Astros Thursday Minor League Recap

Wow, yesterday was eventful. I'm going to be honest and say that I was getting completely annoyed by all of the false rumors. I don't know how many times reports came out saying the exact opposite of another report. It was quite frustrating being that we knew there was a deal in place.

In the end though, was I satisfied? Not exactly. And gathering from the hundreds of comments, neither were many of you. I'm excited about Villar, but to be honest, I'd rather have gotten a pitching prospect. Although, he is better than someone like Worley. As far as Brett Wallace is concerned, there is room to be excited but I'm less excited than I would have at this time last year. Last season he was still considered a 3B prospect but carried severe doubts about him sticking. Well those doubts were warranted and now there are some doubts about his ability to hit well enough at the major league level for a 1B given his stats aren't completely over-whelming. There are circumstances that could have been affecting his performance, like the number of teams he's been playing for over the years since he's been a part of so many trades. Now, I'm not saying I'm upset we got him, I actually am pleased. I like his ability and think he could be a slightly above average 1B. And I'm very excited at the possibility of seeing him play Saturday. I live in Nashville and the Express are coming to town and my wife and I are accompaning some friends to the game against the Nashville Sounds and I'm hoping he will be ready to play. None the less, I will have a short report on what I see at the game. I'm also excited at the possibility of seeing Danny Meszaros pitch since he pitched an inning to day, he should be available.

Won

• Corpus 15-7 (check out the offensive explosion!)
• Lancaster 5-4
• Lexington 4-1
• Greeneville 4-3 (Velasquez pitched)
• DSL Astros 3-1

Lost

• Round Rock 8-1
• Tri-City 9-2
• GCL Astros 5-4

Top Performances

• Yorman Bazardo (AAA)-5 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 SO-He's been in the pen all season and is now back in the rotation it seems. I like Bazardo even though he's proven he's nothing more than a AAAA guy.
• Wladimir Sutil (AAA)-1-4, 2B, SO-This is literally the only thing happening in RR last night.
• Jack Shuck (AA)-2-4, 2 BB-It's nice to see him get a rebound game, he's been slumping.
• Michael Affronti (AA)-2-6
• J.D. Martinez (AA)-1-4, 2 BB, 2 SO-He's not hitting as much but he's drawing walks. He's putting things together in AA!
• Jonathan Gaston (AA)-3-5, 2B, HR, BB, SO-Holy Crap! This guy is starting to rake!
• Jhon Florentino (AA)-3-6, 2B, SO-Well he only got demoted for four games.
• James Van Ostrand (AA)-2-6, 2B, SO
• Lou Santangelo (AA)-3-3
• Jonathan Fixler (AA)-1-3, 2B, 2 SO
• Andrew Simunic (A+)-2-5, 2B
• Jay Austin (A+)-0-2, 2 BB, 2 SB
• Albert Cartwright (A+)-3-4, BB, 2 SB
• David Flores (A+)-2-4
• Vincent Velasquez (Rk)-5 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 SO-He's making a better debut than Folty in pro ball. I like the early returns on this kid.
• Bubby Williams (Rk)-1-4, 2B, SO
• Emilio King (Rk)-2-3
• Luis Cruz (A)-7 1/3 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 10 SO-That is one heck of a performance for the 19 year old lefty! This is why he gets some hype.
• Jose Altuve (A)-2-4, 2B, 2 SB-I'll bring up the hype again!
• Jake Goebbert (A)-2-4, 2 B, SO, SB
• Rene Garcia (A)-2-4, 2B, SO, SB
• Adam Champion (A-SS)-1 2/3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO
• Enrique Hernandez (A-SS)-2-4, 2B
• Ben Heath (A-SS)-1-3, HR-Yeah, there's some impressive catchers in short-season ball.
• Angel Gonzalez (GCL)-5 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO
• Kristian Bueno (GCL)-2 IP, 0 H, 0BB, 2 SO-Calallen grad and Brewer draft pick in 2007.
• Jordan Scott (GCL)-2-5, BB, SO
• Luis De La Rosa (DSL)-3-4, SB, CS, PO-He apparently has the speed but reading pitchers is something he's going to have to work on.
• Max Ayarza (DSL)1-3, 2B, SO

Poor-formances

• Chris Shelton (AAA)-1-4, 2 SO-His playing time is going to diminish with Wallace coming in!
• Edwin Bellorin (AAA)-0-3, 2 SO
• Brad Thompson (AAA)-1/3 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO-Terrible outing out of the pen.
• Dallas Keuchel (AA)-3 IP, 9 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO-It really pains me to see this. You all know how much I like Keuchel. But, it's just his second start, so I'm not worried.
• Kyle Greenwalt (A+)-6 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 4 BB, 3 SO-It's not that bad but I had to put it here because of the walks.
• Michael Kvasnicka (A-SS)-0-3, BB, 2 SO
• Daniel Adamson (A-SS)-0-3, BB, 2 SO
• Alex Sogard (A-SS)-2 IP, 6 H, 8 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO
• Pedro Feliz (Rk)-0-4, 2 SO-He's even playing like the major leaguer.
• Chris Lovett (Rk)-0-3, BB, SO-He was the Braves 12th Round pick last year and this was his debut. He's a 3B prospect so I'll try and do some research on him.
• Jose Fernandez (GCL)-0-5, 2 SO
• Edgar Ferreira (DSL)1 2/3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 1 SO-He didn't allow any runs but those walks are pretty bad.
• Yonathan Mejia (DSL)-0-4, 2 SO