounded into a force out that scored Bobby Boyd in the 1st. Then, in the 2nd, Alex Hernandez hit an RBI single. He added another RBI single in the 4th. Mott Hyde chipped in an RBI single of his own in the 5th. Boyd tripled to lead off the 7th and scored the final run of the evening on a wild pitch. He, Hernandez, and Hyde had 2 hits apiece. Boyd also stole his 2nd base of the season, as did Jamie Ritchie.

Joe Musgrove turned in another fine start as he allowed just 1 run on 5 hits and struck out 5 over 5 innings. Eric Peterson finished it off with 2 perfect innings, striking out 3.

The River Bandits will look for the sweep as Dan Mengden and his 'stache take the mound at 6:30.

Three Stars: Position Players

Stats from the suspended game will be included.

3.
D.J. Fisher, OF, Quad Cities
2 games: 3-8, 2B, 2-R HR (3), 2 R

2. 
Leo Heras, OF, Corpus Christi
2-4, 2 3B, RBI, 2 R

1. 
James Ramsay, OF, Lancaster
3-5, 2 2B, RBI, 2 R

Brett Phillips, OF, Lancaster
3-5, 2 2B, 3B

Three Stars: Pitchers

Again, three really great performances on the mound. Of course, Bryan Radziewski did allow an inherited runner to score... but I'm a forgiving person.

Bryan Radziewski, LHP, Quad Cities
W (1-0), 4 IP, allowed inherited runner to score, 6 K

Mark Appel, RHP, Corpus Christi
W (2-0), 5 IP, 2 H, BB, 4 K

Joe Musgrove, RHP, Quad Cities
W (2-0), 5 IP, 5 H, ER, 5 K

Honorable Mentions

- Carlos Correa had that little mini-slump, but it appears that he's busted out of that brief lull to continue tearing the Texas League a new one.

- Brandon Meredith just keeps hitting. That Corpus lineup, top to bottom, has 9 guys who can, and on most nights, will absolutely put a beating on opposing pitchers.

- A.J. Reed has gotten off to a slow start; hopefully this solid game jump-starts his bat a bit.
- Bobby Boyd is showing that he could be an effective table-setter for Quad Cities.

- James Hoyt had a better showing as he looks to rebound from that disaster. As we know... every pitcher has had an outing like that as some point in their baseball life.

- Travis Ballew and Dan Minor were excellent as they completed the Corpus shutout.

- Michael Feliz wasn't fazed in his 2nd California League appearance. Obviously, the Cal League isn't an ideal pitching environment, but he's considered one of the elite pitching prospects in this organization and excelling in the Cal League will definitely confirm that status.

- Eric Peterson hasn't gotten much attention, but he posted fine numbers in Greeneville and could be one of those guys that might ascend rather quickly through the system.

Saturday, April 11, 2015

Astros Minor League Recaps

Results for Friday, April 10, 2015

Fresno 8, Las Vegas 4

W- Dan Straily (1-0)
L- Matt Bowman (0-1)

Fresno home runs: Preston Tucker (1, 2-run in 3rd), Nolan Fontana (1, solo in 5th)

The Grizz busted out for 5 in the 3rd inning, highlighted by Tucker's 2-run blast and a 2-run single from Matt Duffy. The two of them both finished 2-4, and Duffy opened up the scoring with an RBI single in the 1st. Jon Singleton hit an RBI double in that 5-run 3rd inning. Nolan Fontana's homer led off the bottom of the 5th; he reached base in all 4 of his plate appearances, drawing a walk and scoring 3 times. And finally, Matt Dominguez had a sac fly in the 8th. He was the only player in the starting 9+1 to not have a hit, but he did have that sac fly.

Dan Straily allowed 3 runs on 5 hits, walked 3, and struck out 6 over 5 innings to record the win. Darin Downs tossed a 1-2-3 6th inning, and Jason Stoffel followed that up with a 1-2-3 inning of his own, striking out 2 in the 7th. Tommy Shirley allowed a hit and struck out 2 in a scoreless 8th, and Kevin Chapman gave up an unearned run and a hit in the 9th.

Alex White will face Darin Gorski in game 3 of this series. First pitch is at 7:05 Pacific.

Corpus Christi 8, Springfield 2

W- Mark Appel (1-0)
L- Mike Mayers (0-1)
S- Kyle Westwood (1)

CC home runs: Teoscar Hernandez (1, solo in 7th)

The Hooks staked Mark Appel to a 5-0 lead after 0.5 innings, and he and Kyle Westwood did the rest as they held the Springfield offense in check.

The only ding on Appel's line was a solo homer hit by Aledmys Diaz in the 4th. He allowed just one other hit, walked 1, and struck out 4 over 5 innings. Westwood finished it off, allowing a run on a groundout hit by Diaz in the bottom of the 9th and 4 hits while striking out 1. He recorded 7 groundball outs against 1 flyball out.

Colin Moran kicked things off with an RBI double, which in turn, kicked off a 5-run top of the 1st. He and Carlos Correa were both sent home on a Telvin Nash single. Nash would score himself as Conrad Gregor added a sac fly, and Jon Kemmer delivered an RBI single in his first at-bat of the season. The Hooks added 1 in the 5th with a Teoscar Hernandez double, 1 in the 6th with a Carlos Correa double, and 1 more in the 7th as Teoscar led off the inning with his 1st homer of the year. Teoscar (2B, HR, 2 RBI), Tyler Heineman, Kemmer, Tony Kemp (2 runs scored), and Correa (2 2B, 2 BB) all turned in 2-hit performances.

Corpus will look to sweep this opening series as Josh Hader and Chris Devenski will face Thomas Lee (not the Motley Crüe drummer) at 6:10.

San Jose 5, Lancaster 0

W- Nick Vander Tuig (1-0)
L- Michael Feliz (0-1)

Lancaster home runs: None.

The JetHawks were held to 5 hits as they were kept off the scoreboard. Chase McDonald went 2-4, and Danry Vásquez had the only extra-base hit: a double. He also walked twice.

Michael Feliz had a tough first go-round; he allowed 4 runs on 8 hits and struck out 4 in 2.2 innings. However, only one of those hits went for extra bases. Chris Cotton stopped the bleeding for a bit as he allowed just 1 hit (a double) and struck out 4 over 2.1 scoreless. Zach Morton pitched the final 4 innings, allowing a run on 2 hits, walking 2, and striking out 3.

In game 3, Evan Grills will face Keury Mella. First pitch is at 6:00 Pacific.

Quad Cities 5, Peoria 2

W- Joe Musgrove (1-0)
L- Austin Gomber (0-1)
S- Jose Montero (1)

QC home runs: None.

M&M. Musgrove and Montero combined to shackle the Peoria offense for the final 5 innings.

Bryan Radziewski allowed 2 runs on 3 hits, walked 2, and struck out 5 in 4 innings of work. Joe Musgrove tagged in and allowed 3 hits while striking out 5 over 4 scoreless, and Jose Montero closed it out, striking out 2 in a 1-2-3 9th.

Everyone in the Quad Cities lineup had a hit except for Kristian Trompiz, who unfortunately had a hat trick. They got things started with a 3-run 3rd inning with a pair of RBI singles from Mott Hyde and Ryan Bottger and a bases-loaded walk drawn by Jamie Ritchie. Alfredo Gonzalez scored on an error in the 4th, and Nick Tanielu ripped an RBI triple in the 5th. Hyde, Tanielu, Bottger, and D.J. Fisher all had 2 hits; Fisher scored twice and stole his 2nd base of the year.

The Banditos will be looking for the sweep as Daniel Mengden and his glorious 'stache will face Daniel Poncedeleon in a battle of the Daniels. First pitch is at 6:00.

Three Stars: Position Players

3.

Teoscar Hernandez, OF, Corpus Christi
2-5, 2B, solo HR (1), 2 RBI


2.

Preston Tucker, OF, Fresno
2-4, 2-R HR (1)


1.

Nolan Fontana, SS, Fresno
3-3, solo HR (1), BB, 3 R

Three Stars: Pitchers

3.

Mark Appel, RHP, Corpus Christi
W (1-0); 5 IP, 2 H (solo HR), ER, BB, 4 K


Kyle Westwood, RHP, Corpus Christi
Save (1); 4 IP, 4 H, ER, K


2.

Chris Cotton, LHP, Lancaster
2.1 IP, H, 4 K


1.

Joe Musgrove, RHP, Quad Cities
W (1-0); 4 IP, 3 H, 5 K

Jose Montero, RHP, Quad Cities
Save (1); IP, 2 K

Honorable Mentions

Here are some other noteworthy lines from Friday's slate of games:

- Matt Duffy drove in 3 with his 2 singles last night in Fresno.
- Zach Morton allowing just 1 run in his 4 innings as the 2nd tandem starter for Lancaster.
- The 4 Fresno relievers (Downs, Stoffel, Shirley, and Chapman) locking down the Grizzlies' win.

(OK, OK. Kevin Chapman gave up a run in the 9th, but it was unearned and he finished the game without further incident.)

- Carlos Correa has turned into a slugging machine in the early going; all 3 of his hits this season are doubles.
- 2 nights, 2 multi-hit games for Tony Kemp.
- Jon Kemmer also had a nice season debut as he went 2-4 with an RBI for Corpus.

Monday, February 23, 2015

Tweet of the Day

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Tweet of the Day

Thursday, January 8, 2015

Tweet of the Day

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Tweets of the Day







Friday, December 5, 2014

Tweets of the Day





Monday, October 20, 2014

Friday, October 10, 2014

Tweet of the Day

Thursday, October 9, 2014

Arizona Fall League Recap

Salt River 6, Scottsdale 3

W- Jake Reed (1-0)
L- Alex Smith (0-1)
S- Enrique Burgos (1)

Salt River home runs by Astros players: None.

After Scottsdale scored their 3 runs in the bottom of the 4th, Salt River finished the game by scoring 5 unanswered.

Rio Ruiz was in the field for the first time this season; he went 0-5 with a strikeout. Andrew Aplin and Tyler Heineman appeared in the AFL for the first time this season; Aplin started in LF and went 1-5 with a run scored from the #8 spot in the order, and Heineman was behind the plate; he went 0-2 with 2 walks, a strikeout, and a run scored in the #9 spot.

Mark Appel got the start for Salt River and allowed a hit, walked 1, and struck out 2 over 3 scoreless frames. The one hit was a double by the Mets' Brandon Nimmo.

Stay tuned for Mr. Wallee Wright's in-depth report.

Thursday, October 2, 2014

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Tweets of the Day


Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Tweet of the Day

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Happy Birthday - 7/15

Happy Birthday to ~

RHP Mark Appel (23)
Drafted by Houston as the number one overall draft pick in 2013 out of Stanford, Appel has struggled this season. An off-season emergency appendectomy curtailed his spring activities and he's never really gotten in a groove so far this season. In 10 starts for Lancaster this year, he is 1-4 with a 9.57 ERA and a 1.964 WHIP.

OF Ramon Laureano (20)
Drafted by Houston in the 16th round in 2014 out of Northeast Oklahoma A&M University, Laureano is spending his first professional season with the Greeneville club. In 16 games, he is hitting .189/.283/.245.

LHP Carlos Hiraldo (18)
Signed by Houston as a NDFA out of the Dominican Republic, Hiraldo is in his first season with the Dominican Summer League Astros. In nine games (four starts), he has a 4.68 ERA and a 1.560 WHIP.

Several former Astros celebrate the day as well ~

C Dave Adlesh (71)
Adlesh was signed by the Colt .45's as an amateur free agent in 1963 and played a handful of games over six seasons (from 1963 to 1968) for Houston. In 106 games, he hit .168/.227/.199. He was 19 years old when he started playing for the Colt .45's in 1963.

C Kirt Manwaring (49)
A second round pick by the Giants in 1986, Manwaring came to Houston in a July 1996 trade and spent only 37 games as an Astro, hitting .220/.264/.256. With the Giants, he earned a Gold Glove in 1993 and led the National League in caught stealing percentage in 1992 and 1993 with a 50.5% and 45.9% respectively.

RHP Fernando Nieve (32)
An amateur free agent signed out of Venezuela by Houston in 1999, Nieve pitched in 51 games for Houston in 2006 and 2008 before being picked up off waivers by the Mets in March of 2009. In those 51 games (11 starts), he was 3-4 with a 4.64 ERA and a 1.374 WHIP. He once again signed with the Astros in March 2011 but was released a month later. He is currently playing for the Angel's AAA team.

CF Reggie Abercrombie (34)
A 23rd round pick by the Dodgers in 1999, Abercrombie was selected by Houston off waivers from the Marlins in October of 2007. He played in 34 games for Houston in 2008, hitting .309/.339/.539. He has spent the last four seasons playing in the Mexican League and in Independent League ball.

RHP David Carpenter (29)
Originally drafted by the Cardinals in the 12th round in 2006 out of West Virginia University, Carpenter came to Houston in an August 2010 trade with St. Louis for Pedro Feliz. In 65 games for Houston in 2011 and 2012, he was 1-5 with a 4.55 ERA and a 1.709 WHIP. He was included in the 10-player July 2012 trade with the Blue Jays. He is currently pitching for Atlanta.