A Look at the Quad Cities River Bandits Opening Day Roster

Earlier this week, I dissected the Opening Day rosters for the Fresno Grizzlies, Corpus Christi Hooks and Lancaster JetHawks. Today let's look at the Quad Cities River Bandits. With very few exceptions, this team is on whole new to the level, including a few young players who are being promoted very aggressively. The Banditos are 0-2 to start the season (on the road against the Twins Low A affiliate Cedar Rapids). They will again face Cedar Rapids in their home opener today.

Kyle Tucker - June 2015

Photo Courtesy of Bryan Green

A good chunk of the River Bandits pitching staff comes from the 2015 draft. Kevin McCanna (13th round), Adam Whitt (16th round), Alex Winkelman (21st round), Matt Bower (23rd round), Chris Murphy (24th round), Ralph Garza (26th round), and Ryan Deemes (36th round) all ended their seasons with Tri-City and are seeing their first Low A competition for Quad Cities. All of these players, with the exception of Adam Whitt, had some experience starting in 2015 so I anticipate some movement between the starting rotation and the bullpen throughout the year as these players get sorted out to get the most out of their abilities.

Jacob Dorris and Andrew Thome were also signed in 2015, but both were non-drafted free agents. Thome started a handful of games in 2015, but Dorris was strictly a reliever. Those two players, along with late 2014 Cuban signee Rogelio Armenteros, are the only players from this group who saw any regular season time with the Banditos last season. Jose Hernandez is yet another recent signing (March 2015 out of Mexico) who will be a part of the pitching staff. He finished the 2015 season in Tri-City.

That leaves us with lefty Sebastian Kessay who last pitched for Tri-City in July 2014 before reportedly undergoing Tommy John surgery at some point, and highly regarded prospect Albert Abreu who spent 2015 pitching in Rookie level Greeneville. There is definitely talent in this pitching staff, but there is not a lot of experience. Some guys will struggle and some will rise to the top. Of course that happens with any team, but I have a feeling that the divide may be more dramatic out of this particular group. In any event, it will be a lively competition.

Two more 2015 signings, Anthony Hermelyn (4th round draft pick) and Christian Correa (NDFA) will be charged with handling the pitching staff. Veteran Astros farmhand Marlon Avea was listed on the preliminary roster, but was since re-assigned.

2015 29th round pick Brooks Marlow and 30th round pick Bobby Wernes, and 2014 18th round pick Antonio Nunez and 31st round pick Dex McCall all spent their 2015 seasons with Tri-City. They will be joined by 20-year old SS Osvaldo Duarte. Duarte is in his third season with the Astros and spent his 2015 season with Greeneville.

Like Duarte, 19-year old co-first round draft picks Kyle Tucker and Daz Cameron will be skipping Tri-City and are being aggressively promoted directly to Quad Cities. 2015 draft picks Johnny Sewald (14th round), Pat Porter (15th round) and Aaron Mizell (32nd round) all played for Tri-City in 2015 and will be rounding out the outfield.

All told, none of the position players on this team have any experience at the level and the three pitchers who have experience combined for a grand total of 28 regular season innings at the level. Between that and game time temperatures in the 40's to start the season, it could be rocky going early on!

QUAD CITIES RIVER BANDITS

RHP Albert Abreu
RHP Rogelio Armenteros
LHP Matt Bower
RHP Ryan Deemes
RHP Jacob Dorris
RHP Ralph Garza
RHP Jose Hernandez
LHP Sebastian Kessay
RHP Kevin McCanna
RHP Chris Murphy
RHP Andrew Thome
RHP Adam Whitt
LHP Alex Winkelman

C Christian Correa
C Anthony Hermelyn

SS Osvaldo Duarte
*2B Brooks Marlow
1B Dex McCall
SS Antonio Nunez
3B Bobby Wernes

OF Daz Cameron
*OF Aaron Mizell
*OF Pat Porter
*OF Johnny Sewald
*Kyle Tucker

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A Look at the Corpus Christi Hooks Opening Day Roster

The 2016 Corpus Christi squad is a nice mix of experienced AA hands and players new to the level. The Hooks welcome the Dodgers AA affiliate Tulsa Drillers to town as they start their season tonight at home.

Joe Musgrove - May 2015

Photo by Jayne Hansen

Top prospect Joe Musgrove, his fellow right-hander Edison Frias, and lefty Brian Holmes will be the most experienced returning Hooks rotation pitchers. They will be joined by another couple of highly ranked prospects in Francis Martes and David Paulino. Martes saw limited action with the Hooks last season; it will be the first AA experience for Paulino. Kyle Smith also brings a lot of experience to the team, having spent a good chunk of the 2014 season with the Hooks, but he is coming back from Tommy John surgery this season and will be somewhat of a wild card. Keegan Yuhl and newcomer Cy Sneed both topped out at High A last season.

With that many starting arms, Yuhl will likely appear out of the bullpen to start the season since he has experience in relief. Aaron West will anchor the bullpen, having had great success in that role for the Hooks in 2015. Danny Reynolds and Brendan McCurry are both new to the organization and both bring AA experience to the mix. And the team will feature not one, not two, but THREE lefty relievers in Reymin Guduan, Michael Freeman and Albert Minnis. Guduan has the most experience at the level, but both Freeman and Minnis got their toes wet in Corpus Christi last season. Missing from action is Gonzalo Sanudo who was spotted on Team Rehab during Spring Training by friend of the blog Larry McCoy.

The pitching staff will be handled by highly regarded prospect Alfredo Gonzalez, who spent the final two months of the 2015 season with the Hooks, and Trent Woodward, who caught at four different levels in 2015, including filling in for Max Stassi at AAA when Stassi was recalled to Houston.

Returning to the team to handle infield duties will be 1B Conrad Gregor and middle infielders Jack Mayfield and Chan Moon. They will be joined by SS Alex Bregman, ranked by most pundits as the top prospect in the Astros system; he will be arriving at AA in only his second professional season. 2B/SS Mott Hyde, Bregman's double play partner from Lancaster, will get his first taste of the Texas League as well. Arriving to handle corner outfield duties will be 3B J.D. Davis and 1B Chase McDonald. Both spent the entire 2015 season with Lancaster and both are capable of providing a lot of power.

Toolsy outfielders Teoscar Hernandez and Danry Vasquez return to roam the outfield for the Hooks; both will be trying to find the consistency that will propel them to the next level. 2015 Lancaster teammates Derek Fisher and Ronnie Mitchell will get their first chance at AA. Fisher is yet another top prospect in the system. Notably missing is James Ramsay. Since he wasn't on any roster, I'm assuming that he may also be on Team Rehab back in extended Spring Training. If healthy, he will certainly join the Hooks at some point.

With a really good mix of talent, experience and potential, this Hooks team is going to be a ton of fun to watch!

CORPUS CHRISTI HOOKS

LHP Michael Freeman
RHP Edison Frias
LHP Reymin Guduan
LHP Brian Holmes
RHP Francis Martes
RHP Brendan McCurry
LHP Albert Minnis
RHP Joe Musgrove
RHP David Paulino
RHP Danny Reynolds
RHP Kyle Smith
RHP Cy Sneed
RHP Aaron West
RHP Keegan Yuhl

C Alfredo Gonzalez
#C Trent Woodward

SS Alex Bregman
3B J.D. Davis
*1B Conrad Gregor
2B/SS Mott Hyde
IF Jack Mayfield
1B Chase McDonald
#IF Chan Moon

*OF Derek Fisher
OF Teoscar Hernandez
*OF Ronnie Mitchell
*OF Danry Vasquez

>>>>>>><<<<<<<

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A Look at the Fresno Grizzlies Opening Day Roster

The vast majority of the 2015 AAA National Championship Fresno Grizzlies team returns to action largely intact as they start their season on Thursday in Las Vegas, playing the Mets AAA affiliate. Their home opener will be on Friday, April 15th.

Tyler Heineman - May 2015

Photo by Jayne Hansen

Chris Devenski, the MVP of that 2015 Championship game, returns, along with rotation stalwarts Mike Hauschild, Brady Rodgers and Asher Wojciechowski. Lefty Tommy Shirley, who was having a tremendous season prior to a season-ending injury last year, is slated to return as well. Shirley has moved back and forth from the rotation to the bullpen very capably so he offers flexibility. Brad Peacock will take the place of the recently traded Dan Straily.

Several bullpen members will be returning as well. James Hoyt, the 2015 closer for most of the season, will likely be used in a set-up role with flame-thrower Jandel Gustave handling the closing duties. Hoyt is also likely to be the first bullpen pitcher called into service in Houston as he was the last cut coming out of camp, losing out to Michael Feliz. Edwar Cabrera and Cesar Valdez will be new to the mix. Chris Cotton is currently missing from the roster and I don't know his status.

Tyler Heineman will be back to handle the pitching staff with top defensive catcher Roberto Pena at his side. It will be Pena's first season with AAA.

Nolan Fontana, Tony Kemp and Jon Singleton will once again anchor the infield and will be joined by Colin Moran at third (Moran appeared with AAA briefly at the end of 2015) and A.J. Reed at first. It will be interesting to see how the playing time breaks down between Reed and Singleton at first base. I would guess that Reed will get the bulk of the first base duties while Singleton will get more time at DH. The bats of Tyler White and Matt Duffy will be missed, but Reed and Moran are certainly capable of big production as well. Journeyman infielder Danny Worth is new to the system.

The biggest changes to the team are in the outfield with Robbie Grossman, L.J. Hoes and Alex Presley no longer with the team. Andrew Aplin is the only regular returning. He is joined by Jon Kemmer, Leo Heras (who got a taste of AAA last season) and Eury Perez in his first season in the system. Kemmer brings a big bat to the line-up in his first season with AAA.

The opening day roster will likely bear little resemblance to the one at the end of the season as many of these players will either be promoted, traded or released by season's end to make room for the next wave.

AAA FRESNO GRIZZLIES

LHP Edwar Cabrera
LHP Kevin Chapman
RHP Chris Devenski
RHP Jandel Gustave
RHP Mike Hauschild
RHP James Hoyt
RHP Jordan Jankowski
RHP Juan Minaya
RHP Brad Peacock
RHP Brady Rodgers
LHP Tommy Shirley
RHP Cesar Valdez
RHP Asher Wojciechowski

#C Tyler Heineman
C Roberto Pena

*IF Nolan Fontana
*IF/OF Tony Kemp
*3B Colin Moran
*1B A.J. Reed
*1B Jon Singleton
IF Danny Worth

*OF Andrew Aplin
*OF Leo Heras
*OF Jon Kemmer
OF Eury Perez

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Corpus Christi Season Preview and Preliminary Roster

The minor league rosters have been slow to come out, but yesterday evening Greg Rajan of the Corpus Christi Caller Times tweeted out the PRELIMINARY Corpus Christi roster. There are 27 players listed so there will still be a couple of moves to be made, but we can now see the general make-up of the team. The preliminary roster is shown below.

We are starting to see the cream rise to the top of the system with the talent at Corpus Christi and Oklahoma City and it's easy to get excited about future possibilities with players such as Brady Rodgers, Andrew Aplin, Tyler Heineman and Delino DeShields getting their first taste of AA.

Four of the pitchers who I assume will be a part of the tandem rotation have experience at AA and four will be new to the level. Luis Cruz made a splash in his four appearances in Corpus, tossing a two-hit complete game shutout in only his third appearance at the level. Fellow lefty David Rollins was also promoted from Lancaster to Corpus Christi late in the season. In six starts, Rollins had a 4.36 ERA and a 1.455 WHIP. He will definitely improve upon those numbers in 2014. Matt Heidenreich struggled on and off with injuries and ineffectiveness during the 2013 season, but he seemed to right the ship in his excellent work in the Arizona Fall League. Reports are that he has re-claimed some lost velocity. The group is rounded out by grizzled veteran Ross Seaton who struggled at Oklahoma City and ended up back in Corpus Christi for his final 10 appearances of the season in which he managed a 4.77 ERA and a 1.226 WHIP.

They will be joined by right-handers Brady Rodgers and Aaron West, and lefties Colton Cain and Tommy Shirley. Rodgers and West are both better than their California League stats would indicate (as is normally the case). After pitching in those very tough environs, I think the transition to AA for these two control pitchers will go very smoothly. Rodgers only walked 23 batters in 112 innings. West was even stingier, issuing only 17 free passes in 108+ innings.

[UPDATE: The tandems have been set according to Greg Rajan of the Corpus Christi Caller Times. They will be Rodgers/Cain, Rollins/West, Cruz/Seaton, Shirley/Heidenreich.)

Brady Rodgers - May 2013

Photo by Jayne Hansen

I'm not sure what to predict for Colton Cain because of the unusual season he had last year. He started the season in Quad Cities and struggled badly at first, but ended up dominating there prior to his promotion to Lancaster. In five starts at Lancaster to end the season, he had a 3.24 ERA and a 1.260 WHIP, excellent numbers for that league. Tommy Shirley quietly went about having a great season in Lancaster. In 27 appearances (nine starts), he had a 3.35 ERA and a 1.195 WHIP.

Four of the bullpen pitchers have experience at the level. Andrew Robinson (who dominated late in the season last year), Jorge de Leon and Alex Sogard should all be solid out of the 'pen. T.J. Geith was somewhat inconsistent in his 13 appearances, but he has had success at every level and will likely make the necessary adjustments. Travis Ballew and Jordan Jankowski will join them from Lancaster. Ballew has a wicked slider which he used to accumulate 21 saves last season. He had 13.2 strikeouts per nine innings. Jankowski started the season in Quad Cities as a part of a tandem rotation, but ended up working solely out of the 'pen from mid-July on. He had a 3.05 ERA and a 1.082 WHIP for the season.

The cumulative team ERA for Corpus in 2013 was 3.84 and the WHIP was 1.295. Despite the talent on the 2014 team, this group will be hard-pressed to match those marks unless a few of them have the kind of dominant seasons that Asher Wojciechowski, Jake Buchanan, David Martinez and Mike Foltynewicz had last season at that level. However, I think they could come close.

The cumulative 2013 batting line for Corpus Christi was .255/.331/.417. The 2014 group of players as a whole is going to CRUSH that on-base number if they even come close to their 2013 output. They should also beat that batting average pretty handily and should be able to nudge the slugging percentage up a bit as well. This team may not be quite as dominant in pitching as the 2013 squad, but they should more than make up for it at the plate.

Out of this group, Rene Garcia had the most success at this level in 2013, hitting. 304/.348/.419 in 73 games in Corpus last season. Matt Duffy (.295/.380/.475 career) and Preston Tucker (.303/.373/.506 career) spent limited time at AA in 2013 and I look for both of them to improve quickly as they adjust to the level. (Tucker will likely be the player promoted to Oklahoma City when George Springer gets the call to Houston.) Leo Heras only played in 10 games at Corpus in 2013 with lackluster results, but he is a .316/.380/.480 career hitter in the Mexican League. He may not be able to hit quite that well against Texas League pitching, but if he can make the necessary adjustments, he could be very interesting to watch.

Kike Hernandez was coming on at the end of the season and should be able to improve on his .236/.297/.375 batting line. Jio Mier had a very tough year at the plate (.194/.293/.265). He will never have a gaudy slash line, but he is certainly capable of more than that.

But now let's look at the new blood coming in. This group has some excellent offensive numbers and not all of that can be attributed to the Lancaster effect. In particular, look at the on-base percentage for each; it's pretty impressive. The new players and their stats from the 2013 Lancaster team are: M.P. Cokinos (.313/.395/.475), Tyler Heineman (.286/.361/.476), Nolan Fontana (.259/.415/.399), Joe Sclafani (.302/.396/.474), Andrew Aplin (.278/.376/.424), Delino DeShields (.317/.405/.468) and Chris Epps (.275/.381/.503). Wow! I know that none of these players will start out hitting quite that well, with the possible exception of Cokinos who doesn't appear to be human, but the potential staggers the mind.

To me, it's not a question of whether or not this team will be good. It will. The question is when. There will be a learning curve and adjustments to be made, but I have trouble seeing this group ever really struggle. The nucleus of the team comes from the 2013 Lancaster team, a team that was extremely tight and extremely effective. Add to that the likelihood of Mark Appel and Carlos Correa appearing with the Hooks at some point in the not so distant future, and one can't help but get excited. I'm going to boldly predict that this group will outperform the 2013 Corpus team who went 83-57 and won both halves of the season. I'm saying 88-52 and a trip to the Championship. Make it so!

This is the opening day roster as we know it today. I will update it with any changes that may be made before Thursday's opening game which will be on the road in Tulsa. The schedule can be found here and all games will be available on MiLB.tv.

PITCHERS

Travis Ballew

Colton Cain*

Luis Cruz*

Jorge de Leon

T.J. Geith*

Matt Heidenreich

Jordan Jankowski

Andrew Robinson

Brady Rodgers

David Rollins*

Ross Seaton

Tommy Shirley*

Alex Sogard*

Aaron West

CATCHERS

Rene Garcia

Tyler Heineman#

INFIELDERS

M.P. Cokinos
Matt Duffy

Nolan Fontana*

Enrique Hernandez

Jio Mier

Joe Sclafani#

OUTFIELDERS

Andrew Aplin*

Delino DeShields

Chris Epps*

Leo Heras*

Preston Tucker*

*Left-handed
#Switch-hitter

Quad Cities Season Preview and Opening Day Roster

Over the last three days I've posted season previews for Oklahoma City, Corpus Christi and Lancaster.  The last one up is the Low A Quad Cities River Bandits team. This one is going to be the hardest of all to predict. Yes, the team will be dripping with talent but much of that talent is still raw and inexperienced. The success of the team will be largely predicated on how quickly some of the younger players develop and how well they endure their first long season.

Out of the starting pitching staff, only Colton Cain has any significant experience at Low A or above, having spent the 2012 season at High A. Frankly, I was surprised to see Cain back in Low A this season, but he may be there precisely because of the overall lack of experience in order to anchor the rotation to start the year. Fellow lefty Kyle Hallock started last season at Low A Lexington, but was injured early on and only pitched in seven games at the level. I look for Hallock to have a very good bounce-back season though.

Of the remaining five starters, fellow lefties Joe Bircher and Brian Holmes both pitched for the short season Tri-City club with Holmes performing particularly well. (Yes, we're looking at four lefty starters on the team.) Vincent Velasquez also pitched for Tri-City in 2012 in his first action since having Tommy John surgery. I look for him to start climbing up the prospect rankings during the coming year. The final two starters will be Lance McCullers and Daniel Minor, each of whom pitched in Rookie League Greeneville last season. Minor had an excellent freshman season. McCullers was extremely limited in innings pitched, but put up some great numbers. McCullers is going to be a star eventually, but I would whole-heartedly approve if the Astros decide to use him judiciously in his early development.

If you're adding these up, you'll notice that this team only has seven obvious starters rather than the eight anticipated for the tandem pitching rotation. I am going to assume that the Quad Cities team is holding that final spot for Adrian Houser who was reported (by Baseball America) to be dealing with some minor injuries and was held back at extended spring training for the time being. Houser would be the most obvious choice for that 8th spot.

Out of the bullpen, Cameron Lamb played a handful of games at Low A in 2012, as did Mitch Lambson, both with solid results. The bullpen actually looks to be one of the strong points of the team and will be anchored by Mike Hauschild and Jordan Jankowski, who dominated at Greeneville last season; John Neely who put up solid numbers at Tri-City; and Gera Sanchez who excelled in the Gulf Coast League in 2012.

My guess is that some of these pitchers may struggle early as they adjust to the level and some may fade late as they endure their first 140-game season.

As to the position players, the grizzled veterans include the 20-year old Roberto Pena who split 2012 between Low A and High A and Jordan Scott who spent the 2012 season at Low A Lexington where he was unable to replicate his stellar 2011 season. Jobduan Morales, Teoscar Hernandez and Jesse Wierzbicki all played a handful of games at Lexington in 2012 and all held their own. Carlos Perdomo, an off-season pickup by Jeff Luhnow, spent 2011 and 2012 in the Phillies organization playing for their Low A affiliate in the Sally League.

Pena, in particular, will benefit from a season at Quad Cities. He was pressed into service at High A Lancaster due to injuries within the system because of his defensive abilities as a catcher, just as his bat was starting to catch up at the lower level. I look for good offensive improvements from Pena. Jordan Scott should make adjustments this season as well. Jesse Wierzbicki can flat out hit. And despite the fact that I have never seen Teoscar Hernandez play, I am a huge, huge fan. He has the tools to be an impact player.

Chase Davidson was limited to nine games at Tri-City due to an injury which was revealed by the Quad Cities announcer in tonight's game to have been nerve damage in his forearm. He is a mature hitter who should dominate at the level. Ryan Dineen and Joe Sclafani also come from the Tri-City team with Sclafani putting up very solid numbers, including a strong OBP.

Carlos Correa, Rio Ruiz, Terrell Joyce and Ariel Ovando are all coming from the Rookie League Greeneville team. Correa is expected to master the Low A level quickly, but keep your eye on Rio Ruiz. He is definitely another star in the making. Ovando seems to be fulfilling his earlier promise. It will be interesting to see what he will be able to do at the higher level.

Many of the posititon players may need to make adjustments at the plate to start the season, but once they make them, watch out. The offensive potential of this group is through the roof. They will also be a very strong team defensively. I predict that Carlos Correa, Roberto Pena and Teoscar Hernandez will be the defensive stars.

Ah, the prediction. So much depends upon how hardy the pitching staff proves to be over the long run. At the risk of sounding like a Debbie Downer, I'm going to predict that this team will go 72-68 and will fall just shy of getting to the playoffs. If, however, everything goes right, no one gets injured, no one gets overly fatigued, I'll predict 78-62, playoff bound as a wild card and winning the whole dang thing. 

This is the opening day roster. The season schedule can be found here and the radio feed is available here with Marco LaNave calling the action. 

Quad Cities:

PITCHERS

Joe Bircher*

Colton Cain*

Kyle Hallock*

Mike Hauschild

Brian Holmes*

Jordan Jankowski

Cameron Lamb

Mitchell Lambson*

Lance McCullers

Daniel Minor

John Neely

Gera Sanchez

Vincent Velasquez

CATCHERS

Jobduan Morales#

Roberto Pena

INFIELDERS

Carlos Correa

Chase Davidson*

Ryan Dineen*

Carlos Perdomo

Rio Ruiz*

Joe Sclafani#

Jesse Wierzbicki

OUTFIELDERS

Teoscar Hernandez

Terrell Joyce

Ariel Ovando*

Jordan Scott*

*Left-handed

#Switch hitter

Lancaster Season Preview and Opening Day Roster

Over the last two days I've posted season previews for Oklahoma City and Corpus Christi.  Today, we'll look at the High A California League Lancaster JetHawks. This one will be easy. I predict that the JetHawks will repeat as California League Champions. So, there you have it. Glad I could be of service. What, you want more details? Well, if you insist, but you really should just take my word for it.

I'm going to be very interested in seeing how the pitching tandems shake out in Lancaster because there are actually ten pitchers on this team who were used primarily as starters last season. Tyson Perez and Blair Walters are the only two starters on the team who spent time at Lancaster last season. Perez definitely held his own at the level and really impressed with his post-season performance. Walters didn't fare quite as well in his limited time at Lancaster.

Luis Cruz, Chris Devenski, Jonas Dufek, Mike Foltynewicz, Alex Gillingham and David Rollins are all getting promoted from Low A where they had varying degrees of success. Lancaster is a very hitter-friendly park where flyballs which would be routine outs elsewhere often become wind-driven home runs. In looking at which of these promoted Low A pitchers have the best chances of succeeding in that environment, I looked at groundball rate and strikeout rate.

Alex Gillingham is an extreme groundball pitcher and should fare well as should Luis Cruz who has definite groundball tendencies to go along with a decent strikeout rate. Chris Devenski has the lowest groundball rate of that group, but he has the highest strikeout rate. He will need to rely on location and getting key strikeouts, something he is more than capable of doing. In between lie Dufek, Foltynewicz and Rollins who each have a small tendency toward more groundball outs than air outs and decent strikeout rates. It is refreshing to see that there are no extreme flyball pitchers in the mix. I expect each of these pitchers will have to make adjustments and may struggle to begin, but they should all be capable of handling the Lancaster conditions. If Folty shows us anything remotely like what I saw in the Astros final exhibition game last weekend, I know he's up to the task.

The final two starting pitchers, Aaron West and Brady Rodgers, are being promoted directly from the Tri-City short season club where they each had outstanding seasons. Rodgers in particular is well-suited for Lancaster with his definite groundball tendencies and his excellent command. West also tends toward more groundball outs and is definitely capable of getting a key strikeout when needed.

Carlos Quevedo is the only bullpen arm with prior experience at Lancaster. Quevedo was with Lancaster for his final 15 games with Lancaster in 2012 and had great success. He has excellent command and a high strikeout rate. Travis Ballew, T.J. Geith and Tommy Shirley are all tailor made for Lancaster as well.

On the offensive side, Rafy Valenzuela, Delino DeShields, Andrew Aplin, Chris Epps and Drew Muren all spent time in Lancaster and all had varying degrees of success there. DeShields and Aplin should benefit from more time at the level. I look for both of them to put up very strong numbers and end the season in Corpus Christi.

The group of players who have been promoted from Low A Lexington bring a lot to the table. Matt Duffy and Brandon Meredith are both going to hit a lot of home runs in Lancaster. Nolan Fontana (65 walks in 49 games) is going to continue to get on base as will Duffy (41 hit by pitches) and Zach Johnson (108 RBI) is going to drive them in.

Add in the trio promoted from Tri-City, Preston Tucker, Tyler Heineman and M.P. Cokinos, and you're looking at a very talented line-up. I know virtually nothing about the final player rounding out the roster, IF Raoul Torrez, an off-season pick up by GM Jeff Luhnow.

Now for prediction time! Last season's team ERA was 5.00 and the WHIP was 1.458. The 2013 team will beat both of those numbers easily. Last season's team batting line was .283/.353/.448. The 2013 team will have a slightly higher batting average, a modestly higher on-base percentage and a significantly higher slugging percentage. Last year's record was 74-66. This year, I'm calling for a somewhat slow April before things start to take off culminating in a final record of 85-55 and a second California League Championship. I'm not going to be timid in this prediction because even if key players are promoted during the season, there are a ton more talented players waiting in the wings. This is the first time in a very long time that one can say that about the Astros farm system.

This is the opening day roster as we know it today. I will update it with any changes that may be made before tonight's opening game which will be at home vs. High Desert. The schedule can be found here and the radio feed is available here with the inimitable (and ever entertaining) Jason Schwartz calling the action.

PITCHERS

Travis Ballew

Luis Cruz*

Chris Devenski

Jonas Dufek

Mike Foltynewicz

T.J. Geith*

Alex Gillingham

Tyson Perez

Carlos Quevedo

Brady Rodgers

David Rollins*

Tommy Shirley*

Blair Walters*

Aaron West

CATCHERS

M.P. Cokinos

Tyler Heineman#

INFIELDERS

Delino DeShields

Matt Duffy

Nolan Fontana*

Zach Johnson

Raoul Torrez

Rafael Valenzuela*

OUTFIELDERS

Andrew Aplin*

Chris Epps*

Brandon Meredith

Andrew Muren*

Preston Tucker

*Left-handed
#Switch hitter

Next Up: Low A Quad Cities River Bandits. I hope to have it ready on Friday.

Oklahoma City Season Preview and Opening Day Roster

Pitching, pitching, pitching. That's what stands out on the opening day roster of the Oklahoma City RedHawks team. It will be an adjustment for the pitchers and an adjustment for minor league aficionados as the starting pitchers piggyback for the early part of the season, but it is a reflection of the increasing depth of the Astros minor league system.

Last season, the collective ERA for the RedHawks team was 4.89 and the WHIP was 1.508. Eight out of the nine pitchers on this year's roster who got starts at AAA last season had a lower ERA and seven out of the nine had a lower WHIP. Those nine had a collective 46-34 record at AAA.

John Ely, who went 14-7 in the Dodgers system in 2012, may regress somewhat, but everyone else looks to either hold steady or improve. Dallas Keuchel and Jordan Lyles should dominate back in AAA. Brett Oberholtzer spent significant time at AAA last year and was stronger toward the end of the season, so look for his numbers to improve. Rudy Owens should remain effective in his third season at AAA. Jarred Cosart and Jose Cisnero both spent limited time at AAA last season and should benefit from more time at the level. I look for Cisnero to make large strides toward the end of the season and for Cosart to be Cosart. It is doubtful that Wes Musick will be used as a starter unless someone stumbles, but he had success in his limited time as a starter at Oklahoma City in 2012.

That leaves us with Paul Clemens. Clemens put up an 8-8 record at Oklahoma City in 2012 with a 6.73 ERA and a 1.741 WHIP before ending the season back at Corpus Christi. He will either improve on those numbers or he will end up in the bullpen, which may end up being a very good thing based on his dazzling work out of the bullpen during Spring Training.

As to the bullpen, C.J. Fick and Jose Valdez both have significant experience at AAA and some MLB experience as well. Valdez was highly effective at AAA last season but for a stretch during which he was injured. Josh Zeid and Kevin Chapman will be getting their first taste of AAA and will likely have to adjust somewhat, but having the experience of pitching successfully in the very tough Texas League should help to ease that transition.

The 2012 RedHawks team had a collective batting average of .282/.349/.434. I don't look for this team to do that well, at least not initially. Jimmy Paredes, Trevor Crowe, Brandon Laird and Jake Elmore will likely be the best overall hitters to start the season. The collective catching staff will likely hit around .250/.330/.370 or so, and Che-Hsuan Lin has only hit .256/.347/.344 in his six minor league seasons.

The keys to the offense are two-fold. First, Marc Krauss, Jose Martinez and Jake Goebbert will all need to catch up to the AAA level. Each of those players struggled somewhat in limited time at Oklahoma City last season. If they can recreate their success at the lower levels, it will go a long way toward shoring up the offense. Secondly, this year will be the first taste of AAA for Robbie Grossman and Jonathan Villar and there is no way of knowing how they will handle that challenge. I'm not counting on Jon Singleton's contributions as I don't think he will spend much time at Oklahoma City after his suspension ends; I expect him to be fast-tracked to Houston shortly thereafter.

It is very difficult to predict any minor league team's season, but it is most difficult to predict AAA as the opening day roster and closing day roster will look very, very different. Several of these players could end the season in Houston. Some may be traded or released. However, with that said, I'm game to make a prediction.

Last season, the RedHawks ended the year with a 78-65 record in 143 games or a .545 win percentage. I think that the 2013 team will win fewer games with their bats, but the pitching depth will more than make up for that so I predict the team will improve on that record. Let's say somewhere between 82-62 and 85-59 and playoff bound.

This is the opening day roster as we know it today. I will update it with any changes that may be made before Thursday's opening game which will be on the road vs. Memphis. The schedule can be found here and all games will be available on MiLB.tv.

PITCHERS

Kevin Chapman*

Jose Cisnero

Paul Clemens

Jarred Cosart

John Ely

C.J. Fick

Dallas Keuchel*

Jordan Lyles

Wes Musick*

Brett Oberholtzer*

Rudy Owens*

Jose Valdez

Josh Zeid

CATCHERS

Cody Clark

Jason Jaramillo#

Chris Wallace

INFIELDERS

Jake Elmore

Marc Krauss*

Brandon Laird

Jose Martinez

Jonathan Villar#

OUTFIELDERS

Trevor Crowe#

Jake Goebbert*

Robbie Grossman#

Che-Hsuan Lin

Jimmy Paredes#

* - denotes left-hander

# - denotes switch-hitter

Next Up: Season Preview for Corpus Christi (tomorrow or whenever I get it written)

Fall and Winter League Rosters & Important Dates

2012 Important Dates and Participating Astros Players

ARIZONA FALL LEAGUE
10/9/12 - Opening Day
11/3/12 - Rising Star Game
11/17/12 - Championship Game

Mesa Solar Sox
MGR Rodney Linares
RHP Jarred Cosart
RHP Chia-Jen Lo
LHP Alex Sogard
RHP Nick Tropeano
*SS Jio Mier
1B Jon Singleton
OF Bobby Borchering
CF George Springer

*Taxi Squad

DOMINICAN WINTER LEAGUE
10/14/12 - Opening Day
12/11/12 - All-Star Game
12/21/12 - Season Ends

Toros del Este
LHP Fernando Abad
SS Jose Fernandez
C Cristian Moronta

Gigantes del Cibao
**RHP Jose Cisnero
**RHP Rhiner Cruz
RHP Enerio del Rosario
**2B/OF Jimmy Paredes

Leones del Escogido
Pitching Coach Gary Ruby
RHP Jorge de Leon
OF Fernando Martinez

Aguilas Cibaenas
OF Emilio King
**SS Jonathan Villar

Tigres del Licey
RHP Juan Minaya
**OF Domingo Santana
2B Ruben Sosa
**RHP Jose Valdez
RHP Henry Villar

Estrellas de Oriente
Bench Coach Rodney Linares
**RHP Jose Trinidad

**Listed as Primary. All other players are listed as Secondary and not all players will necessarily get playing time.

MEXICAN PACIFIC WINTER LEAGUE
10/13/12 - Opening Day
11/22/12 - Second Half Starts
12/30/12 - Season Ends

Naranjeros de Hermosillo
**RHP Edgar Gonzalez

**Primary

NICARAGUAN WINTER LEAGUE
10/19/12 - Opening Day

Orientales de Granada
**C Marlon Avea

Tigres del Chinandega
**1B/OF Mesac Laguna

**Primary

PUERTO RICAN WINTER LEAGUE
11/18/12 - Opening Day

Gigantes de Carolina
**LHP Xavier Cedeno
**C Carlos Corporan
**C Rene Garcia
**2B Enrique Hernandez
**C Jobduan Morales

Criollos de Caguas
**LHP Luis Cruz
1B/OF Edwin Gomez
**C Roberto Pena

Indios de Mayaguez
**SS Angel Sanchez (Free Agent)

Leones de Ponce
Pitching Coach Hector Mercado

**Primary

VENEZUELAN WINTER LEAGUE
10/11/12 - Opening Day
12/2/12 - All-Star Game
12/30/12 - Season Ends

Navagantes del Magallanes
**2B Jose Altuve
C Luis Alvarez
RHP Enderson Franco
**LHP Gabriel Garcia
**C Ernesto Genoves
**RHP David Martinez
OF Jose Monzon
**RHP Juri Perez
**RHP Carlos Quevedo

Leones del Caracas
#CF Brandon Barnes
**SS Marwin Gonzalez
**RHP Luis Ordosgoitti
**C Carlos Perez

Aguilas de Zulia
RHP Elieser Hernandez
SS Kristian Trompiz
**RHP Arcenio Leon
SS Arturo Michelena

Tigres de Aragua
**2B Jose Martinez

Caribes de Anzotegui
Third Base Coach Omar Lopez

**Primary
#Import

Arizona Fall League Update

I somehow missed this along the way, but RHP Nick Tropeano was added to the list of players who will be participating in the Arizona Fall League for the Astros. The complete list of Astros players on the Mesa Solar Sox team is as follows:

RHP Jarred Cosart
RHP Chia-Jen Lo
LHP Alex Sogard
RHP Nick Tropeano
SS Jio Mier
1B Jon Singleton
OF Bobby Borchering
OF George Springer

My understanding is that seven of the players will be on the active roster and one player will be on a taxi squad and only available for games on Wednesdays and Sundays.

Note that Borchering is listed on the roster as an outfielder, although he played 3B for the Hooks after he came to the Astros organization this year. Also note that Lancaster JetHawks Manager Rodney Linares will be managing the team. The other teams represented on the Solar Sox are the Dodgers, Cubs, Orioles and Tigers. The complete roster can be found here. And the schedule can be found here.

Check back after the season starts on October 9th as I will be recapping the performances of the Astros players participating in both fall and winter leagues.

Oklahoma City Roster

OPENING DAY ROSTER FOR OKLAHOMA CITY REDHAWKS
CURRENT ROSTER (REFLECTING ANY CHANGES AFTER OPENING DAY)
OKLAHOMA CITY SEASON PREVIEW

PITCHERS
RHP Juan Abreu
RHP Jonathan Aristil
LHP Xavier Cedeno - started on DL
RHP Paul Clemens
RHP Enerio del Rosario
RHP Adalberto Flores
LHP Dallas Keuchel
RHP Jordan Lyles
RHP Sergio Perez
RHP Aneury Rodriquez
RHP Henry Sosa
RHP Mickey Storey
RHP Jose Valdez

CATCHERS
Carlos Corporan#
Landon Powell

INFIELDERS
Diory Hernandez
Mike Hessman
Scott Moore
Jimmy Paredes#
Angel Sanchez
Brett Wallace*

OUTFIELDERS
Collin Delome*
Jake Goebbert* - sent to CC 2nd day of season
Fernando Martinez*
Justin Ruggiano
J.B. Shuck*
Brad Snyder*

*Bats left
#Switch-hitter

Lancaster Roster

OPENING DAY ROSTER FOR LANCASTER JETHAWKS
CURRENT ROSTER (REFLECTING ANY CHANGES AFTER OPENING DAY)
LANCASTER SEASON PREVIEW

PITCHERS
RHP Ruben Alaniz
RHP Kirk Clark
RHP Jorge de Leon
RHP Bobby Doran
LHP Gabriel Garcia
RHP Zach Grimmett
RHP David Martinez
LHP Wes Musick
RHP Andrew Robinson
LHP Alex Sogard
RHP Brian Streilein
RHP Jose Trinidad
LHP Pat Urckfitz

CATCHERS
Rene Garcia
Ben Heath

INFIELDERS
Erik Castro*
Jonathan Meyer
Jiovanni Mier
Telvin Nash
Ben Orloff
Rafael Valenzuela*

OUTFIELDERS
Daniel Adamson
Adam Bailey* - Sent from CC 2nd day of season
Enrique Hernandez
Grant Hogue - Started season on DL
Domingo Santana
George Springer

*Bats left
#Switch-hitter

Corpus Christi Roster

OPENING DAY ROSTER FOR CORPUS CHRISTI HOOKS
CURRENT ROSTER (REFLECTING ANY CHANGES AFTER OPENING DAY)
CORPUS CHRISTI SEASON PREVIEW

PITCHERS
RHP Erick Abreu
RHP Jake Buchanan
LHP Kevin Chapman
RHP Jose Cisnero
RHP Jarred Cosart
RHP Chris Hicks
RHP Arcenio Leon
LHP Brett Oberholtzer
RHP Ross Seaton
RHP Jason Stoffel
RHP Henry Villar
RHP Josh Zeid

CATCHERS
Jair Fernandez
Chris Wallace

INFIELDERS
Kody Hinze
Jordan Kreke
Jose Martinez
Andy Simunic
Jonathan Singleton*
J.C. Thompson
Jonathan Villar#

OUTFIELDERS
Adam Bailey* - sent to LAN 2nd day of season
Brandon Barnes
Jacob Goebbert* - assigned to team 2nd day of season
T.J. Steele
Austin Wates

*Bats left
#Switch-hitter

Lexington Roster

OPENING DAY ROSTER FOR LEXINGTON LEGENDS
CURRENT ROSTER (REFLECTING ANY CHANGES AFTER OPENING DAY)
LEXINGTON SEASON PREVIEW

PITCHERS
RHP Tanner Bushue
RHP Jason Chowning
LHP Luis Cruz
RHP Dayan Diaz
RHP Jonas Dufek
RHP Mike Foltynewicz
RHP Murilo Gouvea
LHP Evan Grills
LHP Kyle Hallock
RHP Carlos Quevedo
RHP Nick Tropeano
LHP Scott Zuloaga

CATCHERS
Miles Hamblin*
Mike Kvasnicka#
Roberto Pena

INFIELDERS
Tyler Burnett*
Delino Deshields
Matt Duffy
Jimmy Howick
Zach Johnson
Alex Todd

OUTFIELDERS
Justin Gominsky
Emilio King
Drew Muren*
Jordan Scott*

*Bats left
#Switch-hitter