Tandem Dive
Corpus Christi's starter, Ruben Alaniz, threw 80 pitches to get through 4.2 innings yesterday. We've been speculating that the Hooks may be nearing the end of their tandem rotation days. If that's the case and they switch to a five-man rotation, who would be included?
Mike Foltynewicz, Nick Tropeano, and Jake Buchanan are the obvious choices, unless Tropeano gets a call up to Oklahoma City. Bobby Doran, Ruben Alaniz, and David Martinez seem to be the next tier - so how do you handle that? Alaniz is a good bit younger, and might be used as a long reliever rather than being forced into the rotation. Another option would be to leave the fourth and fifth rotation spots as piggyback spots, changing it from an 8-man rotation to a 7-man rotation. For those who aren't as blessed at math as I obviously am, that would involve removing just one pitcher from the Hooks' current rotation.
His Name is Rio and He Hits Balls To The Stands...
Rio Ruiz. You know him. You love him. Steve Batterson of the QC Times wrote a nice article about Ruiz's comeback from an injury that took away most of his senior season and threatened to end his career. Batterson also had a piece this week about the Astros' use of Extended Spring Training to effectively grow the Quad Cities roster.
I'm a Zit. Get It?
MiLB.com is hosting a Food Fight contest, which is trying to determine the minor leagues' best ballpark concession. You can click here to vote. A few Astros affiliates are in the competition, including Corpus Christi's The Babe, Quad Cities' Ridiculously Oversized Pork Tenderloin Sandwich, Oklahoma City's The Porker, and Lancaster's Grilled Tri-Tip Sandwich (which, seriously... yum.) Unfortunately, Quad Cities and Lancaster are up against one another, but Oklahoma City and Corpus Christi are in separate categories (there are four). I have to admit I wondered if there was a less-appealing sounding food than "Nolan Ryan Sausage on a Stick." Then I realized that there most definitely is: The "Richard Simmons Burger" in Ft. Myers. I think I've lost my appetite, thank you.
Memories
The Jethawks are on SoundCloud now. You can listen to highlights of Jason Schwartz's call during the 2012 California League Championship by clicking here.
Quad Stretching
Everyone's talking about Byron Buxton's walkoff grand slam, and rightfully so. But I've seen more than one person try to suggest that the Astros should feel bad about taking Carlos Correa instead of Buxton. First off, it's the friggin' Midwest League, people. Get a grip. Second of all, Correa is a full year younger, is playing in the same league, and is also hitting his own amount of snot off the ball.
Sure, it might not be as impressive as a walk-off grand slam, but this isn't so bad, now, is it?
Hawks Can't Fly
The Oklahoma City RedHawks had some issues getting to Sacramento in time for their game yesterday. Some weather delays and canceled flights left the team scrambling to get their players to the west coast, with players scheduled on three different flights, all with completely different routes. Four hours before first pitch, only eighteen Oklahoma City players had hit Sacramento. Eventually, everyone seems to have found their way to Raley Field in time for the game, but not until after a very long travel day. Rough start to a 13-game road trip, to be sure.
Sweep It Off
Today's Oklahoma City win put an end to a six-game losing streak to Sacramento that dated back to 2011. The River Cats were the only visiting team to get a sweep in Oklahoma City in 2012. The last time the RedHawks had beaten the River Cats, Oklahoma City's manager, Tony DeFrancesco, was managing Sacramento. While there, he compiled a 578-429 record and won six division titles and three PCL championships.
Jonathan Singleton Countdown
Jonathan Singleton was suspended fifty games before the beginning of the season. As near as I can tell, Jonathan Singleton is officially listed on the Corpus Christi Hooks roster. The Corpus Christi Hooks have played 40 games. It appears as if the big man will be activated just in time for the Hooks' road trip to Northwest Arkansas on May 28th. That puts us at 11 days and counting.
What Happened Was...
Oklahoma City RedHawks (AAA) - The travel difficulties may have affected the RedHawks a little bit, as they went down 1-0 in the first inning, but everyone settled in nicely, trailing just 2-1 after six innings. That's when things got fun. The RedHawks bullpen kept the Sacramento River Cats (OAK) from scoring any more runs as the offense ripped off 4 runs in the seventh and two more in the ninth (both on a Brett Wallace double.) Jonathan Villar had a particularly nice game, getting a single and a double and making some solid defensive plays, including a couple of really tough throws from the hole. Oakland's #6 prospect, Sonny Gray, took the loss in the 7-2 RedHawks victory.
Oklahoma City: 24-15, 1st Pacific Coast League American Southern
- SS Jonathan Villar - 2/4, 2B, BB, K
- 2B Andrew Simunic - 3/5, 2B, 2 R, 3 RBI
- 1B Brett Wallace - 2/5, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 K
- DH Fernando Martinez - 1/4, BB, 2 K
- CF Che-Hsuan Lin - 1/3, R, BB
- RF Austin Wates - 2/4, R
- LHP Brett Oberholtzer - 4.1 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 4 K, 95/54
- LHP Alex Sogard - 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 2 WP, 24/11
- RHP Josh Zeid - 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 24/12
- RHP Rhiner Cruz - 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, 9/6
- LHP Eric Berger - 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 19/10
- C Rene Garcia - 3/4, HR, R, RBI
- RF Domingo Santana - 0/4, 3 K
- DH Erik Castro - 1/3, RBI, BB
- 3B Jonathan Meyer - 1/3, 2B, BB
- SS Jiovanni Mier - 2/4, 2 2B, K
- RHP Ruben Alaniz - 4.2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, HBP, PO, 80/45
- RHP Matthew Heidenreich - 0.1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, 10/6
- RHP Josh Fields - 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 7/7
- RHP Jorge De Leon - 3.0 IP, 2 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 2 K
- 2B Delino DeShields - 0/5, 4 K
- SS Joe Sclafani - 2/4, 2B, 2 R, BB
- CF Andrew Aplin - 2/3, 2 R, 2 BB, SB, PO
- 3B Matt Duffy - 3/5, R, 3 RBI, 2 K
- 1B Telvin Nash - 0/3, 2 BB, 2 K
- C Tyler Heineman - 2/5, RBI, K
- LHP David Rollins - 3 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 5 K
- LHP Theron Geith - 2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 K
- RHP Tyson Perez - 3 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, WP
- SS Carlos Correa - 1/4, RBI
- DH Miles Hamblin - 1/3, RBI, BB, K
- C Roberto Pena - 0/4, 2 K
- RF Ariel Ovando - 2/4, K
- LF Jordan Scott - 1/3, R, BB, K, E
- LHP Colton Cain - 4.1 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 60/40
- RHP Mike Hauschild - 3.2 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 44/32
- RHP John Neely - 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, 26/13