Astros Minor League Recap

Gustavo Chacin has always been an interesting guy to me. He had that wonderful breakout year in Toronto with Brad Arnsberg, but injuries derailed him and he's never been able to stick again in the big leagues.

The Astros have given him some chances to start again, but that didn't go so well and they ticketed him back to the bullpen. Now, however, he's cropped back up into Oklahoma City's rotation. Why?

Well, he's certainly been playing well enough to justify it. Tuesday, he delivered an efficient effort that was exactly what that team needed after getting drubbed the night before. Of course, the RedHawks couldn't score any runs, so the Astros went into extra innings and taxed the bullpen even more.

But, I digress...where were we? Oh, right, Chacin. Goggles is a guy who teams probably love to stash in the Triple-A rotation, but never actually hope to use. He gives the Astros an option if someone else gets hurt or traded that doesn't involve calling up the ineffective Ryan Rowland-Smith or promoting a guy at Double-A over his head like Dallas Keuchel or Xavier Cedeno. 

But, I bet you the Astros hope they don't have to start Gustavo Chacin this season. They know what they've got in him and he's not going to surprise anyone. He's had success in the Triple-A rotation before and hasn't brought that to the big leagues. I do wonder if Houston plans on using him as a second lefty in the bullpen. We know Mills likes that, so maybe this assignment is just a way to make sure Chacin's success is legitimate before they call him up and stick him in the bullpen.

Or, maybe I'm over analyzing things. Let's just get to Tuesday's results.

Oklahoma City loses 2-1 to Memphis

Anderson Hernandez, 3B/SS: 1-3, 2 walks, run scored, K, CS

J.B. Shuck, LF: 0-5, SB

Koby Clemens, 1B/3B: 1-3, 2B, RBI, walk

Gustavo Chacin, starter: 6 IP, 5 hits, run, walk, 2 Ks, 78 pitches, 52 strikes, 6 ground ball outs, 5 fly ball outs

Brandon Lyon, reliever: 1 IP, no hits, no runs, no walks, no Ks, 10 pitches, 8 strikes

Dan Carpenter, reliever: 2 IP, no hits, no runs, walk, K, 29 pitches, 19 strikes, 2 ground ball outs, 3 fly ball outs

Danny Meszaros, reliever; 2 IP, 2 hits, 1 run, no walks, 3 Ks, 30 pitches, 21 strikes

Corpus Christi had an open date

Lancaster loses 24-4 to Lake Elsinore

Jay Austin, CF: 0-3, 2 walks

Kody Hinze, 1B: 1-4, 2B, 3 runs, walk, K

Erik Castro, 3B: 1-2, 2B, run, RBI

Jose Carlos Thompson, 2B: 1-3, walk, K

Rene Garcia, C: 2-4, K

Jake Buchanan, starter: 1 2/3 IP, 8 hits, 6 runs, walk, no Ks

Yordany Ramirez, reliever: 2 IP, 6 hits, 5 runs, 2 walks, no Ks

Lexington loses 5-4 to Greenville

Jordan Scott, LF: 3-5, 2 2Bs, RBI

Chris Wallace, C: 2-4, solo HR, K

Ben Orloff, SS: 3-4, 3B, run, 2 RBIs

Alex Sogard, starter: 5 IP, 7 hits, 3 runs, no walks, 5 Ks, 6 ground ball outs, 1 fly ball out

DSL Astros postponed by rain again.

Severe flooding reported in Dominican from this system that's bringing heavy rains to the Caribbean. Hope everyone down there is okay.