Astros Minor League Opening Day: 4/5

Everything you wanted to know about Astros MiLB Opening Day, but were afraid to ask!!! The season officially starts on Thursday, April 5th for all of the Astros full season teams.

OPENING DAY ROSTERS

Here's the breakdown of the Astros Full Season Opening Day rosters, including how/when the players were signed, where they were last season (and how they did) and a few notable players who are missing (and, in most cases, presumably on the DL to start the season).

For a bit more of a breakdown. On MiLB Opening Day, I show 233 players in the system who are NOT on the 40-man roster. This is how they break down:

140 international free agents
71 from the June Draft
8 non-drafted free agents
8 acquired in trades
5 minor league free agents
1 Rule 5 draft pick (minor league phase)

The international players are from (there are more than 140 because of trades and MiLB FA):

65 from the Dominican Republic
48 from Venezuela
12 from Cuba
9 from Panama
8 from Mexico
2 from Brazil
1 from Costa Rica

COACHING STAFF

And here is the info on the Astros 2018 minor league coaching staff.

PLAYER PROFILES

I have compiled all of the recent Beyond the Top 30 prospect profile links (over 140 Astros minor league player profiles or mini-profiles!) into one post and have pinned it to the front page for easy reference. As a reminder, I did not include profile write-ups of any players that had already made their MLB debut in those posts.

TOP PROSPECT LISTS

Also, the Consensus Top 32 Astros Prospect List is pinned to the front page. This includes rankings from Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus, FanGraphs and MLB Pipeline.

ASTROS ON TWITTER/INSTAGRAM

I've updated my twitter list of Astros players. If you have any that I'm missing, let me know! I've also updated my Instagram account to follow as many of the Astros minor leaguers as I could find. Feel free to wade through all of my follows to find some of your favorites (I do have a number of former Astros in there as well.) It's a really good way to get a feel for some of the Latin players who may not be on twitter!

ROSTER MOVES/TRANSACTIONS

And here is the final edition of the 2017-2018 Offseason Transactions post. I plan to keep an ongoing transaction list on signings, releases and trades throughout the season and I will keep that pinned on the front page of the blog as well.

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And, before I bring you the game info for Opening Day, I have one very important announcement. The one and only Dustin Nguyen will be back this season, bringing you THE BEST minor league recaps in the biz. Honestly, I don't know how he does it day in and day out, but he always adds little interesting tidbits here and there in addition to giving us full-blown recaps every day ... even when the short season teams start up and he has double the workload! Seriously, Dustin is the best and I am beyond happy that he will be back.

Now, without further ado ...

OPENING DAY INFORMATION

All games are on Thursday, April 5th.

FRESNO
The Grizzlies will start their season on the road in Reno at 8:35 central time with RHP Mike Hauschild on the mound for Fresno. The game will be available on MiLB.tv. Their home opener will be next Tuesday the 10th as they host Tacoma. The temperature at game time is forecast to be in the upper 50's.

CORPUS CHRISTI
The Hooks will also start their season with a long road trip to Springdale, Arkansas to face the Northwest Arkansas Naturals. Game time will be at 6:25 central with LHP Framber Valdez getting the start for the Hooks. The game will be available on MiLB.tv. The home opener for the Hooks will be one week later (Thursday the 12th) and they will once again face Northwest Arkansas. Game time temperature is forecast to be in the mid to high 50's.

BUIES CREEK
The BC Astros will be traveling to Salem, Virginia to start their season with RHP Jorge Alcala the scheduled starter for the Astros. The game starts at 6:05 central and will be available on MiLB.tv. The BC Astros home opener will be on Thursday, April 12th, and will also be against the Salem Red Sox. Game time temperature is forecast to be in the mid 50's.

QUAD CITIES
The River Bandits will be the only Astros team to start the season at home as they host the Cedar Rapid Kernels. The announced starter will be LHP Patrick Sandoval. The game will start at 6:35 central and will be available on MiLB.tv. The current forecast has game time temperature around 40 degrees.

If you wish to subscribe to MiLB.tv, the information is here. Audio of all games is free by clicking on the link to the game on the team page.

Carlos Correa and Why I Sometimes Hate Twitter

I enjoy Twitter. I have made many new friends on Twitter through the three or so years that I have been there. But one thing I cannot abide is seeing unconfirmed, sensationalized information thrown out there by supposed professionals in the interest of getting ReTweets and Follows. And that is precisely what happened late last night in regards to the injury of Carlos Correa.

Here are the FACTS as we know them right now. Correa was injured on a slide into third base in last night's Lancaster game. The injury APPEARED to be his ankle or lower leg. Correa appeared to be in a good deal of pain and was carried off the field, indicating that he was unable to put weight on the leg. I have not seen any official announcements that tell us anything more than that. I will wait until then to post anything further about the severity of the injury.

The other thing I hate about Twitter is watching grown men make total fools of themselves. People who say that women are overly emotional and irrational have never seen male sports fans carry on over something over which they have no control and which ultimately will not affect their day-to-day lives, relationships and health. Without even knowing the extent of the injury to Correa, some of these "men" seem prepared to commit ritual harakiri. Man up, guys.

I sincerely hope that Correa's injury isn't serious, but I will keep in mind that he is only 19 years old, he has the drive and desire and work ethic to overcome virtually any obstacle in his way, and he will likely be just fine even if his recovery may take time. And I think most Astros fans will overcome this horrible ordeal as well (yes, I'm being extremely sarcastic).

 As for the "me first, BREAKING NEWS, yellow journalism" aspect of Twitter, I will just say be careful whose information you trust.

I will try to post an update on Correa when OFFICIAL information is released, but I am going to be tied up with real life things this morning as I will be spending some time with my brother.

Astros 2014 Draft Picks, Their Twitter Handles and Birth Dates

You can get scouting reports on most of the Astros draft picks from a variety of sources. In addition to those more well known players, our good friends at Astros County have also been compiling info on all harder to find lower round picks as fast as their fingers can type them up.

I'm just going to keep a simple list up with name, position, birth date, twitter handle (if known) and signing status for easy reference. I'll keep it linked on the front page until the signing deadline comes and goes. If you find a twitter handle that I'm missing, leave it in the comments and I'll update.

1. LHP Brady Aiken (8/16/96) - @bradyaiken10 (Agreed to terms per Jim Callis of Baseball America)
CBA. OF Derek Fisher (8/21/93) - @DeFish23 (Signed)
2. 1B A.J. Reed (5/10/93) - @ajreed18UK (Signed)
3. 1B J.D. Davis (4/27/93) - @JDDavis26 (Signed)
4. RHP Daniel Mengden (2/19/93) - @dmengden15 (Signed)
5. RHP Jacob Nix (1/9/96) - @JakeNix33 (Agreed to terms per Mark Berman)
6. RHP Brock Dykxhoorn (7/2/94) - @Dykxy8 (Signed)
7. RHP Derick Velazquez (11/28/93) (Signed for $207,800)
8. CF Bobby Boyd (1/4/93) - @BobbyBoydWVU4 (Signed per Baseball America)
9. LHP Bryan Radziewski (2/21/92) - @BryanRadziewski (Signed)
10. RHP Jay Gause (4/24/92) (Signed)
11. RHP Dean Deetz (11/29/93) - @DeetzDean_12 (Signed per Baseball America)
12. LF Ryan Bottger (4/14/93) - @rbottger05 (Signed)
13. C Jamie Ritchie (4/9/93) - @jamieritchie35 (Signed)
14. 2B Nick Tanielu (9/4/92) - @TanieluN (Signed)
15. 3B Connor Goedert (12/14/93) (Signed per Baseball America)
16. LF Ramon Laureano (7/15/94) - @ramonlaureano1 (Signed)
17. LHP Ben Smith (1/20/93) (Signed)
18. SS Antonio Nunez (1/10/93)  (Signed)
19. C Ruben Castro (7/10/96) (Signed)
20. C Trent Woodward (2/4/92) - @Twoodward_3  (Signed)
21. LHP Mac Marshall (1/27/96) - @macmarshall19 (Hard sign per Brian McTaggart)
22. 1B Bryan Muniz (6/5/93) - @be_muniz10 (Signed per Baseball America)
23. RHP Ryan Thompson (6/26/92) - @R_Thompson15 (Signed)
24. RHP Vince Wheeland (1/10/92) - @VinnyW35 (Signed)
25. LHP Zach Davis (12/16/91) - @ZachDavis21 (Signed)
26. 2B Mott Hyde (3/10/92) (Signed)
27. RHP Brandon McNitt (1/09/92) - @BMcNitt20 (Signed)
28. RHP Aaron Greenwood (8/18/91) - @AaronGwood44 (Signed)
29. C Richard Gonzalez (11/18/93) (Signed)
30. OF Sean McMullen (6/4/92) - @SeanMac04 (Signed)
31. 1B Dexture McCall (1/29/94) - @youngdoe21 (Not active) (Signed per Baseball America)
32. RHP Robert Kahana (5/16/93) (Signed)
33. OF Edwin Medina (2/11/93) (Signed per Baseball America)
34. RHP Joshua James (3/8/93)  (Signed)
35. RHP Keegan Yuhl (1/23/92) (Signed)
36. RHP Justin Ferrell (4/21/94) - @Daddy_Slank (Signed per Baseball America)
37. RHP Eric Peterson (3/8/93) (Signed per Baseball America)
38. 2B Michael Foster (11/4/93)
39. SS Brad Antchak (12/11/95) - @BradAntchak
40. 2B Alexander Hernandez (4/4/92) @aherns7 (Signed)

Undrafted Free Agents

LHP Kyle Gehrs - @gehrsE10
IF Dayne Parker - @Dparker_11
IF John Gatlin - @johngatlin36