Astros Minor League Recaps, Week 2: Sugar Land

Results for Week 2: May 13-18

The Sugar Land Skeeters, fresh off a 5-1 series win in Albuquerque, were in Round Rock for the second leg of their inaugural road trip as an affiliated Minor League Baseball club.

Sugar Land and Round Rock played two at Dell Diamond on Monday.

Again, as a reminder, I will not be doing recaps this week.

Game 1 (Thursday, May 13): Sugar Land 10, Round Rock 4

W- Seth Martinez (2-0)
L- Jason Bahr (0-1)

SL home runs: Jake Meyers (4, 2-run in 2nd), Jose Siri (3, grand slam in 2nd)

It was the Jose Siri Show on Thursday as he cleared the bases with a double in the 1st and then proceeded to clear them again in the 2nd, this time by hitting the ball over the fence. That is what we call a grand slam. Before Siri's slam, Jake Meyers whacked a two-run homer. Garrett Stubbs capped off the night with an RBI single in the 9th.

Seth Martinez was the first man out of the Sugar Land bullpen and he got the win with 2.1 scoreless innings of relief, walking one and striking out four. Well, he did inherit a bases-loaded situation from Austin Hansen and one run ended up scoring. Ralph Garza Jr. was the third reliever to appear and he also threw 2.1 scoreless innings, striking out three.

Game 2 (Friday, May 14): Sugar Land 5, Round Rock 1

W- Brett Conine (2-0)
L- Drew Anderson (1-1)

SL home runs: C.J. Hinojosa (1, solo in 2nd), Miguelangel Sierra (1, solo in 2nd)

Another multi-hit night for Jose Siri, who also drove in two and stole two bases. C.J. Hinojosa and Miguelangel Sierra went deep in the 2nd. Siri, Ronnie Dawson, and Bryan De La Cruz all had two hits on the night.

Brett Conine allowed two hits, walked three, and struck out four over five shutout innings.

Game 3 (Saturday, May 15): Round Rock 6, Sugar Land 5

W- Spencer Patton (1-0)
L- Jojanse Torres (0-1)

S- Joe Barlow (2)

SL home runs: Alex De Goti (2, 2-run in 3rd)

The Express snatched this game from the Skeeters thanks to a four-run 8th inning that gave them the lead.

Alex De Goti whacked a two-run homer in the 3rd and lashed an RBI triple in the 6th inning. Garrett Stubbs went 3-4 with an RBI double in the 7th. Colin McKee worked around a hit and a walk to throw a scoreless 5th, striking out two.

Game 4 (Monday, May 17): Round Rock 6, Sugar Land 4

W- DeMarcus Evans (1-0)|
L- Framber Valdez (0-1)
S- Spencer Patton (1)

SL home runs: None.

Giving up five runs in the first inning... not ideal..

Framber Valdez made his first rehab start and gave up all five of those runs. Fortunately, I guess, only one of those runs was earned. Framber allowed seven hits and struck out three in three innings. Nivaldo Rodriguez also threw three innings and allowed an RBI single, walked two, and fanned four.

Bryan De La Cruz went 2-4 and scored twice.

Game 5 (Monday, May 17): Round Rock 5, Sugar Land 4

W- Luis Ortiz (1-0)
L- Shawn Dubin (1-1)

SL home runs: Jose Siri (4, grand slam in 6th)

Jose Siri put up all four Sugar Land runs with one swing of the bat and gave them the lead... and then the Express walked it off to sweep the twinbill. Okay, cool.

Game 6 (Tuesday, May 18): Round Rock 8, Sugar Land 5

W- James Jones (1-0)
L- Jake Odorizzi (0-1)

S- Joe Barlow (3)

SL home runs: Bryan De La Cruz 2 (2; solo in 1st, solo in 3rd)

De La Cruz led off the game with a homer and launched another solo shot in the 3rd inning. C.J. Hinojosa has a two-run double in the 6th.

Jake Odorizzi also made his first rehab start and like Framber, he had a couple of good innings and a rough one. He allowed four runs, all in the 2nd, on five hits (3-run homer), walked one, and struck out four in his three innings of work.

Well, on Thursday, weather permitting of course, the Skeeters will play their first home game as an affiliated minor league baseball team.

See you guys next week.

Astros Minor League Recaps, Week 1: Sugar Land

Sugar Land gets its own post because AAA operates on a different schedule.

Game 1 (Thursday, May 6): Sugar Land 9, Albuquerque 4

W- Ralph Garza Jr. (1-0)
L- Antonio Santos (0-1)

SL home runs: None.

The Sugar Land Skeeters' first game as an affiliated minor league baseball club ended in a victory. Albuquerque cut into a 5-0 lead with three runs in the 3rd, but the Skeeters hit back with three in the 6th to regain control. Six of the Skeeters' starting nine finished with multi-hit games.

Alex De Goti finished 3-5 with a pair of RBI singles. The one guy who didn't finish with a multi-hit game, C.J. Hinojosa, still drove in two with a double and a sac fly. Jose Siri had a couple of RBI singles and scored three runs. 

Shawn Dubin got the start and the three runs he allowed in his 4.1 innings of work came on homers. He allowed four other hits, walked two, and fanned five. Ralph Garza Jr. got the win with 2.1 scoreless innings of relief, walking one and striking out four in the process.

Game 2 (Friday, May 7): Sugar Land 10, Albuquerque 3

W- Seth Martinez (1-0)
L- Brandon Gold (0-1)

SL home runs: Jose Siri (1, 3-run in 4th)

Sugar Land fell behind 3-0 early, but one swing of the bat completely flipped this game in their favor.

Siri launched a three-run homer in the 4th that tied the game and put the Skeeters on the board. It was all Sugar Land after that as Ronnie Dawson smacked a two-run double in the 4th, Garrett Stubbs drove in a run with a single and scored a sac fly, and finally, Siri ripped an RBI double and Hinojosa capped off the evening with a two-run double of his own in the 7th. Everyone in the lineup had a hit on Friday; Siri and Bryan de la Cruz both finished with three. Hinojosa, De Goti, Taylor Jones, and Lorenzo Quintana all had two hits, while Jake Meyers and Ronnie Dawson had one.

Tyler Ivey went 4.2 innings and allowed three runs on four hits, walked three, and struck out seven. Seth Martinez and Riley Ferrell combined to shut the Isotopes out for the final 4.1 innings; Martinez walked one and fanned five in 2.1 scoreless, and Ferrell walked two and struck out two over the final two innings.

Game 3 (Saturday, May 8): Sugar Land 15, Albuquerque 1

W- Brett Conine (1-0)
L- Ian Clarkin (0-1)
S- Austin Hansen (1)

SL home runs: Ronnie Dawson (1, 2-run in 2nd), Jake Meyers (1, solo in 3rd), Alex De Goti (1, 3-run in 3rd)

Everyone in the lineup scored a run, eight of the nine players in the lineup drove in a run, a good time was had by all.

The one run Brett Conine allowed in his 5.2 innings came on a solo homer hit by Jose Briceno in the 5th inning. He allowed four other hits, walked one, and fanned five. Austin Hansen carried the Skeeters to the finish line by allowing a hit, walking one, and striking out four over the final 3.1 innings.

Game 4 (Sunday, May 9): Albuquerque 6, Sugar Land 4

W- Ryan Castellani (1-0)
L- Ryan Hartman (0-1)

SL home runs: Taylor Jones (1, 2-run in 3rd)

Well, Sugar Land's winning percentage as an affiliated club took a hit on Sunday.

Both Ryans pitched five innings, but the Isotopes' Ryan (Castellani), managed to allow just two runs. Colin McKee was the first man out of the Skeeters' bullpen and he allowed a hit, walked one, and struck out three in two scoreless innings of work.

Taylor Jones drove in all four Sugar Land runs in this game: he whacked a two-run homer in the 3rd and ripped a two-run double in the 9th as they tried to mount a comeback. Jones, Lorenzo Quintana, and Jose Siri all had two hits on the day.

Game 5 (Monday, May 10): Sugar Land 7, Albuquerque 3

W- Nivaldo Rodriguez (1-0)
L- Jose Mujica (0-1)
S- Hector Velazquez (1)

SL home runs: Jose Siri (2, 2-run in 3rd)

The Skeeters returned to their winning ways as they posted the only crooked number in this game.

Nivaldo Rodriguez had a nice outing as he only allowed a run on a solo homer, two other hits, walked one, and struck out five in five innings of work. Jojanse Torres was all over the place in his 2.2 innings, judging by his five walks and 32 balls (54 pitches). However, he only allowed two runs (one earned) and one hit. Hector Velazquez allowed a hit and struck out one in the final 1.1 innings to get the save.

C.J. Hinojosa scored Sugar Land's first run on a wild pitch in the 2nd. Taylor Jones put the Skeeters in front with a two-run single in the 3rd and one batter later, Jose Siri launched a two-run homer. They finished off the evening with RBI doubles from Mike Papierski in the 8th and Hinojosa in the 9th. Everyone in the lineup had at least one hit; Jones and Hinojosa both went 3-5, while Siri and Garrett Stubbs finished with two each.

Game 6 (Tuesday, May 11): Sugar Land 6, Albuquerque 4

W- Shawn Dubin (1-0)

L- Antonio Santos (0-2)

S- Peter Solomon (1)

SL home runs: Jake Meyers 2 (3; 2-run in 5th, solo in 7th), Taylor Jones (2, 2-run in 7th)

It was a successful inaugural series for the Sugar Land Skeeters as they took five in Albuquerque.

Jake Meyers and Taylor Jones drove in three runs apiece for the Skeeters in this one; they both did their damage in the 5th and the 7th. Meyers did so with his two homers and Jones had an RBI double in the 5th to go along with his two-run blast in the 7th.

Meyers went 3-5 from the leadoff spot, while Jones and Ronnie Dawson had two hits apiece.

Shawn Dubin allowed a run on three hits, walked three, and fanned six in five innings. Peter Solomon tagged in for the final four innings and he allowed three runs on six hits (2-run homer) while striking out six.

The second leg of the Skeeters' season-opening road trip takes them to Round Rock for six games starting Wednesday.

Week 1's Stars

All photos are from Jayne unless stated otherwise.

Taylor Jones,1B

12-20 (.600/.692/1.050), 2 HR, 10 RBI in series

Jake Meyers, OF

8-25 (.320/.346/.720), 3 HR, 7 RBI in series

This is his headshot on MiLB.com.

Jose Siri, OF

11-25 (.440/.481/.840), 2 HR, 11 RBI in series

Ralph Garza Jr., RHP

Thursday: W (1-0), 2.1 IP, BB, 4 K

This is his headshot on MiLB.com.

Seth Martinez, RHP

Friday: W (1-0), 2.1 IP, BB, 5 K

Brett Conine, RHP

Saturday: W (1-0), 5.2 IP, 5 H (solo HR allowed), ER, BB, 5 K

Austin Hansen, RHP, and Shawn Dubin, RHP

Hansen (Saturday): Save (1), 3.1 IP, H, BB, 4 K

Dubin (Tuesday): W (1-0), 5 IP, 3 H, ER, 3 BB, 6 K

Nivaldo Rodriguez, RHP

Monday: W (1-0), 5 IP, 3 H (solo HR allowed), ER, BB, 5 K

Meet the Sugar Land Skeeters

As Jayne is on her sabbatical, it looks like I will be assuming the responsibility of operating What the Heck, Bobby?

I recently made the decision to step away from my own blog for the time being, so that process is very much up in the air. I might just recap according to who's playing. Since Triple-A and Double-A have Wednesdays off, I'll start the posts on Thursday, add to them, and post on Wednesday.

The Class A clubs have Mondays off, so I'll utilize that same method starting on Tuesday and then adding to them until they're ready to post on Monday. So, I'll have at least two posts a week and probably a Farm Report at the end of the month. Seems manageable, especially since I had a recap post every single day.

Well, without further ado, let's meet the Houston Astros minor league affiliates! First up is the Sugar Land Skeeters.

Photo from Chris Creamer's SportsLogos.Net

Established in 2012 in the independent Atlantic League, the Sugar Land Skeeters won two championships during its tenure as an independent league club in 2016 and 2018. Now, with the realignment of Minor League Baseball, the Skeeters will continue operations as the Houston Astros' Triple-A affiliate after the Astros purchased a majority ownership stake in the club back in November.

Sugar Land begins its journey as an affiliated club as members of the Triple-A West league, which consists of nine teams that were formerly in the Pacific Coast League; they are the one outlier, considering that they joined from the independent ranks. The Skeeters will play in AAA West's East division along with El Paso, Albuquerque, Round Rock, and Oklahoma City. The West teams are Las Vegas, Sacramento, Reno, Tacoma, and Salt Lake. 

Sugar Land opens its season with 12 games on the road. They will open up with six in Albuquerque on Thursday and they'll head to Round Rock next Thursday, May 13.

Personally, I am excited that there will be a minor league baseball team close to home. I loved Corpus and I hope to head down there again soon, but the thought of not having to drive four hours is quite appealing to me. Plus, most of my family lives down in Sugar Land, so I can foresee a few gatherings of the cousins at Constellation Field in the future...

The Skeeters have played at Constellation Field since its inception. The stadium's most prominent feature is its Texas-shaped video board that forms the batter's eye.

Also, a friend of mine recently got hired on as a scorekeeper for the Skeeters. He went for an opening on the Astros in that regard but didn't get that position. But, he tried again for Sugar Land and got it.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Official website: https://www.milb.com/sugar-land

Twitter: @SL_Skeeters

Instagram: sugarlandskeeters

You can also find the various other social media platforms that they utilize on their official website, but for brevity's sake, I only listed the apps that I (and I'm sure most of you) use most often.

And now... the 2021 Sugar Land Skeeters! This roster is preliminary and subject to change.

COACHING STAFF

Press Release

Manager: Mickey Storey

Pitching Coach: Erick Abreu

Hitting Coach: Ben Rosenthal

Development Coach: Sean Connole

Strength and Conditioning Coach: Hazael Wessin

Athletic Trainers: John Gregorich, A.J. Smith

Erick Abreu moves up to Triple-A after spending 2019 as the pitching coach at Quad Cities. He was supposed to return to Quad Cities in 2020, but as you know... there was no Minor League season.

ROSTER

Italics - bats/throws left-handed

Bold - switch-hitter

Pitchers

It's an advanced group of mainly college guys, and they are essentially the same guys you've read about on here for the last three years. Tyler Ivey, Brett Conine, and Shawn Dubin could see some time in Houston this summer. 

Ronel Blanco and Jojanse Torres are a couple of Dominicans with fireballs who are still learning to harness their pitches. 

Austin Hansen and Colin McKee have shown that they can rack up some serious strikeout numbers as they've climbed the ladder. This is an aggressive assignment for Hansen, who carved up both Class A levels in 2019 and will be skipping Corpus to start 2021.

Ronel Blanco - International free agent from the Dominican Republic in 2016; Blanco played in Corpus and Round Rock in 2019 and he also made four rehab appearances with Tri-City.

Brett Conine - 11th round, 2018 draft (Cal State Fullerton); Quad Cities/Fayetteville/Corpus

Shawn Dubin - 13th round, 2018 draft (Georgetown College); Quad Cities/Fayetteville

Riley Ferrell - Returned to Astros by the Marlins during the 2019 season after being selected in the 2018 Rule 5 draft. Originally drafted by the Astros in the 3rd round of the 2015 draft (TCU). Ferrell played for five different teams in the Marlins and Astros systems in 2019.

Ralph Garza Jr. - 26th round, 2015 draft (Oklahoma); Round Rock

Austin Hansen - 8th round, 2018 draft (Oklahoma); Quad Cities/Fayetteville

Ryan Hartman - 9th round, 2016 draft (Tennessee Wesleyan); Round Rock

Tyler Ivey - 3rd round, 2017 draft (Grayson County College); Corpus Christi, with rehab appearances in Fayetteville and the Gulf Coast League

Seth Martinez - Rule 5 draft selection (minor league phase) from Athletics, 2020; Stockton/Midland

Colin McKee - 18th round, 2016 draft (Mercyhurst); Corpus/Round Rock

Nivaldo Rodríguez - International free agent (Venezuela), 2016; Houston/Alternate Site in 2020

Kit Scheetz - Undrafted free agent (Virginia Tech), 2017; Round Rock/Corpus, with two rehab appearances in the GCL

Jojanse Torres - International free agent (Dominican Republic), 2018; Fayetteville/Quad Cities

Catchers

Michael Papierski - 9th round, 2017 draft (LSU); Fayetteville

Lorenzo Quintana - International free agent (Cuba), 2018; Round Rock/Corpus

Colton Shaver - 39th round, 2017 draft (BYU); Fayetteville/Corpus

Garrett Stubbs - 8th round, 2015 draft (Southern Cal); 14 games with Houston in 2020

Infielders

Taylor Jones is probably making his way back to the Houston area to join the Skeeters as he was optioned to the Alternate Site on April 30. Miguelangel Sierra is skipping Corpus.

Alex De Goti - 15th round, 2016 draft (Barry); Round Rock, appeared in two games with Houston earlier this season

C.J. Hinojosa - Minor league free agent signing, 2021; Biloxi (Brewers) in 2019, played in the Constellation Energy League with the Lightning Sloths in 2020

Miguelangel Sierra - International free agent (Venezuela), 2014; Fayetteville

Abraham Toro - 5th round, 2016 draft (Seminole State College); 33 games with Houston in 2020

Outfielders

Bryan De La Cruz is the longest-tenured member of the Astros organization; he originally signed with the Astros out of the Dominican Republic in 2013. I think I started writing for WTHB in 2013.

As this is his seventh season in the system, De La Cruz will be eligible for Minor League free agency following this season.

Ronnie Dawson - 2nd round, 2016 draft (Ohio State); Round Rock/Corpus, appeared in three games with Houston this season

Bryan De La Cruz - International free agent (Dominican Republic), 2013; Fayetteville/Corpus

Jake Meyers - 13th round, 2017 draft (Nebraska); Corpus/Fayetteville

Jose Siri - Minor league free agent signing, 2020; Louisville/Chattanooga (Reds) in 2019, Giants Alternate Site in 2020

2021 MiLB Schedule Reveal (plus quick refresher on new MiLB structure)

Yes, I'm still here. As long as there's baseball to talk about, Jayne and I will still be here. We hope that we can give you something to take your minds off the chaos that has run riot on society over the last year or so. The 2021 Minor League schedule is now out, but first, I want to put out a quick refresher on the changes that have come to Minor League Baseball.

In case you missed it, Minor League Baseball as we know it has been radically changed forever. The domestic short-season leagues are no longer affiliated with MLB clubs, and its member clubs have dispersed between the old Rookie leagues that have now been repurposed into summer leagues for college players and existing independent leagues that are now considered "MLB Partner Leagues," which means that these independent leagues are technically no longer independent from the Major League Baseball purview. The only "Rookie-level" minor league teams will be based out of the spring training and Dominican complexes.

All 30 MLB teams will have four affiliate clubs. For the Houston Astros, their organization ladder is as follows:

AAA: Sugar Land Skeeters (Triple-A West, East Division) 

AA: Corpus Christi Hooks (Double-A Central, South Division; which is essentially the Texas League with two Pacific Coast League teams joining the league) 

Class A Advanced: Asheville Tourists (High-A East, South Division)

Class A: Fayetteville Woodpeckers (Low-A East, Central Division)

And then you have the complex leagues, which won't change.

Now, on to the schedule. All series will be six games in length, with Monday designated as an off-day for everyone for travel and safety purposes. 

AAA Opening Day is scheduled for April 8, with Sugar Land traveling to Reno. They will then head to Sacramento for six games before returning to Sugar Land for their home opener on April 22 against Salt Lake. AAA will have a 142-game season that finishes on September 21.

Double-A and both Class A leagues will have a 120-game season that starts May 4 and ends September 19. Corpus Christi welcomes San Antonio to Whataburger Field to kick off the 2021 season, while Asheville hosts the Brooklyn Cyclones. Fayetteville will begin their 2021 season on the road against the Carolina Mudcats.

Click each team's name to view their schedule.

Sugar Land

Corpus Christi

Asheville

Fayetteville

As the season gets closer, I'll try to put out a "Know the Team" series to get everyone familiar with each affiliate. And of course, all dates are subject to change.