Sorry for getting this posted so late, but it's Labor Day and I slept in!  Get off me!  You did too, probably!

There's not a whole lot to highlight from yesterday with the pitching being a little below parr.  Jarred Cosart got lit up in his last start of the season, so I'm not even going to dig into that.  But I will talk a little about the Mier/Meyer combo in Lancaster.

Jiovanni Mier is closing out the season in a strong way and closing in on a .230 average despite flip-flopping over the Mendoza line just a few weeks ago.  His power had disappeared in Lancaster which is extremely odd but he still is pretty good at drawing walks, which is definitely a good sign.  It's just that average that holds back his OBP.  Despite his poor average, his walk rate isn't terrible which is close to .332 in Lancaster.  Next year will be a big year for him and he'll have to improve his strikeout rate and average to maintain his prospect status.

Jonathan Meyer is in a similar situation.  His walk rate is solid, his strikeout rate is too high, and his average isn't great but it is better than Mier.  His power is also decent.  He hasn't been overly boosted in the power department in Lancaster either with equal home run totals in his home/away splits.  But, he's hit a few more doubles at home so his power is slightly inflated at home.  In my opinion, he has shown significant improvement this season in all areas of his game except for the strikeout rate, and is a legitimate 3B prospect.  He's not a big prospect but definitely someone to keep an eye on as he's improving as a young player should.  His plus defense is always nice too!

Continue reading this post »

I haven't been able to do player of the week in quite some time, so instead I'm going to basically hand out a player of the week but for guys I think have performed well enough over the past several weeks to deserve it.

Jose Altuve Award: Josh Magee

Magee had one of the bigger stories to end the season for Greeneville and put his name on the list for players to watch next season.  Since he was a high school pick within the first twenty rounds last year, he at least has some talent.  There are several factors that make you drop that far, including being in a small area, not playing the big circuits, or not having outstanding tools.  Either way, he's at least interesting to watch.

Pitcher of the Week: Nick Tropeano

Trope is one of my favorite pitchers from this years draft and has finished the season very strong.  Reports are that he's leaning on his fastball more now and his velocity is actually in the low 90's which makes him all that more of an attractive prospect.  He could move very quickly through the system with a good fastball that apparently has good movement and a changeup that has been described as one of the best in the draft. 

Continue reading this post »

The biggest stories of the night have to be Ross Seaton and the ValleyCats as a whole.  Seaton, other than giving up a bomb, dominated last night.  The ValleyCats, just straight up dominated in general.

Seaton has been one frustration after another since he's been drafted.  He posted good overall numbers but had a disappointing strikeout rate in Lexington in his first full season of baseball, and thats been about the only highlight.  The issue has primarily been consistency with Seaton, one night he'll pitch very well and the next he'll run people out of the stadium in jaw-dropping disappointment.  Even his fastball velocity has been inconsistent with it ranging from high 80's on some nights and others being in the mid 90's.  Last night was the final and arguably his best start of August and it has been the most friendly to him.  He posted his lowest ERA (3.10 and 2.37 in last five starts), strikeout rate (8.0 K/9), and unfortunately walk rate (3.1 BB/9).  Part of the reason for his success was his lowest BABIP as well, but the positive thing to take is that his peripherals are the best they've been and are at the very end of the season. 

I have said it before, but Nick Tropeano is one of my favorite picks in this years draft.  I think that he is a real sleeper and was pretty underrated going into the draft due to pitching for a small Division-I program and lacking a hard fastball filled with them.  But, if he can maintain the recent reports of him pitching in the low 90's, he can really be a steal.  I can't remember specifics on his projected draft rounds, but we snagged him the later part of it so we we ared definitely getting good value there.

George Springer had another solid night at the plate and was able get two doubles.  I don't know if he legged those out or were doubles off of the bat.  Springer is just one of many ValleyCats to go off last night as they scored sixteen runs!

Continue reading this post »

I'm sure most of you know now that Lucas Harrell has been called-up to make a start fro Brett Myers.  Ed Wade said that Harrell was going to be called up anyway in September so he will be staying with the club afterwards.  To take his spot in the AAA rotation, Paul Clemens has been called up to AAA.  To take his spot in the AA rotation, Jake Buchanan has been called up.  I haven't seen anything on a possible replacement for Buchanan. 

These aren't your normal promotions.  These are simply to fill rotation spots.  Although, it does give some indication whom the Astros think is the most advanced of the pitchers at those levels and feel who could handle the next level for a start or two.  Clemens is no surprise.  Buchanan is a little as you could make a case for both Cisnero and Robinson.  Although, Cisnero is on the DL and Robinson was supposed to pitch today, so you would have had to move other pitchers up on short rest.

Jarred Cosart had another great outing last night.  He had the strikeouts to go with his innings pitched last night which has been a knock on him.  His numbers caught up with his stuff last night.  Although, he didn't have the extreme groundball to flyout ratio we have gotten used to seeing from. 

Continue reading this post »

There are three primary stories from last night's action.  Anderson Hernandez is the first story as he extended his hit streak to 27 games, and is making a solid case for a September call-up.  It's a really impressive streak. I'm not a Anderson Hernandez fan, but you have to give him credit for this streak, and could be an upgrade over, dare I say it, Angel Sanchez.

The second story is ObieHockey pitching a very good game.  He struggled out of the gate for Corpus but has since turned a few good starts.  I'm not ready to annoint him a top 10 prospect or even a better prospect than Paul Clemens, but he's making a case.  I will at least say he has a better floor than Clemens.

The third, and perhaps the best, is George Springer leading off a double header with a solo shot!  Not only did he hit a bomb in that game, he also hit a double to show off his power.  He then changed gears in the second game to swipe three bags!  I just wish we could have had him in the system a little longer this year to show him off to the rest of the baseball world!

Continue reading this post »

Big thanks to AstrosB for putting in an intro for me yesterday morning.  My wife and I woke up just fifteen minutes before we had to leave for church, so we had to rush out the door. 

The big stories from last night are the two home runs off the bats of Jonathan Villar and Brett Wallace.  The bigger of the two coming from B-Wall since that was the purpose of sending him down.  Wallace has to have a JD Martinez type adjustment in his swing if he wants to be in the Astros plans for the future.  I don't necessarily agree that he has too provide a lot of power in order to be a major league first baseman, but it seems that power is what the Astros are looking at him for.  They want power from first base and he has the tools to do that, he just has to make those adjustments.  He has the bat speed and the power in his swing, especially when he gets his foot down early and has good hip drive.  He just doesn't have the loft.  His swing is too level.  Sound familiar JD?

Villar's home run was his tenth of the year at AA and very nice to see him get a big hit.  He's been struggling very badly this month, in fact it's been his worst month so far of the season.  I think it would be a very bad idea to make him a September call-up when he's posted a sub-.600 OPS for the month and a .288 OBP in Corpus.

Continue reading this post »

Brooks is in a rush today so I thought I would jot down a few quick lines for you on his behalf (AstroB).

The big story last night, and of this weekend, is Hurricane Irene sweeping into the East Coast, so Tri-City's game was postponed, and there will be no game today, so they will play a double header on Monday. It was quite a scramble to get all the baseball in as it was. George Springer went 0-3 in his debut, so hopefully he can notch his first hit on Monday.

Adrian Houser threw possibly his best outing of the season last night, throwing five scoreless. Jordan Scott continues a strong season despite an all-star snub that had some people very worked up earlier this week. Lucas Harrell lowered his AAA ERA in the Astros organisation to 1.72, Brett Wallace cannot buy a home run, Jonathan Singleton continues to strikeout twice in every game he plays and Folty had a rough outing. 

This is a question I wanted to ask, but haven't had a chance to ask it, and here seems a good a place as any. If J.D. Martinez, Jose Altuve and Jordan Lyles had not been called up, and continued the pace set in early 2011, hypothetically where would they be in your prospect top 10? Thoughts?

Minor league lines to follow on Friday and Saturday's games.

Continue reading this post »

Jarred Cosart put in yet another impressive start last night by inducing twelve groundouts!  Teaching a pitcher to pitch to contact is one of the hardest things to teach because it's such a mature pitching mentality to grasp.  Jarred seems to be latching on right now very nicely and is inducing a lot of weak contact.  That's what you want to see from a kid who is pitching at a new, more advanced, and hitter friendly environment than what he's been pitching in.  Don't worry about his drop in strikeouts, its a such a small sample size and he still has his velocity.  It's hard to make the jump he did and strikeout the hitters he's now facing.  Pitching to contact is a much better way to ensure success at first.  Once he adjusts, you'll see more strikeouts, unfortunately with the end of the season approaching, you might have to wait until next season.

Even with Cosart having a great night, he wasn't the star of the minors, Emilio King was.  King had the perfect night by going five for five!  It's a special night for a guy when you reach base in every at-bat, but he made it even better with a home run and a double.  Congratulations to Emilio!

Continue reading this post »