What the Heck, Bobby?: Zach Johnson

Showing posts with label Zach Johnson. Show all posts

Monday, July 8, 2013

Tweet of the Day

‏@ZachJohnsonMiLB
There's always a reason to be happy. Don't allow others bring you down or let you down.

Sunday, June 16, 2013

1B Zach Johnson (25)
A 15th round pick by Houston out of Oklahoma State in 2011, Johnson led the Sally League in RBI in his first full season with Lexington in 2012. After 20 games with Lancaster to start the 2013 season in which he hit .298/.362/.536, Johnson was promoted to Corpus Christi. His combined stats for the season are .246/.311/.440 in 37 games.

One former Astro with a birthday today ~

RHP Ken Johnson (80)
Drafted from the Reds in the 1961 expansion draft, Johnson spent four seasons with the Colt .45s and Astros from 1962 to 1965. In 113 games (106 starts), he was 32-51 with a 3.41 ERA and a 1.174 WHIP. According to Baseball-Reference, he didn't have the best of luck playing for the Colt .45s.

He is the only Major League pitcher to lose a nine-inning complete game no-hitter. On April 23, 1964, while with the Houston Colt .45's he was beaten 1 - 0 by the Cincinnati Reds despite having thrown a no-hitter. After eight innings of no-hit ball, in the top of the ninth, Johnson faced his counterpart, Joe Nuxhall, who grounded out to third. Then Pete Rose reached second after Johnson made an errant throw to first on a bunt. After a sacrifice to the pitcher, Rose was 90 feet from home with two outs. Vada Pinson then sent a grounder to second baseman Nellie Fox who booted it, allowing the run to score. Johnson got the next batter to fly out, but the Colt .45's couldn't score in the last of the ninth, pegging him with the loss.

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Roster Moves

Corpus Christi
OF Justin Maxwell assigned to Corpus Christi for rehab assignment
SS Jio Mier activated from the bereavement list
1B Zach Johnson placed on the temporary inactive list

Lancaster
RHP Cameron Lamb assigned from Quad Cities to Lancaster
SS Jean Batista assigned from Lancaster to Extended Spring Training

Quad Cities
RHP Juan Minaya assigned from Extended Spring Training to Quad Cities

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

WTHB Pitcher and Player of the Month for April

I'm going to try something new this year. I will tally the results of all the WTHB Players and Pitchers of the Day during a given month in order to determine Player/Pitcher of the Month for that month. I have added up the honors for April, and the results are impressive. FIFTY players received accolades (or at least an honorable mention) in the daily minor league recaps last month. With that said, here are the winners.

PLAYER OF THE MONTH - ZACH JOHNSON
Johnson earned Player of the Day honors three times during April. He hit .298/.362/.536 at Lancaster in April and was just promoted to Corpus Christi today. He leads the Astros minor league system in doubles with 10, and has two triples, two home runs and 20 RBI so far this season.

PITCHERS OF THE MONTH - (THREE-WAY TIE) JAKE BUCHANAN, TRAVIS BALLEW, AND VINCENT VELASQUEZ
All three of these players were named as Pitcher of the Day three separate times during the month of April.

Jake Buchanan is 2-0 in seven appearances (five starts) with a 1.47 ERA and a 0.717 WHIP. He has walked only two batters this season while striking out 16.

Travis Ballew has three saves and 17 strikeouts over only seven and two-thirds innings. His SO/9 is 20 and batters are hitting only .172 against him.

Vincent Velasquez is one of only four Astros farmhands to have gotten to three wins already this season. His ERA is 2.45 and his WHIP is 0.818. He has accumulated 10.9 strikeouts per nine innings and a .156 batting average against.

OTHER PLAYERS RECEIVING TWO PITCHER/PLAYER OF THE DAY HONORS DURING THE MONTH OF APRIL:

Carlos Correa
Bobby Doran
Carlos Perez
Nick Tropeano
Terrell Joyce
Asher Wojciechowski
David Rollins
Jake Elmore
Luis Cruz
Austin Wates
Brian Holmes

Roster Moves

HOUSTON
According to Brian McTaggart, RHP Jordan Lyles and LHP Dallas Keuchel are being assigned from Oklahoma City to Houston.

OKLAHOMA CITY
RHP Jason Stoffel assigned from Corpus Christi to Oklahoma City
C Carlos Perez assigned from Corpus Christi to Oklahoma City
OF Austin Wates activated from the DL

CORPUS CHRISTI
OF J.D. Martinez assigned to rehab at Corpus Christi
C Max Stassi assigned from Extended Spring Training to Corpus Christi
1B Zach Johnson assigned from Lancaster to Corpus Christi
1B Rafael Valenzuela released

QUAD CITIES
3B Rio Ruiz placed on the 7-day DL (reported to be a minor back/oblique injury)
IF Brian Blasik assigned from Extended Spring Training to Quad Cities

It's a part of the process, but it's never easy. Rafy Valenzuela is one of the good guys and he will truly be missed. Thanks for the hugs, Rafy, and good luck.

Sunday, April 28, 2013

Astros Minor League Recaps

Saturday’s Games

Lansing Lugnuts 2, Quad Cities River Bandits 3

The River Bandits didn't score a run until the fifth inning at Modern Woodmen Park, but solid pitching kept them in the hunt and they went on to win at home. Lance McCullers started the match and through five, recorded one run (0 ER) on two hits, walked one and struck out five. Daniel Minor (2-0) took the win after entering the game in the sixth. Minor gave up just two hits of his own, striking out six of the ten batters he faced. John Neely earned his third save after coming on in the ninth and giving up a run on three hits. Quad Cities had just three hits all night, but thanks to forcing a few errors and crafty baserunning it was plenty. Austin Elkins didn't even record a hit in the game (0X2 2BB), but after reaching on a fielding error, he advanced to second, stole third and scored for the third and final run of the game off of a RBI groundout by Jesse Wierzbicki (0X3 RBI).

Inland Empire 66ers 10, Lancaster JetHawks 7 (10)

This was a roller-coaster ride of a game Saturday at The Hangar. The JetHawks came out to an early, five-run lead, but by the ninth were tying the game via the long ball to force extra innings. Chris Devenski took the hill to start at home Saturday and through the first four was in excellent form, recording 1-2-3 innings in the second, third and fourth frames. Devenski pitched through the fifth and recorded three runs on two hits, a walk, five Ks and hit a batter on the night. Brady Rodgers came on for the next three and earned his third hold. Despite giving up eight hits, all singles, Rodgers allowed just one run and struck out a pair. Travis Ballew took the hill in the ninth and blew his first save of the season, allowing two runs on two hits while striking out a pair of his own. Jonas Dufek (0-1) took the loss after allowing four more runs on four hits in the tenth inning, he struck out one. Zach Johnson had a productive night swinging the bat. Johnson hit three-for-four with two runs scored, two doubles, two RBIs, a walk and a solo shot in the ninth inning to tie the game and force extra innings. Telvin Nash hit two-for-five and recorded a run scored and RBI on his own solo shot in the tenth. Unfortunately, this was the only offense the JetHawks managed in extras.

Corpus Christi Hooks 11, Frisco RoughRiders 0

Corpus Christi didn't score after the third inning on Saturday, but when you are riding an 11-run lead after three frames and your pitching tandem records 11 strikeouts through nine shutout innings, it's usually not too hard to hold on to the lead. Bobby Doran (3-0) started on the bump and through his five frames allowed four hits, three walks and struck out four, earning him his third win of the year. Nick Tropeano finished out the game and collected his third tandem-save. Trope' gave up three hits and K-ed seven during his shift. On the offensive side of the plate Kiké Hernandez had a giant game, hitting three-for-five with a three-RBI triple in the first inning. Hernandez also scored two runs. George Springer went two-for-four at the dish with two runs scored and an RBI coming by way of his Texas League-leading, seventh homerun. Here's the rest of the box, just for fun:

New Orleans Zephyrs 1, Oklahoma City RedHawks 11

OKC put up 11 runs of their own on Saturday and went on to win back-to-back games at home. Jordan Lyles (2-2) took the win after pitching the first five and allowing the opposition's only run on 3 hits. Lyles also walked a pair and struck out twice as many. Wes Musick (H, 3), C.J. Fick and Eric Berger came on, respectively, after Lyles to pitch, all giving up a hit and a walk and all but Berger recording two Ks. Brett Wallace hit just one-for-four Saturday, but his one hit was his second homer of the year, a two-out solo shot in the eighth inning. Marc Krauss hit a homer as well, a two-run shot in the fifth. Krauss finished two-for-four with those two RBIs, two runs scored, a walk and two stolen bases. Jonathan Villar and Andrew Simunic both hit two-for-four with doubles in the game. Villar had two RBIs and Simunic walked once.

Player of the Day: It's a tie between Zach Johnson and Superman, Mark Krauss. These guys accounted for something like 8 runs on Saturday among all the offense and personally I'm a little scared of them. So, if you honestly think one of them did better, you can tell them.

Pitcher of the Day: Trope' takes the cake after what can only be described as "whoopin' up on" Frisco Saturday. Tropeano struck out seven guys in the game and now has 29 Ks on the season. More impressive, he has only issued five walks in the same time and in three starts as the second half of a tandem he has K-ed 17 without issuing a single walk.

Saturday, April 27, 2013

Tweets of the Day

Late Thursday/Early Friday somewhere between Lake Elsinore and Lancaster with legendary bus driver Andy at the helm:

‏@Tballew18
I feel like everybody I know goes to bed early and I'm always up late

‏@Rodgers20
@Tballew18 nope

‏@Tballew18
@Rodgers20 oh hey man how's it going

‏@Rodgers20
@Tballew18 just stuck in some traffic..how you doing 2 rows up

‏@Tballew18
@Rodgers20 oh ya know just hanging out wondering what's going on and sweating cuz it's hot

‏@Rodgers20
@Tballew18 yeah my guess is there's a standoff or a trucker had one to many cold ones and ran off the road

‏@Tballew18
@Rodgers20 yea those are def two solid guesses

‏@ZachJohnsonMiLB
Frightening occurrence

‏@Booogggie
There is a police roadblock with only one car and us on the road. So we are deciding to reverse a mile back. #AndyMakingMoves

‏@JioMier
@Booogggie Annnnddddyyyyyyyyyyy

‏@JustDrewIt760
@ZachJohnsonMiLB Andy being ridiculous?

‏@ZachJohnsonMiLB
@JustDrewIt760 going reverse on the highway for about a mile lol

‏@JustDrewIt760
@ZachJohnsonMiLB wow. That's a new one

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Astros Minor League Recap

There was only one Astros MiLB game last night with the rest being washouts or days off. And that one game was the Lancaster game which didn't start until 9:00. Since the Astros West Coast trip had left me totally sleep deprived, I opted for an early bedtime. This morning I looked back through my twitter timeline to get a flavor of what I had missed (you can't tell everything from a boxscore) and there was some good stuff in there so let's try something new today. The Call of the Game courtesy of twitter:

‏@JetHawks
Mavs jump out to an early 2-0 lead on @Folty25. #JetHawks looking for a comeback win in the rubber game of the series!

‏@BucaMorris
"It's a beautiful drive. Lot's to see... (beat)... That is, of course, if you like desert."
-@jasondschwartz #LancasterJetHawks

‏@jasondschwartz
Matt Duffy extends his hitting streak to 10 games with a leadoff 2B in the 4th. #JetHawks #Astros

‏@jasondschwartz
Nolan Fontana just walked for the 3rd time tonight -- in the 4th inning! He’s now walked 8 times in 15 PAs this series. #JetHawks #Astros

‏@JetHawks
#JetHawks put up 6 runs in the 4th inning to take a 9-2 lead in High Desert… Johnson w/ a big 3-R 2B!

‏@jasondschwartz
Umpire called a balk and I could read the official scorer’s lips as he turned to the guy next to him… “What’s a balk?”

‏@jasondschwartz
#JetHawks leading 9-3 and hitting the ball well but the play Matt Duffy just made at 3rd base is the best thing we’ll see tonight.

‏@AnthonyBoyerTCB
The Mavericks mascot is hanging out, silently, in the booth with @jasondschwartz. Is it me or is that super creepy?

‏@JetHawks
Mavericks score three in the 6th inning to cut the #JetHawks lead to 9-6.

‏@jasondschwartz
Mavs mascot Wooly Bully joined me in booth last inning. I asked him/her(?) about league’s new deal with the California Beef Council.

‏@jasondschwartz
…unfortunately mascots don’t talk so that didn’t go anywhere.

‏@AnthonyBoyerTCB
@jasondschwartz Gotta be a him. Otherwise it'd be Wooly Heifery...

‏@BucaMorris
Ze plane! Ze plane! Apparently the "Swooping Spruce Goose" is back in Adelanto. No matter, the JetHawks are up, 9-7. #Lancaster #Astros

‏@Eric_L_Smith
.@jasondschwartz What up with the heckling of Torrez? Is that guy mad they cut off alcohol in the 7th?

‏@AnthonyBoyerTCB
E6 on Fontana. WP on Ballew. 9-8 Lancaster, 2 outs B9.

‏@JetHawks
Mavs get close but @tballew18 shuts the door, striking out the side and leaving the tying run at 2nd in the 9th. 9-8 the final. #JetHawks

‏@WestAaron14
My roommate @Tballew18 is a pretty good pitcher. In his last 3 innings pitched he has 9 strikeouts. #dominating #filthy #NoChance

‏@BucaMorris
@jasondschwartz Fun game to listen to tonight. Plane returns, heckler, Lancaster fans doing a commercial below booth, mascot & the tense B9.

‏@JetHawks
FINAL: #JetHawks 9, Mavs 8. WP: Walters (2-0) LP: Guaipe (0-1) SV: Ballew (3) HR: LAN - None, HD: Blash (6)

Now to fill in a few of the blanks ~

Mike Foltynewicz - 4IP 4H 3R/2ER 1BB 2SO 1HR

Blair Walters (W, 2-0) - 2IP 4H 3R 3BB 2SO

Jonas Dufek - 2IP 3H 1R 0BB 2SO

Travis Ballew - 1IP 1H 1R/0ER 0BB 3SO

Nolan Fontana - 1x2 3BB 2R CS

Carlos Perdomo - 1x2 BB 2SO 2R

Zach Johnson - 3x5 2B 4RBI SO R

Brandon Meredith - 1x2 3B 2RBI 3BB 1R

Player of the Day: Zach Johnson's RBI single and three-run double were pivotal to the JetHawks offense.

Pitcher of the Day: You heard Aaron West ... Travis Ballew is a pretty good pitcher.

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Astros Minor League Recaps

Tuesday's Games

Burlington over Quad Cities 6-4
All good things must come to an end. Quad Cities got pegged with their first loss of the season on Tuesday. Daniel Minor got the start and allowed four runs on four hits with five strikeouts over five innings. All four of Minor's runs came via the long ball as he served up three home runs. Lance McCullers allowed two runs (one earned) on three hits and two walks and was charged with the loss. Jesse Wierzbicki with the only multi-hit game went 2-for-4 with a walk, RBI and run scored. The team had as many walks (eight) as hits with Teoscar Hernandez walking twice to go with a double and Carlos Correa walking three times. Chase Davidson had a double and an RBI. Roberto Peña and Ryan Dineen each recorded a sacrifice bunt RBI.

Lancaster over Lake Elsinore 13-8
Starter Alex Gillingham gave up two runs in the first and then shut the door on Lake Elsinore for his next four innings, ending his outing with six hits, two walks and three strikeouts. Mike Foltynewicz allowed five runs (four earned) on six hits, three walks and three strikeouts. The story of this game, though, was the offense. Zach Johnson went 5-for-5 with a double and a bases clearing triple and four RBI. Nolan Fontana only had one hit, but he made it count as he cleared the bases with a double. Fontana also racked up four RBI on the night with the first of the four coming on a sac fly. Matt Duffy was 3-for-5 with a two-run home run and scored three times, while Drew Muren and Preston Tucker each added RBI doubles into the mix.

Corpus Christi over Tulsa 6-0
Bobby Doran and Nick Tropeano combined for the shut out. After one single in the first, Doran didn't allow another baserunner in his five innings while striking out four. Tropeano scattered five hits over his four innings of work. Neither pitcher walked a batter. As a matter of fact, the Corpus Christi pitching staff has allowed only seven free passes in the first six games with no pitcher allowing more than one. Corpus took the lead early on a George Springer RBI single and a Domingo Santana RBI double. Those were all the runs they would need, but Santana (3-for-4) drove in a second run with one of his three doubles for the night; Jio Mier (3-for-3, BB) drove in two via a solo homer and a sac fly; and Kiké Hernandez doubled home a run as well. Austin Wates was 2-for-5 with a double, scored two runs and stole his third base of the season.

Oklahoma City over Nashville 5-3
Starter Ross Seaton pitched a strong five innings and allowed one run via a solo home run on six hits and no walks with four strikeouts. Jordan Lyles followed and gave up two runs (one earned) on five hits with one strikeout in three and two-thirds innings. Kevin Chapman recorded the final out for the save. 1B Brandon Laird was 2-for-4 with two RBI doubles for a three RBI night. (He also struck out four fewer times than a certain unnamed major league first baseman.) Trevor Crowe and Jake Elmore were each 2-for-3 with an RBI single. Jonathan Villar got his first hit of the season and scored a run.

Pitcher of the Day: Bobby Doran gets the nod for his five innings of one-hit ball. And no walks!

Player of the Day: Zach Johnson not only won the coveted Morgan Ensberg "You're a Really Good Player" Award, he also wins the WTHB Player of the Day for his tremendous 5-for-5, four RBI outing.

Note: I have the Astros Minor League standings available on a sidebar on the front page of the blog for quick reference.

Monday, January 14, 2013

Astros Minor League Depth - First Base

It's time to take a look at the Astros minor league depth, position by position, as we approach Spring Training. Today, we will look at the first basemen in the organization who had the best seasons in 2012.

The embedded chart shows first basemen in the organization ranked from high to low in terms of OPS. I have noted their current age, the last level at which they played and, if they spent significant time at multiple positions, that information is included as well. I am not including players who spent time at the major league level in 2012, such as Brett Wallace.

Erik Castro, who barely leads this list over Jonathan Singleton, divided his time almost equally between 1B and DH in 2012. I would caution against those who are inclined to dismiss Castro as a prospect because of the "Lancaster effect" and the fact that he will be 25 going in to the 2013 season. He was 100% healthy in 2012 for the first time since injury sidetracked his career in 2010. I can certainly see Castro successfully moving up in the system in 2013. He may even get back to playing third base as well which would only add to his versatility and value to the organization. One key for him is to cut down on his strikeout rate.

At first glance, you may be unimpressed by Zach Johnson's .238 batting average, but look a little closer. Johnson was tied with Castro for an organization-leading 108 RBI. He got those RBI any way he could, including grounding into force outs and an organization-leading 14 sac flies, and productive outs don't exactly boost a player's batting average. His 38 doubles ranked in the organization behind only the 39 doubles hit by Brandon Barnes before his call-up to Houston.

The only one of these players who is new to the organization is Michael Martinez, a 2012 draftee who had a solid debut season with Greeneville. Jesse Wierzbicki in his second season with the Astros and Rafael Valenzuela in his third year both had good seasons as well. Valenzuela was an integral part of the Lancaster team's late run to the playoffs and Wierzbicki was named MVP of the Tri-City team.

One surprise for me from this list was that Jean Batista actually spent more time at first base than he did at either of the middle infield positions as he has in the past. It may just be a temporary situation as players jockey for playing time, but interesting to watch in any event.

Jonathan Singleton, of course, just got popped with a 50-game suspension for testing positive for what has been widely reported as marijuana. He will be allowed to participate in Spring Training, and his suspension will start once the season begins.

One player who doesn't appear on this list who will bear watching in 2013 is Chase Davidson. He only played in a handful of games in 2012, all at DH, before sitting out the remainder of the season with an undisclosed injury. When I interviewed Jeff Luhnow in November, he mentioned that he was eager to see what Davidson could do once healthy.

Tuesday: Second Base