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3/27/13: Springtime For Astros: The Last Days

Wednesday, March 27th, 2013

Brandon Barnes hit another homer and made a great catch and gunned out a fast runner at home. Ah luuuvvv Brandon Barnes. Drafted in the 6th round of the 05 draft – guess Purpura got a few of em right – not once on any sort of prospect list, top 10 list, all star list. And here he is. And if things go well, pretty soon he’ll be the starting CF instead of the PH/DR.

Watched the replay of yesterday’s tie game (mlbtv – YES network). Hadn’t really carefully watched CC since he threw for the Brewers those glorious days back in 08 – things just might have gone a lot better for them instead of being reduced to having re-signing Yuni Betancourt (can’t hit, can’t run, can’t field and is, by all accounts, NOT a good clubhouse guy).

CC didn’t have his no-hit on, that’s fer sher. Walked Altuve, caught him stealing. Their catcher, Chris Stewart, is the first guy I’ve seen behind their plate in years who didn’t have spaghetti for an arm. Then he gave up 3 straight doubles, all on breakers that didn’t, and an RBI single. They’ve got Texan Vernon Wells in left – the Angels were grinning ear to ear and so were the Yankees because apparently, because of how accounting works, them paying him 8 mill a year is counted AGAINST their salary cap. Don’t ask me to explain THAT one. They’ve got ICHIRO!! in right and his legs and arm look every bit of their 39 years. Brett Gardner, in center is a Brandon Barnes clone (hehhehheh).

So the Stros were up 3-0 after the top of the first. Carlos Pena, by the way, was in the lineup. I can’t believe that Bo Don’t Knoe that Carlos Pena hasn’t been able to hit leftys in 3 years. But whatever.

Watched Jeff Ace Peacock closely. For 4 innings, except for a hit by pitch, he got 1,2,3 out. Then, with the last out of the 4th, he had a dead easy groundball hit right to Ronny Cedeno, who bobbled it. Might as well have been Tyler Greene. He then gave up a single to lefty Travis Hafner (Cleveland’s former DH who has spent the last 3 or something years on the DL) right through the shift, which WAS extreme, but Wells popped out to shallow center. He was throwing a 91 MPH FB, which he spotted pretty well, a low 80s breaker, which was working, and a very nice curve, which worked sporadically.

Brandon hit a homer over the LF fence in the 4th.

Astros 4 Yanks 0

By the way, have I mentioned yet that the DH sucks? I really miss seeing what they are gonna do when it’s time for the pitcher to hit. Yes, I like watching pitchers hit because it is one of the biggest youneverknows in baseball.

5th inning – Pena draws a walk – one of the 2 things he can do against leftys, besides swing wildly. With Jason Maxwell up, Carlos Pena gets caught stealing and no I am not kidding – seriously WFT is Carlos Pena doing stealing? He’s a guy having trouble going from first to third on a single to right. We have 4 leadfoots on this team – him, Carter, Fernando Martinez and Brett Wallace. They should NOT be stealing bases.

Peacock has thrown 51 pitches by the end of the 4th. He had a 9:4 first pitch strike to ball ratio (until the E6) and he’s having a bit more trouble locating (from what I could see with the crappy camera angle, the ump was very fair, and the YES guys thought so too). Peacock got most of his outs with flyouts – Maxwell did some running as did Barnes in right (he’s in right because Maxwell is the Designated Center Fielder in spite of the fact that Barnes is far better). Carter, fortunately, did not have to move much and there was no opportunity to check out his arm.

Anyway, Peacock gave up a walk to Eduardo Nunez (substituting for His Jeteriness), who promptly stole second when Cedeno dropped the ball on the swipe tag. Roll eyes.

6th – got to watch Mo Rivera, the greatest Yankee who ever played. Or is that His Jeteriness? I forget. Where was I? Oh yeah – looked great – the usual shattered bats, weakass grounders and a Barnes easy floyout.

Now Wesley Wright – that’s another story – he continued his really lousy spring. In the 6th, everyone except Barnes and Corporan were pulled and in went Singleton at first, Crowe in left (already assigned to the minors), Michael Burgess (minors) in right with Brandon moving to CF, Marwin st short and Brandon Laird at 3rd.

Started of bad because Singleton is a born DH – neither he nor Wesley handled the first dead easy groundout and there was an E1 to start. Followed by a double to Youkilis off the LF wall, then another single by Hafner right through the shoft again, and a terrible overthrow error by Burgess allowing him to go to second – 1 runs already in. No outs, men on second and third. In comes Chuckie Fick, already assigned to AAA, to pour gas on the fire. Gets a K, walk, groundout, single to left, but Trevor Crowe guns down Juan Rivera trying to score. Tie game, 4 all.

Astros didn’t manage to score against David Robertson, RHP, their 8th inning guy (I think) or Joba and his moustache (here and I thought the Yankee players weren’t allowed to have any face hair) or leftys Boone Logan and Valdo Nuno.

Josh Fields looked very good – he doesn’t throw hard, must have a VERY deceptive delivery, although it’s hard for me to see why. single, groundout to third – on which Brandon Laird makes a FANTASTIC play, Cano out on a wicked curve, Youk swings at something.

Rhiner Cruz, who I think has made the team, pitches – double to Hafner, then a failed bunt to Ben Francisco (yeh, the name IS familiar – one of the dungheap pickups last year who got 90 PA before being released), then a WP advancing Hafner to third, then a flyout to center and Brandon Barnes and his arm gun down Hafner at the plate with an absolutely PERFECT throw.

Jose Valdez, pitching the 9th, gets a HBP, swinging K to some minor leaguer, then a 6-4-3 to some minor leaguer.

10th inning – Fernando Martinez, DH in place of Pena, reaches on a dead easy E4. Nolan Fontana, one of The Pimped Ones at A ball, pinch runs and goes to second on a balk. Burgess singles, Fontana, who is very fast, goes to third, Burgess ALERTLY to second on the throw. Burgess is fast, too (is reminding me of Jason Bourgeois). OK, men on second and third, no outs.

Then, we have big time rookie effup. Corporan hits an infield grounder right to the SS and Fontana, running on contact with NO outs, not making sure the ball gets through, breaks for hom and is a dead easy out at home. VERY bad, unless he was specifically instructed to break for home on contact, which is a stupid instruction. Especially bad because Laird flew out to center, and it woulda been a sac-fly and the game winner. And if THAT hadn’t done it, Brandon Barnes flyout to the Wall in right shre woulda have. Instead, it’s still tied.

Andrew Robinson (WHO??) RHP, who is actually our 12th round pick in the 2010 draft, pitches the last inning, getting 1,2,3 out with a single. The batters were all minor leaguers, like him, but still, very good.

Will be VERY interesting to see what becomes of the infield situation, especially with Brandon Laird, who, because of options, is starting the year at AAA. Trouble is that only Marwin and Cedeno can actually PLAY short. But Astros should count their blessings – they snapped up Cedeno before the Brewers, who re-signed Yuni Betancourt. Wonder if Luhnow would have even considered him.

Youneverknow…

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Posted in Brandon Barnes, Jeff Peacock, spring training | 13 Comments »

3/24/13: Tyler Greene Is Gone But Ronny Cedeno Replaces Him

Monday, March 25th, 2013

Well, guess that The Organization finally decided that although they could put up with a SS who couldn’t field for spit, they wouldn’t put up with one who couldn’t hit at all, and they are trying to trade him, don’t ask me who would want him, because if he isn’t good enough for the worst team in baseball, where’s he gonna go?

So Marwin Gonzalez won the SS job and

um

no.

It’e ex-Cub Ronny Cedeno, who plays both short and second, and unlike Marwin, is better at second.  I’m honestly not kidding. Ronny just got released by the Cards (gee, what a surprise, hunh? Cards!) and Luhn ow grabbed him and announced he IS gonna be the starting SS. Not clear why he’s better than Marwin, but there you go.

Ronny came up with the C*bs in 05 – had his best year with 89 PA over 41 games and a .731 OPS. He had his only year in which he was a full time player in 06, posting a sparkling 54 OPS+ over 572 PA in 151 games. In the next 2 years for the Cubs, he posted OPS + of 54, 74, then got traded to Seattle in the offseason for middle reliever Aaron Heilman.

Seattle was so thrilled with his 35 OPS+ that they traded him and a few other crappy players to the Pirates for Ian Snell and Jack Wilson (salary dumps). Over the rest of 09, 10 and 11, he played almost full time, posting OPS+ of 82, 85 and 79. He signed as a FA with the Mets last year as a utility guy, and had his best offensive year, posting a 109 OPS+ over 78 games and 186 PA.

The Astros are paying him the enormous salary of $1,150, 000. Which, around the Astros, is superstar money. You figure it because I can’t.

In other news, the Astros prefer Brandon Laird over Nate Freiman, who was waived and promptly grabbed by Billy Beane. Who was happy to let Chris Carter go for peanuts. I am really dying to know if the Astros FO is right and that Chris Carter is going to have at least 550 AB and post a .300+ BA, hit 30-40 HR and drive in 100+ RBI – in other words, duplicate Carlos Lee 07 – 09 production levels  (ignoring the little strikeout problem, which is certainly going to rival Mark Reynolds/Adam Dunn levels).

Where was I? Oh yeah. JD Martinez got sent down, which means that at this second, Brandon Barnes still stands a chance of making the roster. They have been quite clear from the beginning that Chris Carter WILL be butchering, I mean, playing left, Fernando Martinez butchering right and Justin Maxwell superstarring center with Rick Ankiel being the 4th OF. There never were any tryouts, as we all know.

They lie.

As for pitchers, well, they ain’t releasing Erik Bedard, and still no word on whether or not it will be Alex White or Jeff Peacock who gets the 5th starter spot, but at this moment, my money is on Peacock because the FO thinks that he is an ace. Really.

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3/16/13: The Real Prospects Play A Spring Training Game: Astros vs Strasburg

Sunday, March 17th, 2013

Watched the game on the replay on mlb.tv (Nationals announcers, who, by the way, are awful – one of em is a former player, who, whoever he is, will NOT shut up, like EVER, because I wanted to get a look at Correa and Singleton. Not sure how Singleton, who is serving a 50 game suspension for drug use, was allowed to play, but whatever.

Also, because this is a National League BASEBALL game without no stinkin DH!!!!!! YESSSSSS!!!

Lucas Harrell threw 4 innings of no hit ball against the Nationals – their real lineup, not minor leaguers. Impressive. AND only 49 pitches. Guess he was pulled because he hasn’t pitched much and had been sitting out with a groin strain. He must have been ordered by Bo Porter not to, for any reason whatsoever, move that bat off his shoulder, because Strasburg threw him 3 FB right down the middle, and although Lucas twitched, he didn’t move. Poor guy.

- No Jose Altuve – Jake Elmore (the guy we picked up on waivers from the Dbax – didn’t hit there, isn’t hitting here) was at second. He CAN field, however. Too bad he can’t play short or third.
- Brett Wallace was at third (shudder) and fortunately, he didn’t get a single ball hit to him
- Carlos Pena was at first
- Marwin Gonzalez at short – this team is gonna figure out WHEN that he can’t play any other position?
- Trevor Crowe in left
- Rick Ankiel in center
- Fernando Martinez in right

Which reminds me – I have heard tell that absolutely positively Chris Carter, lead feet/glove and all,  and Rick Ankiel are going to be on the 25 man. Period. At least Ankiel can catch and throw. And run.  I’m hearing that the starting OF absolutely WILL be Carter, Maxwell and Fernando Eff Martinez. Sigh

Anyone here wonder why Billy Beane would dump a 30-40 homer a year guy plus a young, supposedly stud starting pitcher for a crappy middle reliever and a utility IF?

Where was I? Oh yeah.  Strasburg started for the Nats – went 5 1/3, faced 21 guys, struck out 8. He has 3 very good pitches – his FB, which he located well except for 1 pitch to Ankiel which was right down the middle and got promptly swatted over the LF fence, a deadly slider, and a changeup. Three A+ pitches = ace pitcher.

It’s an all lefty lineup, except for Elmore, because we all know Strasburg can’t get leftys out. Roll eyes. Trevor Crowe is the only guy who is apparently seeing the ball well – gets a solid single and a double to center. Bad baserunning, he can’t decide whether or not to commit for third, dances a little too far off second, and gets picked off. He’s too old to make that kind of stupid mistake.

Wesley Wright and Hector Ambriz pitched the scoreless 5th. Wesley faced only LaRoche, gave up a single. Wesley is not having a good spring.

Sixth inning, stuff happened.
- Singleton in at first for Pena
- Domingo Santana (an actual prospect who gets no pub) in right for Fernando Martinez (who left the game for a sore/pulled something)
- Robbie Grossman in CF for Ankiel
- Correa at short for Marwin
- Marwin at third for Wallace (remember I keep saying what a bad idea it is to have him there)

Correa, the #1 pick in last year’s draft, is not getting very much national media attention. It’s not like he’s Harper or Strasburg or Price. (Year before was pitcher Gerrit Cole, who certainly doesn’t get Strasburg hype – probably because he’s not ready for the majors immediately after getting out of college. 2007, the Rays picked Tim Beckham, who hits like Jake Elmore. Stat geeks don’t ALWAYS get it right neither). I am not counting whatever Houston media idiot compared him to Alex Rodriguez, who was ML ready at age 19 and in the majors for good at age 20, posting a 1.045 OPS. In 1996, yet. Correa might could turn into Tulowitski, which would be beyond awesome, but he ain’t no ARod, who, drugs or no drugs, is a once in a lifetime sort of player. But I digress.

Where was I? Oh yeah…

Josh Fields, the 27 year old Rule V righty is pitching. First time I’ve gotten to see him pitch. He has an interesting over the top 89 MPH fastball which appears to be tough to pick up, and a Wandy type curveball, which he located pretty well.  (You know that Wandy pitched 6 innings of 2 hit no walk, no run ball for the DR vs PR yesterday in the WBC thingy. Ah LUUUUVVVV mah Wandy…)

Anyway, Josh is one of those guys who needs the corners because he doesn’t have an overpowering FB. So Snyder walks (yes, Chris Snyder, looks as if he has a decent chance to be the Nat’s backup catcher). Denard Span hits a routine, dead easy popup lazy flyball to center, and Grossman BADLY misplays the ball, runs the wrong way, loses it in the sun, bobbles it, throws it so poorly that Snyder, and you know he runs like a pregnant girl, who wasn’t even to second, and dances about when he reaches second, is easily able to get to third on the lousy throw. No errors on the play, either the missed catch of bad throw, neither. Poor Fields.

Then Werth hits a shallow flyball to right for out #1, and Snyder has no chance of getting home. Span might could have challenged the arm, but Snyder isn’t that dumb. Harper walks. Then, something interesting happens.

Chad Tracy, a lefty pull hitter, hits a ball right to Singleton, playing first, who plays the ball 10 – 15 feet in front of the bag. Now, you have bases loaded, a double play ball, and an incredibly slow runner at third and a very fast runners on first and second.  What do you do? Singleton chooses to throw to home, not second (Correa is there to catch the ball) so Snyder is out. Corporan handles the ball well, BUT
- Singleton has not gone back to first to cover – INEXCUSABLE
- Fields has not gone to first to cover – INEXCUSABLE
- Elmore has not gone to first to cover – can’t see where he was because cameras don’t show

so, because of fielding effups, instead of a GIDP, we have bases loaded 2 outs. I had heard Singleton has a lead glove for a first baseman, and I guess so. Even Brett Wallace woulda had that play.

LaRoche pops up the next pitch between third, home and the mound. Everyone rushes near the pitch, Marwin puts out his glove, and drops it. Run scores, bases loaded. Like I keep saying, Marwin has NO business anywhere but short. Corporan actually had the best chance at that ball, and should have called off everyone else. But it was a high popup, not one of those low dribblers/bloopers that no one can get, and it SHOULD have been caught. You shouldn’t make the pitcher try to make plays like that – Brandon Backe woulda gotten that, but he was originally an infielder and he was a super fielding pitcher.

Tie game, blown save for poor Fields, who should have been out of the inning LONG ago. He then gives up a solid single to left for Desmond and another run is in. Espinoza flies out.

Astros behind 2-1.

Craig Stammen, former starter, turned into a reliever after
1 – stinking at starting
2 – hurting himself
pitches 2 shutout innings.

Bottom of the 7th – change pitcher catcher to Edgar Gonzalez and Rene Garcia, who has spent the last 3 years at high A and still can’t hit, even at Lancaster. Also, Marwin is removed from third, fortunanately, and Jose Martinez, who killed the ball at AA last year, and can play second and short, is in.

First hitter hits a grounder to Correa, who handles it nicely, and fires to first – a little off line. He has a rifle for an arm. Snyder pops out to Jose Martinez, who handles this one fine – calls for it early, and CATCHES it. Span gets a bunt single and Werth hits an easy FB to right.

8th – in comes Drew Storen, 8th inning guy when team is ahead. But it’s not his day. Solid single to right from Jose Martinez, then Trevor Crowe, then Carlos Correa hits the first pitch through the 5.5 hole for an RBI single. Singleton hits a fly ball to deep center for out #1 and Crowe goes to third. Robbie Grossman Ks. Domingo Santana up, Correa easily steals second. Runs fast, too, not a Carlos Lee trot down the line when no one is thinking about him – type steal. Rene Garcia hits a single to left and 2 runs score.  Pitcher’s spot up, so in comes a pinch hitter, right?

No. This is Spring Training, and you see managers do stuff they wouldn’t nevah do in a regular season game. Gonzalez has obviously been given very strict orders not to take the bat off his shoulder, as he stands there holding the bat loosely.

9th inning – in comes Henry Rodriguez, who the Nats tried out at closer for a short while last year. He’s one of those guys who throws a FB 100 MPH and expects to strike out every guy every time. But he was too wild, and also, major leaguers can hit that kind of stuff. So they got him to control the FB a little better and told him to use breaking stuff too. Jake Elmore reaches when the Nats RF drops the ball, then steals second. But Jose Martinez flies out, Trevor Crowe Ks and Carlos Correa pops out.

And in comes the closer, right? Nope. He’s off at the WBC. Edgar Gonzalez is left in to finish up. How about that?! He gets a K, a pop out to Elmore, solid single to left from Snyder and a groundout to Elmore – nice play. He’s got some range, and a good arm too.

Wonder if they are still determined to keep Tyler Greene as the starting SS and Marwin as the utility IF. Probably. Greene is an ex-Card, even if he is a terrible fielder and doesn’t hit as well as Adam Everett.

Whatever.

Anyway, Correa looks raw and promising. Santana – nothing stands out. Singleton, well, needs to work on fielding and he didn’t hit today. Martinez and Garcia are filler, not prospects, although I sure prefer Martinez as the utility guy – at least glove wise. But he’s gotta hit AAA pitching first.

Bud Norris pitches today – he’s been AWFUL so far, says he’s “working on stuff.” OK. Better be working on dealing with your past troubles of suddenly losing control and having a Bad Inning he can’t seem to pitch himself out of.

Oh yeah – to nobody’s surprise, Cisnero (who had a snowflake’s chance in hell of making the 25 man, no matter HOW he did, which was 2.2 IP, 3 H, 2 ER), Cosart (who they even gave a start to – 7 IP over 4 G – 7 ER), Oberholzer (7 IP over 4 G, 8 H, 1 HR, 3 BB, 5 K, 3 ER) and  Seaton (2.2 IP, 3 hits, 3 R/0 ER) were cut.

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3/11/13: For Astros, It’s First Cuts Time

Monday, March 11th, 2013

Deshields and Springer weren’t, as they say, ready for the Show.

Deshields appeared in 10 of 16 games, went 4 fer 12 with a double, a walk, 2 SB, 1 CS, 8 runs scored. He played second base, played 21 innings, made no errors (HEY LOOK, NO ERRORS IMAGINE THAT!!!!). He’s 20, had an .839 OPS over 111 games at A ball, and dropped when he hit High A Lancaster to .718 OPS over 24 games. I think he’s going to AA instead of Hitters’ Heaven, but we’ll see. I’m guessing he’s got 2 more years in the minors, but Altuve will still be here, that is, I think he will, depending on how cheap Crane is, so if Deshields has a better power bat, I’d guess Altuve will be traded for the younger and cheaper. But that is getting ahead of myself because all KINDS of guys killed A ball and crapped out by AAA. Altuve was in the bigs to stay by age 21.

George Springer, age 23, killed the ball in ST this year. 4 fer 12 with 2 walks, 2 homers, 6 runs, 1 SB over 8 games played. Yeah, that’s a  1.300 OPS but it is 12 PA, too. He played 32 innings, had 1 error (which allowed runs to score). Last year, He faschmozzled that ball at Lancaster. He killed it. He slayed it. He knocked it OUT. Of course, he kind of had the usual decrease in hitting that happens with a move to AA at the end of the A ball season, so he’ll be starting the year there. He’s not Berkman, who by the way, moideded the ball at AAA at age 22 and really SHOULD have been a ML regular at age 22, but the club was already obsessed with veteran goodness, so his “rookie” year was 2000, 2 years later. Anyway, George is a prospect and has a chance of eventually being a big leaguer at age 25 or so. Which is better than most.

Jake Goebbert, age 25. Otherwise known as major league filler. A career Astro, I thought he had had a chance to go somewhere after hitting decently, but without much power in 2011 and then being sent to the AFL, but he was demoted to AA so the club could stash all their crappy AAAA guys at AAA, and he didn’t get back to AAA until the stash was diminished enough to give him a slot. Of course he had zero chance at the ML roster, appeared in 8 games, 6 AB, went 1 fer 6 with a double, 1 walk, 1 HBP, 1 run scored. He played 11 innings in the OF, no errors. He’s gonna be a bouncer again, because that is what roster filler does.

Marc Krauss, age 25, is one of the guys we got for Chris Johnson (who has a .896 OPS over 34 PA so far) last year from Arizona. Krauss spent most of last year at AA, repeating the level, and he destroyed the ball at Corpos and was promoted to AAA, where he didn’t do so good. So he’s goin back. He hit the ball very well this ST, going 4 fer 12 with a homer, 3 BB, 5 K, 6 RBI and 2 runs scored. He didn’t get much chance in the OF, 3 innings, but at least he didn’t make an error. Of course he’s going to AAA. A lot of OF are going to AAA, seems like. Poor Goebbert.

Chris Wallace, homie, gonna be 25. Ended the year at AAA, where he did fine for a catcher, .270/.357/.351 over 42 PA. This spring, he started 1 game, a disaster with glove and bat, went ofer 4 with a walk and an RBI. Not that he had a chance. I hope he does well at AAA – sure would like to see him succeed. Another Original Astro, like Goebbert.

They had to send down a couple of pitchers, too. Jeezus, how, of all the gawdawful pitchers, do you decide who to keep? Besides looking at options, that is? It’s hard to put into words, without using Bad Words, exactly how dreadful the pitching has been. Of course, the terrible fielding has not exactly helped neither. But I digress…

Down went LH SP Rudy Owens, age 25, one of the guys we got for Wandy. age 34. OMG. Age 34. How did that happen? When I started this blog back in The First Year Of Da Rojah, Wandy was a promising lefty at AAA. Where DOES the time go?
where was I?
oh yeah.
Rudy pitched 3 innings in relief over 3 games giving up 9 hits, 3 walks and 5 runs. Only 2 were earned, and some of those hits happened because he had lead foot lead gloves for fielders/catchers. He’s going back for a 3rd year at AAA. The problem with Rudy is that he is a pitch to contact guy with a very low walk and kind of low (6.0 K/9) strikeout rate. And if you got fielders who stink, you are gonna give up too many hits. And a lot of those fielders who are being kept for their bats are teh sukc with gloves, so in this Organization, if you are not a big time K pitcher, you’re gonna have a higher WHIP/RA number.

And down went Sam Demel, RH RP, age 27, who was taken off waivers from the Dbax at the end of the 2012 season. Sam had, well, I can’t say bad, can’t say horrible, because it’s worse than horrible, Spring Training. You got a bad heart, don’t read the rest of this. 2.1 IP over 5 games, 21 batters faced. 10 hits, 4 walks, 4 HR, 11 ER.  He’s thrown a total of 138 innings over 4 years (looks as if he was hurt most of 2010/2011) with an ERA of 3.46, WHIP 1.28 and a K rate of 9.5/9 IP. I’m sure that if he manages to make the AAA roster that he’ll be up and down all year, depending on the health and success of the other crappy relievers they have.

Part 2 of Nolan Ryan comin up soon, I swear.

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3/5/13: Checking Astros Pitchers Thru 10 Spring Training Games

Tuesday, March 5th, 2013

Anyone here WANT to remember who started games for the Astros last year besides Lucas Harrell and Wandy Rodriguez, both of whom posted a 106 ERA+ and yeah, all the other starters were below the NL average of 95.

Lemme break it down:
Bud Norris: 29 GS, 168 IP, 5.2 IP/GS, 1.37 WHIP, 3.4 BB/9, 8.8 K/9, 86 ERA+
Jordan Lyles: 25 GS,  141 IP, 5.2 IP/GS, 1.42 WHIP, 2.7 BB/9, 6.6 K/9, 79 ERA+
JA Happ: 18 GS, 104 IP, 5.2 IP/GS, 1.45 WHIP, 3.4 BB.9, 8.5 K/9 (???!!!) 83 ERA+
Dallas Keuchel: 16 GS, 85 IP, 5.1 IP/GS, 1.56 WHIP, 4 B/9, 4 K/9 (!!!) 76 ERA+
Fernando Abad: 6 GS – threw 4.0, 4.1, 4.0, 3.1, 5 and 1.2 innings in each. 22 IP, 16 ER. Uck.
Edgar Gonzalez: 6 GS, 25 IP, 1.24 WHIP, 2.4 BB/9, 6.5 K/9 80 ERA+
Armando Galaragga: 5 GS – can I just say yecccch and leave it there? 25 IP, 1.92 WHIP, 60 ERA+
Kyle Weiland: 3 GS before he went down for the year with a septic shoulder – he’s on the AAA roster
Aneury Rodriguez: 1 GS – called up from AAA for just that one start – 2 ER/6 IP 

It can’t get worse, can it?

hahahahahahaha

STARTERS:

Lucas Harrell: 2 G, 5 IP, 7 H, 1 BB, 1 K, 2 R
Bud Norris: 2 G, 5 IP, 4 H, 1 HR, 1 BB, 2 K, 2 R
Jordan Lyles: 1 GS, 1 relief, 4.1 IP, 13 H, 1 BB, 3 K, 9 R
Dallas Keuchel: 1 GS, 1 relief, 3 IP, 8 H, NO BB, 3 K, 3 R
John Ely: 1 GS, 1 relief, 3.2 IP: 6 H, 1 HR, 3 BB, 4 K, 7 R (and a win – bah)
Erik Bedard: 1 G, 2 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 R
Phil Humber: 1 GS, 1 relief, 5 IP, 3 H, 3 BB, 3 K, 2 R
Alex White: 1 GS, 1 relief, 3.2 IP, 5 H, 3 BB, 2 K, 3 R
Jarred Cosart: 1 GS, 1 relief, 6 IP, 5 H, 5 BB, 3 K, 3 ER (looked like he didn’t know what a plate was today)

RELIEVERS (and would – be starters)

Paul Clemens: balls went flying when he got them over the plate
Mike Foltynewicz: HE. LOOKED. AWESOME. Going to AA. Hope he keeps it up. I mean down.
Edgar Gonzalez: blech
Bret Oberholzer: whatever

Leftys:
Xavier Cedeno: 2.2 IP over 3 G, 3 H, 1 BB, 1 K, 3 R
Sergio Escalona: 2 IP, 4 H, 1 homer, 1 BB, no K, 1 R
Wesley Wright: 3 IP, 3 G, 1 hit, 1 homer, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 R – looks like he always looks
Kevin Chapman: he LOOKS like a closer and throw like one too. Except for the velocity. Not sure why he isn’t getting much of a boost from the FO or why he’s stuck at AA

Closah:
Jose Veras: blech – doesn’t throw strikes. MUCH worse than Brandon Lyon

The rest:

Jose Cisnero: 3 H, 1 BB, 1 K, 2 R
Rhiner Cruz: looks like he been there done that. 3 IP, 1 H, 3 K, no R. Not like last year
Sam Demel: batting practice
Chuckie Fick: 3 IP over 2 G, 3 H, 1 K, NO runs
Josh Fields: 3.1 IP over 3 G, no H, 3 BB, 3 K, no runs (because someone came in with bases loaded and saved his ass)
Chia Jen Lo: 2.2 IP over 3 G, 1 H, 1 BB, 3 K, no runs
Rudy Owens: 2.2 IP over 2 G, 6 H, 3 BB, 1 K, 4 R
Brad Peacock: 3 IP over 2 G, 3 H, 2 BB, 1 K, 3 R
Ross Seaton: my fave – 0.2 IP, 1 hit, no BB, no K, 3 R (yeah, unearned.)
Jose Valdez: 2.1 IP over 3 G, 4 H, 3 K, 1 R
Josh Zeid: 4 IP over 4 G, 3 H, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 R

It’s like this: the only people who can field and not make a mes of things are Jose Altuve, Brandon Barnes, Matt Dominguez, Justin Maxwell and Marwin Gonzalez (at short) and the others are, to be VERY polite about it, bad. Chris Carter and Fernando Martinez have the speed of Brett Wallace. So all ERAs kind of have to be discounted because plays aren’t being made and errors are. So really, you have to look hardest at walks, homers and Ks, like the stat geeks allus said.

So, after reviewing some old tapes/replay here are some observations: The only pitcher so far who has looked really good is Kevin Chapman, the AA closer. Supposedly, the hitters are trying to catch up to the pitchers. If that’s true, then the Astros have a really great chance at The Sacred All Time Loss Record (the 162 game/season one, that is.)

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Posted in Astros baseball, spring training | 7 Comments »

3/2/13: The EXCITEMENT!!!!! Isn’t Contagious But Stomach Flu Is

Saturday, March 2nd, 2013

I had meant to take off a week or 2, but it turned into more as the stomach flu came and, I think FINALLY, went. I’m not sure it was ALL stomach flu – it started with Maury Brown’s radio (Bizofbaseball.com) interview on Feb 11 in which he discussed, well, sort of, what he had said in his Baseball Prospectus article on the Astros’ finances. Unfortunately, the meat of that story is unavailable except by subscription, but basically, it says that Crane is NOT losing money.

Nobody cares. Except Maury, and he isn’t exactly a passionate Astros fan.

The mainstream media didn’t want to have to talk about us even when we had Roger Clemens, except to continuously ask when Roger was gonna ditch the 2 bit village and come back to where he really belonged. The MLBPA doesn’t care (yet) because FA don’t want to come here anyhow. The non mainstream media is actually PRO Crane because the Astros have a Billy Beane-like FO filled with stat geeks and prospect mavens who are busily building up the minor league, thus making it a matter of complete indifference what is put on the major league field because of All Those Exciting Youngsters Who Might Could Turn Out To Be The Next Albert Pujols!!!!!!!

I get having a good minor league system. Really. Check the archives – I’ve been screaming about the paucity of young players and the refusal to play them when they are ready since like 2004, remember? It’s the pocketing 30 mill profit instead of using any of it to put actual major leaguers on the major league field that infuriates me. To me, this is kind of like being all enthused because the Houston School district has the best elementary schools grades K-5 in the state, but the high schools are full of gangs, drugs, murders, massive dropouts and the educators point to the little kids and get EXCITED!!!!! about that but like so what anout the higher grades. THE FUTURE, THE FUTURE!!! they scream. Why doesn’t it matter what is happening NOW?

shrug

The stat geek media (yes, times have cahnged and there is a LOT of it) support of The Prospect Game like politics. They believe in getting lots of prospects and lots of churning because they are infatuated the MOST by “potential” because it is EXCITING!!!!! I guess. Like in politics. If you belong to party X and the other party’s candidate is in power and he/she supports policy A, you scream, riot and protest, but when your party X candidate is elected and he/she continues policy A, well then, there is no scream, riot, protest because you don’t do that if the policy is done by YOUR candidate.

I can’t believe I’m even saying stuff like “stat geek media” seeing as how I think I was once a part of The Revolution. Even if my math skillz are weak, to be nice about it. But just like with pretty much every other issue, can’t nobody compromise because Their Side has to be right.

The fact that the Astros Organization doesn’t give a rat’s ass about the major league team really makes it damm hard to care. That plus the stupid DH.

After 8 games, the team is now 4-2 with 2 ties. At this point, only Nate Freiman (1B/DH), Brandon Laird (utility) and Jimmy Paredes have played in all 7 games.

My spies – and I don’t have real too many sources left – tell me that the team is busily shopping Bud Norris, and that only Jose Altuve, Carlos Pena and Jason Castro are guaranteed to be on the ML roster. And in reality, Marwin Gonzalez because there isn’t really anyone else.

At catcher – the candidates besides Golden Boy are
Carlos Corporan, (best chance) 5 fer 8
Jason Jaramillo (ex-Pirate, career AAA OPS .681) now 3 fer 8 – destined for AAA as Designated Veteran
Rene Garcia (roster filler – can’t hit at AA)
Carlos Perez (.788 OPS at Lancaster – he ain’t leapin in)
Chris Wallace (homie from U of H –  hopefully AAA this year, had only 78 AB there last year, but if he doesn’t hit, he’s back at AA and I would bet that is the end of any hope he has of sniffing the majors seeing as how he’s almost 25 and you know those prospect guys like em young) and he’s already 0fer 2

1B – well you KNOW that Carlos Pena (one of those low BA, homer or K guys with at least moderate walks who got signed to shut up the MLBPA to show we DO sign FA) has already been slotted for DH, although some righty is gonna take his place vs lefty pitchers because he can’t hit ML lefty pitching any more than I can.

So there is
- Brett Wallace (6 fer 14 with 2 walks) and him we know. He’s hanging on by his fingernails and at the first sign he’s not killin the ball, he’s history.
- Nate Freiman (RuleV righty from Padres – had .872 OPS at San Antonio AA) 5 fer 17 2 doubles 4K and because he hits for power, I would bet he has a VERY good chance to make the team as the swing 1B/DH unless the FO can swing a trade with the Pads and put him at 1B at AAA seeing as how there ain’t nobody in the pipeline there.
- Chris Carter, 26 YO righty – one of those – hey haven’t I heard his name from Prospect Guys from some of those trades – and yeah, he was a Billy Beane grab n dump – we got him for Jed Lowrie, one of those Adam Dunn guys. 83 K over 240 PA last year – had 52 hits, 16 homers, 12 doubles, 39 BB. Lead glove, “plays” LF too. Right now, he’s 2 fer 13 with 2 walks.

2B – well, we all know it’s Altuve, now 2 fer 10 with a walk. His back up is
- Jose Martinez (age 27, came up with Cardinals, minor league FA last year, killed ball at AA, killed by ball at AAA) 3 fer 8
- Delino DeShields, who ain’t makin the jump from A ball seein as how he is not no Albert Pujols

3B – Matt Dominguez, who we saw last year when he out hit the most optimistic of minor league predictors in a small sample size) has the best chance, seeing as how there are no other real third basemen there. Now 4 fer 8 with 2 doubles and 2 walks. Fabulous glove, by the way
- Brandon Laird (age 25 picked up last year of waivers from the Yankees) now 5 fer 10 with 3 walks and has a mediocre glove. None of the utility guys or first base guys can play third, by the way, although they just might could get put there anyhow, younever know, like Marwin Gonzalez was last year. You would miss the Gold Glove fielding of Chris Johnson, now with the Braves, by the way.

SS – Marwin, natcherilly, now 6 fer 13. Decent glove. Runs slow for a SS, surprisingly. Plays 2B too, but not as well as short, for whatever reason.
- Tyler Greene, age 29 – 79 OPS+ over 689 ML PA, but has a good chance because he’s an ex-Cardinal and he hits a lot of homers for a modern SS – think Adam Everett without the speed or glove. And a lower BA, too, come to think of it.
- Jonathan Villar. Uck. Only reason he keeps showing up is because he was on prospect lists, don’t ask me why because I don’t get it. He’s 1 fer 11. Also, he can’t field. To be nice about it. No idea if they are gonna even put him at AAA this year, but I wouldn’t be surprised because there are just certain guys that for reasons stats I can’t see, they pimp.
- Jake Elmore, age 26, picked up on the waiver wire from the Dbax. 13 fer 68 in 73 PA last year. Hit .908 at Reno AAA last year (think non-humidor Coors/Lancaster) but his AA OPS is .715. No idea how the glove looks.
- Nolan Fontana, and actual prospect. This is just one of those, oooooooh, he gets to wear a Major League Uniform and see how crappy Major Leaguers “go about their business.”  With any luck, he won’t pay them no nevermind and he might could grow up to be good.

no Jio Mier, which is a good sign. Seeing as how he was a bad sign in the first place.

CF: I’m going to limit this to guys who can actually physically PLAY center field seeing as how the other OF are limited to LF, even if they are put in right.
- Jason Maxwell, who is another Adam Dunn with a very good glove and arm. He ain’t Brandon Barnes, but that is a pretty tough standard when it comes to glovin. Hasn’t hit well this spring, 2 fer 11 with a K, but I will be pretty surprised if he doesn’t make the team, seeing as how he has no options left.
- Brandon Barnes, Original Astro. Who I am rooting for and who is 5 fer 16 with a double and 2 SB so far. Has a Michael Bourn quality glove with a slightly better arm and he hits the cutoff guy. I really REALLY want this guy to make it. The Organization actually likes him, so I hear, but he’s gotta hit for average and have a leadoff quality OBP seeing as how he ain’t gonna hit for power and his competition is 

- Rick Ankiel, age 33, lefty.  My GAWD, he’s 33. We’re all gettin old, seems it was yesterday he was gonna be the Cardinals ace for a decade. Hasn’t hit for spit since the first half of 2010 and got released from the Nats last year. Nats are supposed to win the pennant and the WS this year. Of course, they went and BOUGHT grade A+ prospect talent back when you could still do that and they also have several very high paid FREE AGENTS. Which Crane ain’t gonna do because the Lerners are very very very rich and Crane, for a ML owner, is living in the 5th ward. He can still field well, but he certainly can’t hit any lefty. Over the past 2 years, has a .690 OPS against rightys. Which is not really any reason to have him on the team. I strongly suspect this is a gimme from Luhnow, and old times sake thingy because of the ex-Cardinal factor.
- Robbie Grossman (got him for Wandy) age 23, switch hitter, posted a .786 OPS at AA last year, and isn’t a strict CF – and in fact, the Astros moved him to left – of course, Springer being at CF might could have had something to do with that. So far, he’s 5 fer 11 with 3 doubles and 2 BB. He does steal bases, but he gets caught as much as he gets on. Not sure whether or not he’s lousy or he’s been part of too many hit n runs or what. He’s going back to the minors this year, no question.
- George Springer, who I doubt is making the majors because the FO ain’t gonna start his service clock for no reason at all. So far, he’s 4 fer 8 with 2 homers.

LF + RF:
- Julio Daniel (JD) Martinez- righty, who had a serious sophomore slump last year – and was supposedly hurt, too. He better seriously tear it up in ST and he’s 3 fer 12 with a double and no walks. Below average runner and fielder – arm is good, wheels are squeaky. Really has no business in RF, but youneverknow where this team is gonna put players.
- Fernando (EFF) Martinez, age 24. Another Adam Dunn, only this time without the walks. With the same dis-quality glove. No baserunning judgment neither. The FO is in luvvvv with this guy, one of those Former OHHHHHHHHH Prospects 3-4 years ago, so unless he really flops, expect him on the ML roster because he’s out of options. He’s 2fer 9, a double, a homer, no walks.  ABSOLUTELY no business in RF, but if the team decides they want his bat, he’s going there.
- Trevor Crowe age 29, Cleveland’s first rounder in 05 (the year of Bogusevic) and has had 724 PA over 3 years in the majors including pretty much an almost full time gig in 2010 and has a cumulative 73 OPS+ without an outstanding glove or feet, although he does steal some bases. Almost certainly ticketed for AAA if he even gets that. So far, he’s 2 fer 8 with a double and a triple. Not much “potential”, that’s fer sher.
- Marc Krauss – age 25, who we got from the Dbax for Chris Johnson – has only a few PA at AAA, but hit .860 OPS at AA over 972 PA. Yet another low average, decent walk, decent power guy with mediocre glove skills. Been used mostly as a PH and is 3 fer 5 so far. Doubt he’s gonna make the 25 man.
- Jimmy Paredes, age 24, who we got in the Lance Berkman trade a couple years back. Started out as a SS, moved to third, then second, then left. Tells you what you need to know about his ability to catch and throw baseballs. He runs fast but has no sense a TALL, like a toddler who is always speeding after something and bumping his head on the table cuz he forgets to watch out for that tree!!!! Had his first good year EVER in the minors last year – good average, good power, but he’s an Old Style Astro – few walks. He’s 1 fer 12 so far this year, but if he heats up, he just might could make it onto the ML team – his service clock has already started and they might put him at DH to cover the absence of working leather.
-  Jake Goebbert, age 25, lefty, another Original Astro – ain’t many. Picked in the 13th round of the 09 draft. Thought he was gonna actually have a real chance last year because he was picked for the AFL, but even though he had hit well at AAA in 2011, he was demoted to AA, no idea why, but he posted an .872 OPS and only had a few ABs at AAA at the end of the season. PLays both right and left, very few errors, but don’t know how he is with the glove – I would guess pretty good, because he doesn’t hit with lots of power for a corner OF and the Organization sent him to the AFL. He’s not a base stealer like Branes, neither. So far, he’s 1fer 2. 

and last but not least, Michael Burgess, age 24. Yeah, I know. WHO??? Believe it or not, the Nat’s first rounder in 07. Really. Not sure why he was with the C*bs last year, but he got picked in the Rule V draft this year (after Nate Freiman). Has an .821 over 2 seasons at AA, but .722 in the Southern League last year over 381 PA. Nate Freiman, I get. This guy??? So far, he’s ofer 2.

Really, I think that except for maybe 2 guys, we can guess who is going to be on the ML roster Opening Day.

By the way, Astros Radio isn’t KTRH any more – guess it interfered with the Rush Limbaugh Show too much. I saw that coming, seeing as how the amount of time spent on pre and post game shows had dwindled over the past 2 years. Astros are now on AM 790 (in case you were looking – in Houston, that is, for anyone who doesn’t have Comcast, which is a lot of people, and who wants to listen, which isn’t a lot of people…) I don’t have words to express how great it will be NOT to have to hear Milo and the Clounzzz. Robert Ford, who was picked up from the Royals, where he did the pre and post game shows, is now the play by play guy and Sparks is his sidekick. I’ll have to check it out to see some time if I have time.

I know that Sparks was fine when he was talking a little on TV, but no idea how he is full time on the radio. As for Robert Ford, well, I WOULD say that couldn’t no living person be worse than Milo, but then I remember when all the (now ex) Astros fans were clamoring to get rid of Drayton and get a new owner, and you see how THAT turned out.

Kind of reminds me of that old Aesop’s fable where there were a bunch of frogs in a pond who had it good, but wanted it better, so they prayed to God to send them a King to rule them, don’t ask me why, except that folks don’t know when they got it good. So God threw a log into the pond, but the Frogs were all kinds of UpSet that the Log didn’t do no “ruling” so they complained to God, who this time, sent down a stork, who ate the Frogs up. The few remaining Frogs complained again and God said – well, you asked for a King and that’s what Kings do.

sigh

Pitchers next.

 

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4/5/12: Astros Minor Leaguers Who Appeared In At Least One Spring Training Game

Thursday, April 5th, 2012

Every Spring Training, each club wants to throw a bone to some high draft picks, pimp some touted guys and sometimes, some minor leaguers who nobody but their parents and friends ever heard of get plucked from their minor league teams to fill out a bench for games, especially split squad games, and get to appear in a major league uni, lucky them. Many times, I’ll check the box scores, see names, and wonder – like, who is THAT?

At least, they don’t have the video showing their names as “minor league guy” like some minor league Cardinals prospect did.

First, pitchers:

of note – three pitchers from the Astros Organization who were sent to the Arizona Fall League, lefty starter Dallas Keuchel (2nd round, 09, pitched well in AA, hit a wall at AAA, starting there again), righty reliever Josh Zeid (10th round Phils, obtained in the Pence trade, stank in 16 innings at AA Corpus last year) and lefty reliever Jason Stoffel (4th round Giants 2009, obtained in the Keppinger trade, stank in 16 innings at AA Corpus last year) – NONE of them even stood on the mound at Spring Training. I WOULD tell you how they did in their AFL stints, but I can’t find statistical totals and I am too lazy to go back through all the games and add em up.

- Adalberto Flores, 25 yo RHP, 0.1 IP  (who apparently threw 0.1 inning last year too)
- Kevin Chapman, 24 YO LH RP (who we got from the Royals for Bourgeois and Quintero) ).1 IP, 1 homer
- Kirk Clark, 23 yo RH RP undrafted FA in 09 - got killt at Lancaster last year, 0.2 hitless, scoreless IP. Here and he got to wear a ML uni. Probably first and last time.
- Lance Pendleton, 1 inning scoreless hitless, already released on 3/30, not sure why he got no chance at all – threw 1 scoreless inning.
- Arcenio Leon, 25 yo Astros lifer, RH RP, 2 lousy years at AA – no control – 1 IP, 1 H, 1 W, 1 R.

Hitters with 4 or fewer AB:

Jay Austin – not at ST, but he went to the AFL, so the Astros must be lookin at something: 21 yp lefty CF with speedy feet, lousy baserunning skillz and no bat at Lancaster. When you can’t hit in hitter’s paradise, seems to me you are another Jiovanni Mier, 2nd round pick in 2008 or not. No ST AB

Austin Wates – also not at ST, but in the AFL, so the 3rd rounder in the 2010 draft gets some luuuuvv. He’s a 23 yo righty CF who also played some LF – hit for average and power at low A, hit for high average and low power at high A (Lancaster).

Jake Goebbert – 23 yo LH LF: well, he’s 3 fer 10 at ST, but he’s getting mentioned because he played in the AFL and that must mean SOMEthing. Not sure what – drafted in the 13th round of the 09 draft, hit for average and power at AA last year, hit for average and not much power in 106 AB at AAA. Not sure what’s going to happen with him seeing as how the Astros still have hopes for Fernando Martinez, who is supposedly going to play left.

Kody Hinze: played in the AFL, 23 YO undrafted FA in 08 by the Astros, righty 1B who graduated from Nimitz HS right here in Houston 5 years after our own Michael Bourn. KILLED, MOIDERED the ball at Lancaster, not so much at AA in 199 AB – decent average, not so decent power for a 1B. Guess he’s fallback in case Jonathan Singleton, pimpee deluxe, doesn’t work out. He’s starting the year at AA – will have to see what happens to whoever plays 1B at AAA. He was ofer 1 this ST. (And, by the way, I doubt Koby Clemens is going to stay in the Astros Organization – he crapped out at AAA last year…)

TJ Steele: 25 yo righty CF drafted 4th round in 08. Has a .592 OPS over 595 AB at AA. Doesn’t walk almost ever, doesn’t steele much – not sure why on earth he was sent to the AFL, not sure why he’s still on a roster. Maybe the scouts see something, youneverknow… Went ofer 2 at ST.

Jimmy Van Ostrand: righty 1B/OF drafted in the 8th round of the 06 draft. Hit well .859 OPS at AA Corpus last year, playing 1B, but he’s already been released 3/30. Went ofer 2 in ST – guess it was a goodbye gift.

Jordan Brown, age 28 – talked about him last week – can’t see him staying even at AAA

Jordan Kreke: the Braves’ 13th round of the 09 draft, age 21, righty second baseman – must have been picked up as a minor league FA because he wasn’t part of the Bourn trade. Had a .550 OPS at AA Mississippi over 350 AB. Doesn’t hit, doesn’t steal bases, doesn’t walk. OK. He’s ofer 2 at ST.

Mike Kvasnicka: one of our first rounders in 2010 – was a college catcher with a .897 OPS who was moved to third by the Astros. OK. After 2 years, he had a .676 OPS in A-ball, so he’s being moved back to catcher. OK. He came to ST to catch. Also because he was a first rounder and it’s pimp time. Went ofer 2.

Ben Orloff: 25 yo righty SS, 9th round of the 09 draft. Just finished A ball, hits for decent average .280, walks a good deal, nice .360 OBP, no power, steals bases. Not going anywhere. 1 fer 2 at ST.

Telvin Nash: 21 yo 3rd rounder in 09. The Monster Mnash. Originally a LF, been playing at 1B. He’s a high strikeout, low walk, moderate BA, moderately high power guy. had a .858 OPS at A ball over 268 AB. Ofer 2 at ST.

Mike Hessman: 34 yo AAA lifer with a few ML ABs – drafted in the 15th round of the Braves’ 96 draft – has managed to collect 250 AB over 5 years with 3 different ML teams – he’s one of those guys who is a Dave Kingman hitter – the few times he DOES connect, he hits for power. Hats off to a guy who is gonna play baseball until don’t no one want him no mo.

Jonathan Meyer, age 21, switch hitting 3B, our 3rd rounder in 09 and he had a .742 OPS at Lancaster last year. Is ofer 3 in ST.

Collin DeLome: the only guy left playing who was picked in that beyond disastrous 07 draft (5th) finished his second year at AAA – total of 605 AB – hits for low average, decent power, strikes out a lot and seldom walks. At least someone out of that draft managed to get to AAA.

Rene Garcia: age 22, 35th round in the 08 draft, brought to ST strictly to catch in the bullpen. He had a .591 OPS at Lancaster.  Unsurprisingly, went ofer.

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4/1/12: Chris Johnson Stays, Brett Wallace, um Reassigned

Sunday, April 1st, 2012
I hear tell that Luhnow really wanted to keep Brett Wallace on the 25 man, and he’s been offering Chris Johnson in trade. I can just hear Luhnow singin:

Well well well
Well well well
Well well well

 
Why you giving me the third degree?
Why you giving me the third degree?
When i’m not guilty of what you’re saying i do
I’m not guilty of what you’re saying i do
I’m not that cagey
 
 But i don’t need to explain
There’s nothing to blame
You’ll only drive me away
There’s so many questions every day
(apologies, Duffy)

Brett Wallace is going to be the starting 3B at AAA (sorry Scott Moore) and either Luhnow is finally gonna manage to dump Chris Johnson and install Brettsie-poo or he’s gonna find a trade partner for Brett – highly unlikely at this stage of his career.

And get Luhnow spoon feeding us poopoo: Brain McTaggart reports Luhnow as saying

” Marwin Gonzalez is hitting .182 this spring, but he’s shown the ability to play terrific defense, including starting a nice 6-4-3 double play on Sunday. As a Rule 5 Draft pick, he’ll have to stay on the 25-man roster all season or be offered back to the Cubs.Luhnow said the decision to keep Gonzalez on the Opening Day roster has nothing to do with the health problems of starting shortstop Jed Lowrie, who’s nursing a sprained thumb.

“It’s really independent,” he said. “Marwin has done a terrific job defensively and shown he’s capable of taking Major League at-bats and had a couple of good plays in this game today. He’s ready, and he’s a valuable asset for us, and we’d like to have a guy like that in our organization. To do that, we have to keep him on the [25-man roster] and we’re going to start the year with him on the [25-man roster], and hopefully it will work out.”

It’s really independent? A guy hitting .182 who has no major league, or even AAA track record and wasn’t particularly good in the minors? It has NOTHING to do with Lowrie’s owie?

Then he’s searching frantically for another middle infielder WHY?

Because Marwin can’t hit major league pitching. And Matt Downs/Brian Bixler/Brett Wallace/etc simply can NOT play ML shortstop. Angel Sanchez is the obvious fallback, but he’s barely competent at SS, as well all know only too well.

Sigh – you sign a guy with a history of multiple injuries, you have GOT to have a reliable backup. Even if he can’t hit…

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3/28/12: Bixler Goes And Brett Wallace Stays

Wednesday, March 28th, 2012

Well, I was wrong about Bixler being the one to stay.  All said, he went 6 fer 25 with a triple, 4 homers, 4 walks, 2 SB and 1 CS. He’s not a SS, however, which is why I would bet Luhnow kept Rule V SS Marwin Gonzalez, 6 fer 32 with a double and 6 walks. ESPECIALLY now that Lowrie, unsurprisingly, has sustained another owie, this time a sprained thumb trying to dive back into second to avoid Big Z picking him off.

Of course, Luhnow has kept Brett Wallace, hoping against hope that CJ will stop hitting and Wallace will start hitting for some power, because it sure looks as if Wallace is going to be the odd man out among Downs, CJ and himself. Angel Sanchez, still hitting well 7 fer 17 with 4 walks, got sent down – but of course, he can always re recalled if Marwyn fails and Lowrie stays on the DL too long. Joe Thurston, 6 fer 24 with no walks, got released and Scott Moore and his .660 OPS got sent down, unsurprisingly. Neither one can play short.

note – amusing part of today’s game is Ozzie Guillen pinch hitting Aaron Rowand for him – in case you disremember, Rowand hasn’t hit in years.

Big Z sure wasn’t as dominating as he has been for years, that’s fer sher.

Pitcherly-wise: Lucas Harrell pitched great today – gave up 1 UER over 5 IP with a single, WP, GO and an error by Bogu, playing CF. This one was an error, but, his misplay the other day when he was in right cost the Stros 2 runs. Maybe I had better shut up about his fielding. Harrell and Weiland have been outpitching every other starter on the team, including Wandy, who is now OFFICIALLY the Opening Day starter.

Imagine that.

Anyway, I’m not sure why, except for the fact that he was traded for Roy Oswalt (who is still unsigned at this minute) J Happ has earned a starting spot over either one. So far, he’s thrown 13.2 innings over 4 GS – TWENTY FOUR hits, 7 BB, 5 K. I hate it when stuff like trade status gets in the way of honest evaluation.

Yes, I know. Small sample size. Lucas Harrell and Kyle have both failed at the major league level before and we have to look at Happ’s record before last year before the hitters caught onto him. I mean at his success, yeah, his success,  that’s right.

Enerio Del Rosario – remember that he was the guy who, at the end of Spring Training last year, had a zero ERA – got sent down.

We know that Mills wants to keep both Abad and Wesley Wright in the bullpen. They are handing on to Rhiner Cruz, the Rule V guy, to the very end, even though he’s pitching lousy – 7 runs over 6.1 IP over 8 games with 8 walks and 8 K. Both Lyon and the ol WB are finally settling down after a lousy beginning. David Carpenter is still struggling – 12 hits 2 homers, 5 runs im 8 IP over 8 games. Not sure who, except Fernando Rodriguez, who is still pitching well, is going to emerge from the chaos.

Just 8 days left until Opening Day.

No, I don’t have the faintest how many games we’re going to lose this year. It is just me, or does it seem that there aren’t any really good teams this year and that so many guys are hurt. No one has an ace staff or more than 3 really good hitters – at least not in the NL. Well, at least the Cubs are going to be as bad as we are…

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3/27/12: Wave Buh-bye to Zach Duke And Jack Cust

Tuesday, March 27th, 2012

FINALLY released.

I never really understood why they were signed in the first place. I can understand signing rehab guys and hoping, but neither one qualified for that.

Duke is/was a pitcher who was never able to throw unhittable strikes and he never had the skill of the Kirk Rueter-type pitcher who somehow got hitters to swing at slop and groundout, saving him for the need to even the NL average K/9 IP.

Cust is just long since over the hill, can’t run, can’t field, and now can’t hit at ALL. even in the supposed “inferior” league.

I was hoping, noting the decreasing number of PA for Cust over the past 10 days, that he was on his way out, but didn’t expect this.

And Duke? Well, if you are a one trick pony whose trick is not major league quality – say Mo Rivera and HIS one pitch – then you aren’t long for the majors, even if you ARE a lefty.

It looks as if this leaves Wesley Wright and Fernando Abad as our leftys. Which, at this point, is acceptable. It also leaves Weiland, Lyles and Harrell fighting it out for the 5th spot/long reliever spot – as if anyone uses long relievers any more. Lyles looks as if he needs him some more AAA, while Weiland and Harrell have already proved they can hit AAA hitters and at least, they are pitching well in this spring tryout. Yes, I know, small sample size.

Even though the Astros are giving a few guys from the minor league camps a few innings or ABs here and there, the 25 man is getting closer to being set and really, the only question left is – will Luhnow win out over Mills and have Wallace at 3rd and Buck in right – or will it be Bogu in right with CJ at third? Well, also – is it settled that Bixler will be the second utility IF? It certainly looks as if Corporan is going to settle as the 3rd backup catcher at AAA as he still has options left.

I am guessing that the SS replacement if Lowrie goes down is Angel Sanchez at AAA and the CF replacement for Mary Jane if he fails, is Jack Shuck or Bugusevic and I really DO wonder how long it will be before they regret throwing Bourgeois away.

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