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.

Tweet of the Day

Rob Rasmussen ‏@RasmussenRob

For as much as I wanted to see verlander dominate, it's comforting knowing even the best have bad days

Corpus Christi Hooks Season Recap

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

2011 Wins-Losses/Win Percentage: 50-90/.357
2012 Wins-Losses/Win Percentage: 81-59/.579

2011 Runs Scored - Runs Allowed = Run Differential: 605 - 761 = (156)
2012 Runs Scored - Runs Allowed = Run Differential: 736 - 628 = 108

2011 Team ERA & WHIP: 5.01 & 1.460
2012 Team ERA & WHIP: 4.07 & 1.332

2011 Team Batting Line: .258/.320/.388
2012 Team Batting Line: .268/.342/.410

This team not only won 31 more games than last season, they also had a 264-run swing in their run differential and made their first post-season appearance since 2006. I knew they would be a better team than last season, but Wow! In the Texas League, Corpus ranked first (out of eight teams) in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, runs, hits, doubles and RBI.

Let's look at just a few of the outstanding position players for the Corpus team.

1B Jon Singleton finished the regular season hitting .284/.396/.497 with 27 doubles, four triples and 21 home runs. He was second in the league in walks and runs, and in the top 10 in on-base percentage, slugging percentage, doubles, home runs and RBI.

The triumverate of 2B Jose Martinez, OF Austin Wates and OF Jake Goebbert tied for fourth in the league in batting average. Martinez' .304/.362/.464 was good enough to land him in the top 10 in the league in SLG and OPS, and although he was at Oklahoma City for the final 23 games of the season, he was still in the top 10 in runs and RBI. Wates was tenth in the league in OBP with a batting line of .304/.375/.429. Goebbert quietly went about hitting fourth in the league in OBP, sixth in OPS and eighth in SLG as he hit .304/.399/.473 with 23 doubles, six triples and nine home runs. 3B Andy Simunic (.297/.349/.345) also ranked in the top 10 in batting average.

I will look at CF George Springer and 2B Kike Hernandez when I look at the Lancaster team since they played the majority of the season there, and we'll see how their stats stacked up in the California League.

Other players of note include SS Ben Orloff who only played in 39 games for the Hooks after playing the bulk of the season in Lancaster. He hit .295/.360/.352 at Corpus and .288/.362/.316 at Lancaster. And OF Drew Locke, playing in 68 games for the Hooks after a June pick-up, hit .295/.347/.456 and, it should be noted, provided the fans with a little extra excitement as he hit grand slams in back-to-back games.

As far as pitchers go, there were several very good pitchers for Corpus Christi who were promoted to Oklahoma City (Jarred Cosart, Jose Cisnero and Brett Oberholtzer) and I looked at their seasons in conjunction with the Oklahoma City season recap. However, one other starter at Corpus who came into his own this season was RHP Ross Seaton. Seaton was young for the Texas League last season. It showed at times and he repeated the level. In 25 starts for the Hooks this season, he was 8-8 with a 4.07 ERA (11th in the league among qualified pitchers) and a 1.274 WHIP (tied for 6th) and was also 7th in strikeouts. He dipped a toe in with four starts at Oklahoma City and was 0-1 with a 3.09 ERA and a 1.329 WHIP in those starts.

The relief corps was dominated by the one-two punch of LHP Kevin Chapman and RHP Jason Stoffel who pitched many an eighth and ninth innings for the Hooks with great results. Chapman was 6-3 with a 2.64 ERA and a 1.397 WHIP in 49 appearances while Stoffel was 2-1 with a 2.33 ERA, a 0.982 WHIP and a league-leading 27 saves in 56 appearances.

In limited time for the Hooks, newcomers RHP Asher Wojciechowski and RHP Matt Heidenreich had good results. Wojciechowski was 2-2 in eight starts with a 2.06 ERA and a 1.008 WHIP while Heidenreich was 3-1 with a 3.93 ERA and a 1.340 WHIP in eight games (seven starts). RHP Paul Clemens also fared well in his return to Corpus, after struggling in Oklahoma City this season, as he went 3-2 with a 3.98 ERA and a 1.248 WHIP in seven starts to end the season. I will look at RHP Bobby Doran in conjunction with the Lancaster recap.

Although the playoffs were disappointing, LHP Rob Rasmussen's performance was outstanding as he pitched seven shutout innings with a 1.143 WHIP.

I will look at the final two teams, Lancaster and Tri-City, when they finish post-season play.

Tweet of the Day

Rob Rasmussen‏@RasmussenRob

Couldnt get @Discovery in Corpus hotel and can't get it in Little Rock hotel #thisismynightmare #needsharks

Minor League Recaps

Saturday’s Results

DSL Cardinals 11 DSL Astros 2

This was one of those tough DSL games we have all come to know and love. Samil De Los Santos (2-3) took the loss after going the first 2 and a third.  De Los Santos was the first of 7 pitchers used in this game for the Astros and all but the last, Juan Delis, gave up at least a run.  There wasn’t much offense to speak of, but Luis Reynoso did go 1 for 4 and pick up the Astros only extra base hit of the game, a double in the bottom of the first.

Here’s the box straight from milb.com containing all of the Astros pitchers used in the game:

GCL Nationals 2 GCL Astros 5

The Astros were getting shutout on Saturday until the eighth inning when they dropped a 5 spot on the scoreboard and took the win at home.  In fact, the GCL Astros only had 1 hit until the eighth inning.  Brett Phillips doubled in the eighth with his only hit in four at bats and ended up with 2 RBIs.  Agapito Barrios got the start and through 4 and a third frames was charged with both runs (1ER) on 5 hits and walked 2.  Erick Gonzalez (2-0) picked up the win after coming on for the final 1 and a third.

Greeneville Astros 6 Princeton Rays 5

Greeneville scrapped for a nice victory here on Saturday.  Carlos Correa and Rio Ruiz both made their debuts with Greeneville in the game and both went 1 for 2 with very timely hitting. Ricky Gingras went 1 for 4 with another homer, giving him 3 on the season and 2 in the last 2 games.  Zachary Dando took the “W” with just 2 innings of work in the fifth and sixth.  Dando was charged with 2 runs (1ER) on a hit, walked 1 and struck out 5.  Euris Quezada earned his second save of the season after pitching a perfect last inning.

Tri-City ValleyCats 6 Staten Island Yankees 3

Once Tri-City got on the board Saturday in the fourth the game never left their hands again.  M.P. Cokinos had a big game, hitting 3 for 4 with a huge 2-run homer, 2 RBIs and a walk.  Emilio King, who went 1 for 4 at the plate, also had a 2- run shot of his own.  Joe Bircher (2-2) took the win after the first 5 innings of work.  Bircher allowed 2 runs on 3 hits, walked 3 and K-ed 4.  Blake Ford picked up his 13^th save upon completion of the last inning, giving up just a hit and striking out 1.

West Virginia Power 4 Lexington Legends 3

Even though the score is close here, Lexington never had the lead on Saturday.  Lexington actually had only 3 hits on Saturday.  One of those hits was good for Matt Duffy’s (1X3) 62^nd RBI of the season.  Nolan Fontana drew another walk, stole a base and scored a run in the game as well.  David Rollins (1-2) took the loss with the first 5 and 2 thirds innings of work, getting charged with all 4 runs (2ER) on 6 hits, walking 1 and striking out half a dozen.

Lancaster JetHawks 2 San Jose Giants 3

The JetHawks scored both their runs in the first inning and then fell silent offensively for the rest of the game.  Delino DeShields went 1 for 4 with a run scored and stole his first base since his promotion to the California League yesterday.  Andrew Aplin had a big day at the plate, going 2 for 3 with his first California League triple, a walk and a RBI. Aplin also swiped a bag in the game.  Colton Cain picked (0-1) up his first loss after starting and pitching 4 and 2 thirds.  Cain allowed all 3 runs on 6 hits, walked 5 and struck out 3.  Chia-Jen Lo, who came on next for 2 and a third, gave out just a pair of hits and sent 4 back to the dugout holding their bats.

Springfield Cardinals 3 Corpus Christi Hooks 9

Corpus Christi poured it on at home on Saturday.  Bobby Borchering helped pour in the fourth inning with a big 3-run homer to put the Hooks up by 4.  Borchering ended up 1 for 2 on the day with 4 RBI.  Robbie Grossman went 3 for 4 at the dish with a triple, walk and pair of runs scored.  Rob Rasmussen earned the win, moving him to 4-2 on the season after pitching a solid 6 and 2 thirds.  Rasmussen allowed 9 hits, but only 2 runs and K-ed 3.

Sacramento River Cats 5 Oklahoma City RedHawks 3

This loss makes it 8 in a row for the Oklahoma City RedHawks and it was a tough one.  The RedHawks didn’t get on the board until the fifth inning.  Rudy Owens (0-1) got the start and lasted 7 innings, but not before giving up 4 runs (3ER) on 6 hits (2HR) and striking out 4.  Jason Castro did well again on Saturday at the plate.  Castro hit 3 of 3 with a RBI and a walk.  Jose Martinez went 1 for 3 with a walk, his first double since moving up to AAA and scored a run.  Matt Dominguez hit 2 for 3 and had a walk as well.

Player of the Day:  Andrew Aplin gets the honor today.  Aplin had a really strong day at the plate Saturday and picked up both steal and triple number 1 after his promotion to the California League.  Way to go, Aplin.

Pitcher of the Day:  Rob Rasmussen gets to wear the WTHB crown today for recording another solid start and his crafty pitching performance on Saturday (Said crown may, or may not, be a Burger King crown that I taped the WTHB logo onto).   

Tweet of the Day

Rob Rasmussen ‏@RasmussenRob

Great time of year, football is starting up, baseball teams are making playoff pushes, but mostly 7 days til Shark Week#thisisawesome

Minor League Recaps

Sunday's Results

Johnson City Cardinals @ Greeneville Astros

-Postponed

Mahoning Valley Scrappers 4 Tri-City ValleyCats 5

Tri-City had the lead early and lost it in the third inning.  The ValleyCats stuck with it and took back the lead in the ninth and went on to win the game.  Starting pitcher Joe Bircher helped get the ValleyCats back in the game.  After allowing two big home runs that totaled 4 runs in the third and fourth innings, Bircher settled in for 2 and 2-thirds more work, keeping them scoreless and ended up with those 4 runs on 10 hits, 2 walks and 2 Ks.  Travis Ballew came on next to finish out the seventh and stayed for 1 and a third.  In his time at the helm, Ballew gave up 1 hit, struck out 3 and took the win, moving his record to 4-0.  Blake Ford picked up save number 12 after coming on for the last inning of work, keeping things scoreless and issuing 1 walk.  At the plate, Preston Tucker (2X4), Tyler Heineman (2X2) and Joe Sclafani (2X3) all had multi hit games and one RBI apiece.  Sclafani and Heineman also drew a walk each.  Tucker's RBI was the sac'-fly to score Jesse Wierzbicki and put Tri-City ahead in the seventh inning.

Lexington Legends 16 Hagerstown Suns 6

Lexington didn't have one really big inning in this game, they just scored often.  The Legends scored in 5 of the 9 innings Sunday and in none of those frames did they score less than 2 runs.  This game was also a record breaking game for Zach Johnson and Matt Duffy.  Johnson batted 1 for 4 and drove in 3 RBIs, moving his total to 100 RBIs and setting the new Legends' season record.  Duffy was struck by oncoming pitches 3 times in the game, moving his total to 33 and earning him the South Atlantic League record.  Duffy hit 1 for 3, scored 2 runs and had a pair of RBI.  Delino Deshields got in on the record-breaking action and swiped 3 bags, moving his total to 80 for the year.  Nolan Fontana didn't do much at the plate, but drew 3 more walks; that's 7 BBs in his last 3 games.  Brandon Meredith was smoking-hot at the plate Sunday, hitting 4 for 6 with a double, 3 RBIs and the only homer of the game-a 2-run shot to center field in the second.  Chris Devenski (7-5) took the win after going the first 5 on the mound.  Devenski was charged with 4 runs (3ER) on 7 hits, K-ed 5 and walked 3. 

High Desert Mavericks 4 Lancaster JetHawks 2

Lancaster scored twice in the fourth inning to strike first and take the lead Sunday, but wouldn't score again.  Colton Cain pitched the first 6 innings for Lancaster and had a decent outing, allowing 2 runs on 6 hits, walking a pair and striking out half a dozen.  Cain's 2 runs came on a 2-run homer in the seventh that tied the game. In fact, the next 3 pitchers for the JetHawks only gave up 5 hits combined over the rest of the game.  The last hit allowed however, was another 2-run homer that broke the tie in ninth inning.  That homer came off of Carlos Quevedo (2-3) who took the loss after going 1 and 2-thirds, and striking out one.  At the plate, George Springer (1X4) picked up his tenth triple of the year and is leading the JetHawks with a .322 BA.  Chris Epps (2X3) and Jonathan Meyer (2X4) both hit doubles and had an RBI.  Domingo Santana went 1 for 2 at the dish and drew the only walk of the night for Lancaster.    

Corpus Christi Hooks 6 Midland RockHounds 4 

The Hooks got on top in the third inning Sunday and never looked back.  On line with Corpus Christi's solid offense was Rob Rasmussen (3-2), who pitched 6 solid innings, allowing just 2 runs on 7 hits, walking 3 and striking out 8.  Jason Stoffell came on in the 9th and collected his 22nd save after walking a batter and striking out the last one he faced.  Jonathan Singleton got a couple hits in 4 ABs Sunday.  Singleton also picked up 2 RBIs, moving his total for the season to 62.  Jose Martinez went 2 for 5 at the plate with a double and batted in a run of his own, making his season total 75. 

Oklahoma City RedHawks 4 Salt Lake Bees 6

If 5 runs leave the park against you by way of 3 long balls and your team only gets 6 hits all game, it would probably be safe to assume you lost the game.  That's exactly what happened to the RedHawks on Sunday.  4 of Oklahoma City's hits were split evenly between Fernando Martinez and Brad Synder who both went 2 for 4 at the dish with 2 RBIs each.  Martinez's hits were both doubles and one of Snyder's was a solo homer, his 17th dinger of the season.  Martinez's 2 RBIs and the non-homer RBI of Snyder were good to tie the game in the top of the sixth inning.  Brian Sanches (1-0) had a tough debut for Oklahoma City though; he took the loss after coming on for the last out in the 6th and staying a full frame longer.  Sanches gave up the tie-breaking 2-run shot in the seventh inning and ended up with both of those runs on 3 hits and 2 K's for the game.  Garrett Mock also made his debut with Oklahoma City Sunday, pitching the last inning without giving up a hit and striking out 1. 

Player of the Game:  Lexington's Zach Johnson and Matt Duffy get dual nods today for their record breaking achievements on Sunday.  Records are made by the rarest of traits, no matter the sport, consistency.  The Astros' minor leagues deserve all the congratulations they can get, because they have been setting records all season.

Pitcher of the Game:  Rob Rasmussen takes the cake today.  He had a really nice outing on Sunday and any time you can top it off with 8 Ks, well, you might not even need icing on that cake.  

Minor League Recaps

Monday's Games

DSL Dodgers over DSL Astros 10-5
As far as the DSL pitching staff on Monday goes, Luis was Abad, Frangy was fringy and Geronimo strayed off the reservation as they combined to give up 10 runs on eight hits and nine walks. The good news is that  Saucedo was saucy and Delis was delightful in relief. (Hey, you try to find something interesting to write about a team that loses this much. I feel Zachary Levine's pain.) The Astros did manage five runs on 10 hits, including multi-hit games from Cristian Murillo, Mesac Laguna, Marlon Avea and Jarico Reynoso, with Reynoso and Frederick Serrano both hitting doubles.

GCL Astros over GCL Marlins 4-2
Enderson Franco earned his third win in a very nice start, allowing two runs on four hits and no walks with five strikeouts over 5.1 innings before giving way to a very effective Ricardo Batista and Gera Sanchez (S, 1). Yonathan Mejia drove in two runs with a single in the first and stole a base. Rio Ruiz contributed an RBI double. Darwin Rivera and Jon Carnahan also doubled. Jio Mier made his first rehab appearance since his hamstring injury in May. He walked and scored a run before being lifted after two plate appearances.

Bluefield over Greeneville 8-3
Daniel Minor was charged with his first loss as he got roughed up in 4.1 innings to the tune of six runs on nine  hits. Tanner Bushue gave up the other two while recording only one out. Michael Dimock and Scott Zuloaga rounded things out with effective outings. Zuloaga hasn't allowed an earned run in his last 10 outings. Jimmy Howick was two-for-three with an RBI double; Marc Wik, Jean Batista and Ernesto Genoves also doubled.

Auburn over Tri-City 9-5
Despite a late comeback attempt by Tri-City as they scored five runs in the ninth, the ValleyCats simply fell short. Brady Rodgers was pegged with his second loss of the season as he gave up five runs on seven hits in six innings. Brad Propst tacked on another three runs while only recording one out, and Blake Ford allowed the final run to score. Tri-City's scoring in the ninth came via a three-run shot from Jesse Wierzbicki and RBI singles from Emilio King and Joe Sclafani. Neiko Johnson was two-for-three with two walks, and Preston Tucker was two-for-four.

Asheville over Lexington 9-8 in 10 innings
David Rollins' debut didn't go particularly well as he allowed three runs on three hits (including a solo home run) in 1.2 innings. He was followed by Juri Perez who gave up four runs (two earned) in 5.1 innings and Gabriel Garcia and Murilo Gouvea (L, 2-6) who each allowed a run. Lexington struck early scoring five runs in the first courtesy of a two-run Zach Johnson homer and a three-run Nolan Fontana (2x5 4RBI) bomb. After falling behind, Lexington came back to tie things up in the top of the ninth with RBI singles from Johnson and Brandon Meredith (3x5 2R), but ultimately fell short as Asheville scored in the tenth on a walk-off home run. Zach Johnson ended the night with three RBIs to bring his season total to 89. Delino DeShields stole two more bags to bring his total to 77 for the season.

Visalia over Lancaster 11-4
Nick Tropeano has got to hope he never sees Visalia again. Tropeano has a 9.64 ERA and a 2.000 WHIP against Visalia and a 0.95 ERA and a 1.158 WHIP against teams not named Visalia. Trope got the loss after allowing six runs on six hits (including two home runs) over only three innings. Zach Grimmett didn't fare much better in his three innings of work as he coughed up an additional five runs (four earned). Brad Dydalewicz stopped the bleeding, but not until the game was too far gone to hope for a comeback. Erik Castro was two-for-four with a double and Jonathan Meyer was two-for-four with two RBI.

Corpus Christi over Midland 3-2
Rob Rasmussen went to 2-2 as he pitched a strong 7.1 innings, giving up two runs on five hits and walk with seven strikeouts. Jason Stoffel converted his 20th save in 21 opportunities. The Hooks scored early on a Bobby Borchering RBI single and a two-run double from Ben Heath in the third. Jonathan Singleton was three-for-four with a double and scored a run.

Omaha over Oklahoma City 7-6
Brett Oberholtzer had a very nice start as he allowed two runs on five hits and two walks with five strikeouts in six innings of work, but the bullpen in the guise of Fernando Abad (four runs in 0.2 innings) and Mickey Storey (one run in 2.1 innings) couldn't hold things. Brandon Barnes (2x4 2B 2RBI), Jimmy Paredes (2x4 BB), Travis Buck (2x2 2BB 2R) and J.B. Shuck (2x4 RBI) all had nice nights at the plate. Matt Dominguez also contributed with a two-run single in the first.

Pitchers of the Day: Rob Rasmussen and Jason Stoffel will have to share the honors today.

Player of the Day: A three-run home run and four RBIs? Nolan Fontana, come on down!

Tweet of the Day

Rob Rasmussen ‏@RasmussenRob

Why have I never seen this before??? #hyperventilatinghttp://pic.twitter.com/fTHowoLs

Roster Moves - 7/4

As I'm sure you already know, 1B Carlos Lee was dealt to the Miami Marlins on Wednesday for 3B Matt Dominguez and LHP Rob Rasmussen. Zachary Levine has the story here.

Matt Dominguez will report to the big club at least until the All-Star break. Rasmussen will report to the Corpus Christi Hooks team.