2019 Astros Minor League Coaching Staffs

The Houston Astros have released their minor league staff assignments for 2019. I'll update this post if/when they have the official press release.

(Coordinators, GCL, and DSL staffs from Climbing Tal's Hill)

COORDINATORS

Hitting: Jeremy Barnes
Pitching: Bill Murphy
Catchers: Mark Bailey
Fundamentals: Jason Bell

ROUND ROCK EXPRESS

Former Astro Mickey Storey moves up from Quad Cities to take the helm of the Express in the first season of their second stint as the Astros' Triple-A affiliate after being reclaimed from the Rangers.

Drew French and Ben Rosenthal both move up from Buies Creek, where they oversaw the Carolina League champions' pitchers and hitters, respectively.

Manager: Mickey Storey
Pitching Coach: Drew French
Hitting Coach: Ben Rosenthal

CORPUS CHRISTI HOOKS

Graham Johnson joins Omar Lopez's staff as the Hooks' pitching coach after spending 2018 with Quad Cities in the same capacity.

Tim LaMonte is new to the Astros organization. According to the Hooks' press release, LaMonte has been a private hitting instructor based in Texas for over 20 years and ran his own facility, In The Box Athletics, located in Sunnyvale, Texas, a small town near Dallas.

Manager: Omar Lopez
Pitching Coach: Graham Johnson
Hitting Coach: Tim LaMonte

FAYETTEVILLE WOODPECKERS

A new coaching staff will take over the Woodpeckers, who are finally getting the chance to settle into their new home after two seasons at Campbell University in Buies Creek.

Nate Shaver takes over as the manager; he was previously a development coach for Buies Creek.

New hitting coach Jason Kanzler played for three seasons in the Twins system after they drafted him in the 20th round of the 2013 draft, advancing as far as Class A Advanced. Prior to taking this job, Kanzler spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach at Katy High School.

Thomas Whitsett, the Woodpeckers' pitching coach, comes from the University of Arizona, where he was the Director of Player Development-Pitchers.

Manager: Nate Shaver
Pitching Coach: Thomas Whitsett
Hitting Coach: Jason Kanzler

QUAD CITIES RIVER BANDITS

Ray Hernandez gets his first shot at managing a team. In 2018, he served as a development coach for Fresno. He'll be joined by Rafael Peña and Erick Abreu.

Hernandez was drafted by the D-Backs in the 48th round of the 2011 draft out of Cal State Fullerton and pitched for two seasons in their system.

Abreu was originally signed by the Yankees in 2003 and pitched in the Astros system from 2008-12. He began his coaching career in the Dominican Summer League in 2013 and has moved up the organizational ladder one level at a time, spending last year as Tri-City's pitching coach.

Peña, the lone holdover from Quad Cities' 2018 staff, spent last season as the development coach.

Manager: Ray Hernandez
Pitching Coach: Erick Abreu
Hitting Coach: Rafael Peña

TRI-CITY VALLEYCATS

The defending New York-Penn League champions will have an all-new staff in 2019. As a side note... all of these guys are the same age as me. Well, they're all older than me but they were all born in the same year as me.

New manager Ozney Guillén is the youngest son of former White Sox manager Ozzie Guillén. According to the ValleyCats' press release, Guillén just wrapped up his playing career, which was mainly spent in the independent leagues and Venezuela. In his first coaching job, he gets to take the reins of a team right out of the gate. He takes over for Jason Bell, who will assume a new role as Fundamentals Coordinator.

New pitching coach John Kovalik spent the last two seasons as the pitching coach at his alma mater, Slippery Rock University, a Division II school in Pennsylvania.

Sean Godfrey, the ValleyCats' new hitting coach, was drafted by the Braves in the 22nd round out of Ball State in 2014 and played in the Atlanta organization until 2016. He spent the last two seasons with the Schaumburg Flyers in the independent Frontier League.

Manager: Ozney Guillén
Pitching Coach: John Kovalik
Hitting Coach: Sean Godfrey

GULF COAST LEAGUE ASTROS

No changes for the Palm Beach Stros.

Manager: Wladimir Sutil
Pitching Coach: Jose Rada
Hitting Coach: Rene Rojas

DOMINICAN SUMMER LEAGUE ASTROS

Carlos Lugo takes over as manager; he previously managed the now-defunct DSL Astros Orange team in 2016. Ernesto Irizarry is the new hitting coach.

Manager: Carlos Lugo
Pitching Coach: Rick Aponte
Hitting Coach: Ernesto Irizarry

There are no changes in the coaching staff down in the Dominican as Erik Acevedo, Alejandro Martinez, Selin Aquino, Luis Reynoso, and Starlyng Sanchez will all return as instructors in 2019.

Happy Birthday - 3/16

Happy Birthday to ~

LHP Reymin Guduan (23)
An international free agent from the Dominican Republic, Guduan has played in the Astros system for five seasons. For the Greeneville team in 2014, Guduan was 2-5 with a 4.47 ERA and a 1.805 WHIP in 13 games (nine starts). He struck out 58 batters in 44.1 innings.

One former Astro celebrates today as well ~

RHP Mickey Storey (29)
Originally signed by Oakland in the 31st round in 2008, Storey came to the Astros organization in a trade with Oakland for "future considerations" in July 2011 and made his major league debut in Houston on August 3, 2012. In 26 games, he had a 3.86 ERA and a 1.220 WHIP. He played with the Blue Jays organization in 2014.

Happy Birthday - 3/16

Happy Birthday to ~

LHP Reymin Guduan (22)
A NDFA from the Dominican Republic, Guduan made all but one of his 11 appearances (two starts) for the Gulf Coast League Astros, ending the regular season with a spot appearance for Oklahoma City. He compiled a 4.30 ERA and a 1.435 WHIP for the season. Reportedly, Guduan can routinely hit the high 90's with his fastball, but his control is still a little iffy. He struck out 12.5 batters per nine innings, but he also walked 5.1 batters per nine.

IF Raoul Torrez (26)
Signed by Houston as a minor league free agent prior to the 2013 season, Torrez gets the Frequent Flyer Award for getting moved eight different times between Lancaster, Corpus Christi and Oklahoma City. He also played all four infield positions, ten games in left field and I saw him work as a bullpen catcher in Lancaster. Torrez ended the season with a combined line of .225/.297/.326 in 66 games.

One former Astro celebrates today as well ~

RHP Mickey Storey (28)
Originally signed by Oakland in the 31st round in 2008, Storey came to the Astros organization in a trade with Oakland for "future considerations" in July 2011 and made his major league debut in Houston on August 3, 2012. In 26 games, he had a 3.86 ERA and a 1.220 WHIP. He is currently with the Blue Jays organization.

Happy Birthday - 3/16

Happy Birthday to ~

LHP Reymin Guduan (21)
A NDFA from the Dominican Republic, Guduan pitched for the GCL Astros after spending the two prior season with the DSL Astros. In 2012 he was 1-1 with a 5.40 ERA and a 1.473 WHIP in eight appearances (three starts).

One former Astro with a birthday today ~

RHP Mickey Storey (27)
Originally signed by Oakland in the 31st round in 2008, Storey came to the Astros organization in a trade with Oakland for "future considerations" in July 2011. He split his 2012 season between Oklahoma City and Houston. In 38 games (two starts) for Oklahoma City, he was 7-4 with a 3.05 ERA and a 1.169 WHIP. He made his major league debut on August 3, 2012 and had a 3.86 ERA and a 1.220 WHIP in 26 games. In the two venues combined, he walked 24 batters in 95+ innings while striking out 106. After being selected off waivers three times over the winter, he ended up with the Blue Jays ... for now.

Roster Moves

The Astros announced today that they had acquired RHP John Ely from the Dodgers in exchange for LHP Rob Rasmussen. I didn't post about this move earlier partly because I wasn't sure how I felt about it and also because of that whole pesky day job thing getting in the way.

From what I had seen and read about Rasmussen since he came to the Astros in the Carlos Lee trade in July of this year, I liked him. A lot of it boils down to his pitching performance for the Hooks in a playoff game back in September against Frisco. I watched the game on the computer and there was a moment when he stepped off the mound, took a deep breath, cleared his head and then calmly extricated himself from a difficult situation. He showed great focus and maturity. That moment, along with the things that I had heard and read about him, made me want to see more of Rasmussen in 2013.

And what I saw about Ely didn't really wow me, other than his 2012 minor league stats which were quite good by any measure. But seeing as his limited time in the majors hadn't translated into much success yet and seeing as he is three years older than Rasmussen, I confess to being a little conflicted.

So I reached out to John Manuel of Baseball America to see what he thought of the deal. I wanted to get an outsider's impression on it. According to Manuel, "I like Rasmussen probably more than most. But Ely won the pitching triple crown in the PCL; that's pretty tough. I think he's a good place-holder, and Rasmussen is probably just a reliever on a championship team, or a back-of-the-rotation starter. I like Rasmussen; I had him 19 on my list for the Handbook. But Ely is a nice sleeper pickup, for me." He also pointed me to this Baseball America article from this past summer.

So there you have it. I'm feeling a bit more comfortable about the trade and Rasmussen is over the moon happy to be playing for the team he grew up watching.

Since Rasmussen wasn't on the 40-man roster, a corresponding move was necessary in order to make room for Ely. OF Che-Hsuan Lin who had been picked up off waivers from the White Sox earlier this off-season was designated for assignment. In other news, RHP Mickey Storey was again claimed off waivers from Houston, this time by the Blue Jays. In addition, although it has been widely rumored that the Astros are signing the free agent righty Jose Veras, the deal has not been finalized. Once it is (presuming it is), another 40-man roster move will need to be made.

Roster Moves

Jeff Luhnow and first baseman Carlos Pena appeared at a joint press conference this afternoon to announce that Pena had been signed to a one-year deal with the Astros. The 34-year old journeyman first baseman was a free agent after having spent the 2012 season with the Rays organization. A first round pick by the Rangers in 1998, he has played in parts of 12 major league seasons, all but one of which were for American League teams. Pena led the American League in home runs in his All-Star year of 2009 playing for Tampa Bay. He also has a Silver Slugger and Gold Glove to his name. He is expected to play some first base, but will primarily be called upon to serve as the DH in the Astros first season in the American League. Pena had a distinct fall-off in his numbers at the plate in 2012. His major league stats can be found here. As the 40-man roster is currently full, a corresponding move will need to be made but it hasn't been announced yet. I will update my off-season transaction list when that detail is released.

UPDATE: Mickey Storey was designated for assignment in order to clear a 40-man roster spot (for the second time this off-season) for Carlos Pena. Henceforth, Storey shall be referred to as the Rubberband Man.

Also, Baseball America posted that the Astros have signed 24-year old minor league RHP Ricky Martinez having acquired him from the Cardinals for cash considerations. According to Mike Tauser over at Farmstros, Martinez is the son of the Astros new Bullpen Coach Dennis Martinez.

Roster Moves

In addition to the players acquired in the Rule 5 draft yesterday, the Astros also re-claimed RHP Mickey Storey from the Yankees. Storey had been claimed off waivers by the Yankees last month when he was removed from the Astros 40-man roster in advance of the Rule 5 draft. Storey has been placed back on the 40-man roster which now stands at 40.

RHP Cameron Lamb, one of yesterday's Rule 5 draft picks, is currently playing for the Perth Heat in the Australian Baseball League. Tom Fee, a writer covering the Heat, posted this article about Lamb which may be of interest as we get to know Lamb a bit better. Be warned, though, that there is an oddly placed Public Service Announcement that is a tad confusing.

I have re-configured the Off-Season Transactions list in an attempt to make it more coherent (yet still comprehensive) and I have added these latest moves.

Tweet of the Day

Wesley Wright ‏@realweswright

Sounds like @moneymick17 is back. How did you enjoy your time in the Yankees organization? Lol

Oklahoma City Redhawks Season Recap

So far we have looked at the DSL Astros season, the GCL Astros season, the Greeneville Astros season and the Lexington Legends season. Now let's take a look at the AAA Oklahoma City affiliate. Here's a quick look at how the 2011 and 2012 teams compare.


2011 Wins-Losses/Win Percentage: 68-75/.476
2012 Wins-Losses/Win Percentage: 78-65/.545

2011 Runs Scored - Runs Allowed = Run Differential: 619 - 717 = (98)
2012 Runs Scored - Runs Allowed = Run Differential: 764 - 758 = 6

2011 Team ERA & WHIP: 4.63 & 1.516
2012 Team ERA & WHIP: 4.91 & 1.508

2011 Team Batting Line: .260/.341/.381
2012 Team Batting Line: .282/.349/.434

It's hard to truly judge a AAA affiliate because those teams are generally a mix of lifetime minor leaguers who may get an occasional MLB callup to fill a hole, struggling major leaguers who have been sent down to work on things and a few true prospects. With that said, it's difficult to read too much into the results and season comparisons at this level.

So which players had standout seasons in Oklahoma City?

There were several position players whose 2012 seasons resulted in a call-up to the Astros, such as OF Brandon Barnes (.321/.381/.514 39-2B 1-3B 12HR between Corpus Christi and Oklahoma City), 3B Matt Dominguez (.298/.347/.398), IF Scott Moore (.318/.410/.555 26-2B 1-3B 10HR), OF Fernando Martinez (.314/.367/.507 23-2B 2-3B 13HR) and C Carlos Corporan (.286/.349/.447 15-2B 6HR).

But probably the most noteworthy of those getting call-ups was OF Jimmy Paredes. In 124 games, the 23-year old hit .318/.348/.477 with 28 doubles, seven triples, 13 home runs and 37 stolen bases (tied for second in the league). He was third in the league in hits with 161 and fifth in runs scored with 92.

Of the position players left behind, the best seasons belonged to SS Angel Sanchez (.320/.390/.407 13-2B 1-3B 5HR), OF Brad Snyder (.304/.375/.550 23-2B 3-3B 20HR) and the ever dependable albeit not flashy OF J.B. Shuck (.298/.374/.352 with 11-2B 3-3B). Sanchez ranked in the top 20 in the league in batting average and on-base percentage. Snyder was seventh in slugging, eighth in OPS and was tied for 11th in home runs.

The 34-year old journeyman IF Mike Hessman deserves his own paragraph. Although he only hit .231 with a .301 OBP, he was 13th in the league with a .515 slugging percentage, first in home runs with 35 (and third in strikeouts with 136), and was tied for 11th in the league in RBI.

Several relief pitchers shuttled back and forth from Oklahoma City to Houston and back again, such as Fernando Abad (now starting), Xavier Cedeno and Enerio del Rosario. But it was RHP Mickey Storey that opened some eyes with his performance at Oklahoma City and merited an August 3rd call-up. In 38 appearances, including two spot starts, Storey was 7-4 with a 3.05 ERA and a 1.169 WHIP. Another standout was RHP Jose Valdez who ranked third in the league in saves with 21. His season numbers do not impress at first glance, but if you throw out his June numbers when he was nursing an injury that would eventually land him on the DL, his ERA drops to 2.84 with a 1.237 WHIP for the remainder of the season.

LHP Dallas Keuchel (6-4 in 16 starts, 3.90 ERA, 1.213 WHIP) had a good season with OKC before his call-up and RHP Edgar Gonzalez (1-0 in 2 starts, 0.69 ERA, 0.615 WHIP) barely saw the inside of the clubhouse at OKC before his call-up.

Of the pitchers left behind, three in particular made that crucial step from AA to AAA during the season and showed good progress in their development. LHP Brett Oberholtzer (10-10 in 38 starts, 4.37 ERA, 1.356 WHIP combined) actually got stronger as the season progressed and ended the season at Oklahoma City with a 2.02 ERA and a 1.121 WHIP over his final five starts. RHP Jarred Cosart only made six appearances (five starts) with Oklahoma City, but had a very impressive 2.60 ERA and 1.410 WHIP. His combined numbers for the season were 6-7 with a 3.30 ERA and a 1.395 WHIP. RHP Jose Cisnero was 4-1 at Oklahoma City and ended the season with a 3.70 ERA and 1.409 WHIP (combined), and a 4.54 ERA and 1.764 WHIP at Oklahoma City -- not the most impressive of numbers but a decent first step.

I will continue with my look at the final three teams' seasons when they finish post-season play. I hope I have to wait a good long while!

Roster Moves

Oklahoma City/Houston
RHP Mickey Storey's contract was purchased by and he was assigned to Houston as Francisco Cordero was placed on the DL.

Oklahoma City
RHP Ross Seaton was assigned from Corpus Christi to Oklahoma City.
RHP Garrett Mock was obtained in a trade from Boston for future considerations and will be assigned to Oklahoma City.

Corpus Christi
C Jason Castro was assigned to Corpus Christi for a rehab assignment.
RHP Bobby Doran was assigned from Lancaster to Corpus Christi.

Lexington
RHP Jonas Dufek was activated from the DL.
RHP Chris Devenski was obtained from the Chicago White Sox as the PTBNL in the Brett Myers trade and will be assigned to Lexington. For more information on Devenski, please see David Coleman's post at The Crawfishboxes.

Happy Birthday - 3/16

LHP Reymin Guduan (20)
A NDFA from the Dominican Republic, Guduan has spent the last two seasons pitching for the DSL Astros.  In 2011, the 6'4" 185 lb. lefty started 13 games, going 1-3 with a 2.17 ERA and a 1.599 WHIP.  His ERA and walk rate went down and his strikeout rate went up as the season progressed.  Jeff Luhnow reported that he was hitting 97 on the radar gun last fall, so we will definitely be keeping an eye on Guduan.

RHP Mickey Storey (26)
Originally signed by Oakland in the 31st round in 2008, Storey came to the Astros organization in a trade with Oakland for "future considerations" in July 2011.  He pitched in 23 games for Oklahoma City with a 3.99 ERA and a 1.602 WHIP.  His minor league career ERA and WHIP are 3.16 and 1.151 respectively.